How to Fix macOS High Sierra Screen Resolution on VirtualBox

How to fix macOS High Sierra Screen Resolution on VirtualBox

In this article, I’m going to show you how to fix macOS High Sierra screen resolution on VirtualBox. Most of the people having this issue that while they install macOS High Sierra on VirtualBox or VMware, They can’t get a full screen. Here you will learn how to get full screen macOS High Sierra on VirtualBox. We are working on macOS High Sierra VMware Tools as well. The guide for VMware as well would be published on our site ASAP.

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Fix macOS High Sierra Screen Resolution on VirtualBox

It is a prevalent and well-known problem for those who install a Mac operating system on VirtualBox or VMware for the first time. When you install macOS High Sierra, macOS Sierra or Mac OS X El Capitan on VirtualBox or VMware, the first problem that you see is screen resolution and some other issues. By default when you install MacOS on Virtualization, most of the time the screen resolution is 1024×768, and you can change it on VirtualBox to “640×480, 800×600, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1900×1200“. As an example, I want to change the resolution from 1024×768 to 1440×900. I hope you get something from this pictorial tutorial.

Note: You can’t get a custom resolution right now. Just select one of the recommendations mentioned above.

Step #1. Play your installed macOS High Sierra on VirtualBox and confirm the current and default screen resolution. After that, turn off your VirtualBox VM and exit VirtualBox.

Play Virtual Machine

Step #2. Download macOS High Sierra Screen Resolution VBox Code from the link down below.

Step #3. Replace and edit the code that is named as “VM Name” that should match with your Virtual Machine Name. Here our Virtual Machine name is “macOS High Sierra Final

How to Fix macOS High Sierra Screen Resolution on VirtualBox

Replace VM Name to macOS Sierra(VM name in VB)

Step #4. Choose an appropriate resolution that suite your monitor screen. To choose one, remove N and type the number of resolution size. As an example, I select 1440 x 900 (4).

Step #5. Now, you have to Press Windows button + X and choose Command Prompt (Admin) from the list.

Command Prompt

Command Prompt

Step #6. Select the VirtualBox path, copy & paste the command to CMD then hit enter.

How to Fix macOS High Sierra Screen Resolution on VirtualBox

Choose VirtualBox Path

Step #7. These time Copy & Paste the code to Command Prompt(CMD) then hit enter.

Note: Make sure that you have selected a fix resolution for your monitor screen and choice the amount of N. After copying the code to virtual-box then close all tabs. Here, I choose 1440 x 900 (4).

How to Fix macOS High Sierra Screen Resolution on VirtualBox

Run the Screen Resolution code

Step #8. Start your macOS High Sierra virtual machine now.

Start Virtual Machine

Step #9. Now log in to your account and check the screen resolution to confirm it has worked or not. So was all.

How to Fix macOS High Sierra Screen Resolution on VirtualBox

Fixed screen Resolution of macOS High Sierra on VirtualBox

Conclusion

In this article, I’ve covered how to fix macOS High Sierra screen resolution on VirtualBox, and you saw that I changed the screen resolution from 1024×768 to 1440×900 From the above list that I’ve pointed. I only tested one of those sizes. Now, you can choose according to your monitor. If you’ve any kinds of question regarding this article or our old topics, feel free to share with us. Thanks for being with us.

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Mukhtar Jafari is the founder and CEO of wikigain.com. He is CISCO CCENT & CCNA Certified and has got his diploma in IT Networking from North Metro TAFE PERTH. He is currently working as a Help Desk Technician at DEEPTECH Perth Western Australia. In addition, he loves helping other tech enthusiasts so he is working part-time on wikigain.com. He shares his experience through this website for IT beginners.

75 Comments

  1. blankdaVinci Reply

    Guys, if you have an issue with the following command:

    VBoxManage setextradata “macOS 10.13 High Sierra” “VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution” 1920×1080

    Then check twice if the “x” at 1920×1080 is really an x… Sometimes copy and paste out of the browser creates a symbol which only looks like x… for example × not x

  2. blankSteffen Reply

    The following code worked for VB 5.2:
    VBoxManage setextradata “Machine Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiHorizontalResolution “1920”
    VBoxManage setextradata “Machine Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiVerticalResolution “Vres”

    Note: remove the “” from “Machine Name”, if not you get errors saying it can’t fint machine name.

  3. blankTomasz Reply

    For those who have problems with 5.2 (or maybe not only 5.2):

    Yesterday I deleted the wrong version of 10.12 Sierra and had been left with 1024×768. Happy that since I upgraded to VBox 5.2 my macOS magically switched to 1920×1080 itself I just run: VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution 1920×1080… but no luck at all!

    Before I decided to downgrade to VBox 5.1 and do all the steps I did before, I found the full version of the working macOS in one of automatic Acronis True Image disk images 🙂 Exactly the one I deleted by mistake yesterday!

    To check what the problem was I compared config files (*.vbox ) of both machines.

    I found out that there was a slight difference.
    The working one was:

    and this low res one was:

    I changed manualy
    value=”1920×1080″
    to
    value=”1920×1080″
    (use notepad++ or any other that recognizes special characters’ codes)

    and the second one (low res) is FullHD now!

    Be careful when you edit those files! And always make a safe copy before you start!

    1. blankTomasz Reply

      just need to update bacause wordpress has changed special charactes in my post. I will use a “space” before each character now:
      The working one was:
      and this low res one was:

      I changed manualy value=” 1 9 2 0 & # x D 7 ; 1 0 8 0 ”
      to value=”1 9 2 0 x 1 0 8 0 “

  4. blankmoet Reply

    Some advices for those who can’t set higher resolution on VirtualBox 5.2.2:
    – if you are running virtualbox on limited windows account (not admin), you should also run normal Command Prompt – without admin rights
    – you can use only resolutions supported by VB, listened there: https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch03.html#efividmode
    – try to change video memory size to 256
    VBoxManage modifyvm “yourVMname” –vram 256
    – use both mentioned methods:
    VBoxManage setextradata “yourVMname” VBoxInternal2/EfiHorizontalResolution 1440
    VBoxManage setextradata “yourVMname” VBoxInternal2/EfiVerticalResolution 900
    VBoxManage setextradata “yourVMname” VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution 1440×900
    – to check if you enter all correctly run:
    VBoxManage getextradata “yourVMname” enumerate

  5. blankTomasz Reply

    I tried
    VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution 1920×1080
    for Sierra (10.12.6) and VBox 5.1 yesterday with no luck at all.
    Have just upgraded to VBox 5.2 and I have my “old” Sierra (not High Sierra) working with 1920×1080 automatically! Thank you. You can update your Sierra (10.12) thread with this good news I think. 😀

  6. blankjustukus Reply

    Nice.
    With
    VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiHorizontalResolution 1920
    VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiVerticalResolution 1080

    It’s now working for my 1920×1080 !

  7. blankAndrew Reply

    Nice.
    With
    VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiHorizontalResolution 1920
    VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiVerticalResolution 1080

    It’s now working for my 1920×1080 !

  8. blankSuwon Reply

    Hi Guys, I just find out solution to fix this issue
    Step 1: Close VirtualBox and open CMD in Admin mode
    Step 2: copy & paste all the codes to the CMD one by one
    cd “C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\”
    VBoxManage modifyvm “VM name” –firmware efi
    VBoxManage setextradata “VM name” VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution HxV
    Note:
    Replace “VM name” with your virtual Machine Name”
    Replace HxV with your resoluion, in my case is 1920×1080

    1. blankanon Reply

      thanks dud it’s worked for me after many tries of other solutions,
      VBoxManage modifyvm “VM name” –firmware efi
      it’s that 🙂

  9. blankVikning Reply

    @JAros, sorry – but this doesn’t work for me. I’m on on 5.2.0 r118431 (Qt5.6.2)
    Does anyone else have a solution that works?

  10. blankJAros Reply

    VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiHorizontalResolution 1440
    VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiVerticalResolution 900

    Now it is OK under 5.2 too .

  11. blankES Reply

    This work on VB 5.2.0r118431:
    cd “C:\Program Files\Oracle\Virtualbox”
    VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution 1920×1080

  12. blankVikning Reply

    This does not work for VB 5.2 even if Mr. Jafari insist that it does. He is wrong! Does anyone have a solution that works for VB 5.2 ??

  13. blankG.Y Reply

    I found out fix for High Sierra on Virtualbox 5.2.0 from Manuals.
    VBoxManage setextradata “VM Name” VBoxInternal2/EfiGraphicsResolution 1920×1080

    hope this help…

    1. blankMukhtar Jafari Post author Reply

      Hey Johnny, How did you do it because I have tried several times it did not work for me. Can make a video for that and send me the link, please. I’m going to make the guide and video for visitors.

  14. blankWile E Reply

    After much testing, the following combinations worked for me:
    VirtualBox 5.1.22 ResFix Works
    VirtualBox 5.1.24 ResFix Works but crashed frequently
    VirtualBox 5.1.26 ResFix Works but crashed frequently
    VirtualBox 5.1.28 ResFix Works

    Could not get the supplemental update to install on any version. No error messages just doesn’t work.

    Downgrading your virtualbox version might be the best solution for now until an updated guide and video come out.

    1. blankDerek Reply

      It’s a change to the settings – it should have been backward compatible, but isn’t in this version. I did the following and it works:

      VBoxManage setextradata “” VBoxInternal2/EfiHorizontalResolution 1440
      VBoxManage setextradata “” VBoxInternal2/EfiVerticalResolution 900

  15. blankWile E Reply

    @Mukhtar Will be holding my breath waiting for video.
    @Luciano Will take a few breaths while I try using 5.1, will reply with details when completed.

  16. blankWile E Coyote Reply

    Removed (Deleting all files) my High Sierra VM, Unistalled virtualbox, removed all trace of it.
    Rebooted
    Started following your guide again, VERY carefully. Redownloading all software and vmdk. Making sure VirtualBox is NOT running when using Administrator cmd commands.
    Exact same result. Display resolution will not change and Supplemental Update will not install.

    I’m happy to provide you with any details you’d like to try and troubleshoot these issues.

    1. blankLuciano Reply

      Same here. No high res and no Supplemental Update. I followed all steps carefully. I think that the problem is with VirtualBox 5.2 as I got higher resolutions with 5.1.x in the past.

      1. blankDerek

        VBoxManage setextradata “” VBoxInternal2/EfiHorizontalResolution 1440
        VBoxManage setextradata “” VBoxInternal2/EfiVerticalResolution 900

      2. blankSsante

        VBoxManage setextradata “” VBoxInternal2/EfiHorizontalResolution 1440
        VBoxManage setextradata “” VBoxInternal2/EfiVerticalResolution 900

        work for me too

  17. blankWile E Reply

    I also can not change from 1024 x 768.
    My vboxmanage getextradata “MacOS High Sierra” enumerate output :-
    Key: GUI/LastNormalWindowPosition, Value: 573,108,1024,809
    Key: GUI/RestrictedRuntimeMenus, Value: Application,Machine,View
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBoardProduct, Value: Iloveapple
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct, Value: iMac11,3
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemVersion, Value: 1.0
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/DeviceKey, Value: ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/GetKeyFromRealSMC, Value: 1
    Key: VBoxInternal2/EfiGopMode, Value: 4

    And I’m absolutly sure that virtualbox is not on when executing the commands.

    Also, wont install Supplemental Update, it downloads and then reboots to finish install but restarts back to before the update installs. No error messages seen.

  18. blankLuciano Reply

    I have:

    C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>vboxmanage getextradata “MyMac” enumerate
    Key: GUI/LastNormalWindowPosition, Value: 812,52,1024,810
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBoardProduct, Value: Iloveapple
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct, Value: iMac11,3
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemVersion, Value: 1.0
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/DeviceKey, Value: ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc
    Key: VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/GetKeyFromRealSMC, Value: 1
    Key: VBoxInternal2/EfiGopMode, Value: 4

    VM is still 1024×768

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