How to Remove the Black Border from Raspberry Pi or RetroPie Display

Let the Pi use your entire screen
Zach Zach (248)
5 minutes

This short guide will show you how to remove the black border from your Raspberry Pi or RetroPie screen, allowing your Pi to take up the entire screen.

Raspberry PiRaspberry Pi ×1

Howchoo is reader-supported. As an Amazon Associate, we may earn a small affiliate commission at no cost to you when you buy through our links.

Connect to your Raspberry Pi via SSH with the following command:

ssh pi@<your-pi's-ip-address>

For RetroPie, you can connect using the hostname retropie:

ssh pi@retropie

The default password is raspberry.

If your Pi doesn't have Internet access, you can instead remove its SD card and put it into your computer.

Edit the boot/config.txt file to make the change:

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Change this line:

#disable_overscan=1

... to:

disable_overscan=1

Then, save the file and exit.

If you're using the SD card method, you can browse to this file on your computer and edit it using a plaintext editor (like Notepad) instead.

Reboot your Pi for the changes to take effect:

sudo reboot

Graphics on your Raspberry Pi will now take up the entire screen without the black border. You're all done!

Screen upside down? No problem.
Zach Zach (248)
2 minutes

So you've just finished setting up your Raspberry Pi touchscreen, and it's upside-down.