# Fullscreen Mode
URL: /overview/sessions-api/fullscreen-mode

---
title: Fullscreen Mode
sidebarTitle: Fullscreen Mode
description: Launch browser sessions edge-to-edge with no Chrome UI, so pages get the full 1920×1080 and screenshots stay clean.
llm: true
publishedAt: "2026-06-12"
---

### Overview

Fullscreen mode launches the browser covering the full screen with no Chrome UI—no address bar, no tabs, no toolbars. Pass `fullscreen: true` when creating a session and the page gets every pixel of the 1920×1080 screen.

By default, sessions run windowed: Steel reserves space for browser UI the same way a real desktop browser does, so the page sees a viewport slightly smaller than the screen. Fullscreen removes that reservation entirely. The result is cleaner screenshots and recordings with no browser chrome in the frame, and a viewport that exactly matches the screen.

### How It Works

<CodeTabs storage="languageSwitcher">

```typescript !! Typescript -wcn
import Steel from 'steel-sdk';
import { chromium } from 'playwright';

const client = new Steel({ steelAPIKey: process.env.STEEL_API_KEY });

// Create a session that launches fullscreen
const session = await client.sessions.create({
  fullscreen: true
});

// Connect to the fullscreen session
const browser = await chromium.connectOverCDP(
  `wss://connect.steel.dev?apiKey=${process.env.STEEL_API_KEY}&sessionId=${session.id}`
);

const page = await browser.contexts()[0].pages()[0];
await page.goto('https://example.com');
```

```python !! Python -wcn
from steel import Steel
from playwright.async_api import async_playwright
import os

client = Steel(steel_api_key=os.environ.get("STEEL_API_KEY"))

# Create a session that launches fullscreen
session = client.sessions.create(
    fullscreen=True
)

# Connect to the fullscreen session
async with async_playwright() as p:
    browser = await p.chromium.connect_over_cdp(
        f"wss://connect.steel.dev?apiKey={os.environ.get('STEEL_API_KEY')}&sessionId={session.id}"
    )

    page = browser.contexts[0].pages[0]
    await page.goto('https://example.com')
```

</CodeTabs>

The flag is set at session creation and can't be changed on a running session. It defaults to `false`, so existing integrations are unaffected, and it echoes back on the session object so you can confirm what you got.

The difference fullscreen makes is in the viewport. A windowed session subtracts a chrome allowance from the screen—5px of width and 91px of height—so a default 1920×1080 session hands the page a 1915×989 viewport. Fullscreen skips the subtraction:

| | Windowed (default) | Fullscreen |
|---|---|---|
| Browser UI | Reserves space at the top | None |
| Screen size | Your `dimensions`, capped at 1920×1080 | Fixed at 1920×1080 |
| Viewport | Screen minus chrome allowance (e.g. 1915×989) | Full 1920×1080 |
| `innerHeight` vs `screen.height` | Smaller | Identical |

### Why This Matters

**Clean Screenshots and Recordings**

No browser UI means no strip of dead pixels at the top of every capture. Screenshots and session recordings show only page content, with no cropping step in your pipeline.

**Kiosk-Style Displays**

Dashboards, signage, and embedded views render edge-to-edge, the way they would on a dedicated full-screen display. Pages built against the full viewport get the canvas they expect.

**Watch-Only Views for Your Users**

Pair fullscreen with a read-only embed and you can surface a live session inside your own product as a clean, edge-to-edge view your users can watch but not control. Embed the session's `debugUrl` with `interactive=false` to lock interaction to your backend, and fullscreen removes the browser chrome so all they see is the page. See [Live Sessions](/overview/sessions-api/embed-sessions/live-sessions) for the embed parameters.

**Viewport Matches Screen**

Sites that compare `innerHeight` to `screen.height` see exactly what a maximized, fullscreened real browser reports: the two are identical. Windowed sessions report the gap a real toolbar would create, so both modes present a consistent fingerprint—fullscreen just presents the edge-to-edge one.

### Things to Know

- **Fullscreen overrides `dimensions`.** The session is fixed at 1920×1080; any `width`/`height` you pass is ignored. Use `dimensions` for a specific size, `fullscreen` for the whole screen—not both.
- **Click coordinates shift.** Moving from a windowed session to fullscreen changes the viewport from 1915×989 to 1920×1080, so saved coordinates from windowed runs won't line up.
- **It's not the viewer's fullscreen button.** That button expands the live viewer on your screen; `fullscreen: true` changes how the cloud browser itself launches.

:::callout
type: help
### Need help with fullscreen mode?
Reach out to us on the <span className="font-bold">#help</span> channel on [Discord](https://discord.gg/steel-dev) or [@steeldotdev](https://twitter.com/steeldotdev).
:::