GetSystemMetrics function (winuser.h)

Article
03/11/2023

Retrieves the specified system metric or system configuration setting.

Note that all dimensions retrieved by GetSystemMetrics are in pixels.

Syntax

int GetSystemMetrics(
  [in] int nIndex
);

Parameters

[in] nIndex

Type: int

The system metric or configuration setting to be retrieved. This parameter can be one of the following values. Note that all SM_CX* values are widths and all SM_CY* values are heights. Also note that all settings designed to return Boolean data represent TRUE as any nonzero value, and FALSE as a zero value.

Value	Meaning
SM_ARRANGE 56	The flags that specify how the system arranged minimized windows. For more information, see the Remarks section in this topic.
SM_CLEANBOOT 67	The value that specifies how the system is started: 0 Normal boot 1 Fail-safe boot 2 Fail-safe with network boot A fail-safe boot (also called SafeBoot, Safe Mode, or Clean Boot) bypasses the user startup files.
SM_CMONITORS 80	The number of display monitors on a desktop. For more information, see the Remarks section in this topic.
SM_CMOUSEBUTTONS 43	The number of buttons on a mouse, or zero if no mouse is installed.
SM_CONVERTIBLESLATEMODE 0x2003	Reflects the state of the laptop or slate mode, 0 for Slate Mode and non-zero otherwise. When this system metric changes, the system sends a broadcast message via WM_SETTINGCHANGE with "ConvertibleSlateMode" in the LPARAM. Note that this system metric doesn't apply to desktop PCs. In that case, use GetAutoRotationState.
SM_CXBORDER 5	The width of a window border, in pixels. This is equivalent to the SM_CXEDGE value for windows with the 3-D look.
SM_CXCURSOR 13	The nominal width of a cursor, in pixels.
SM_CXDLGFRAME 7	This value is the same as SM_CXFIXEDFRAME.
SM_CXDOUBLECLK 36	The width of the rectangle around the location of a first click in a double-click sequence, in pixels. The second click must occur within the rectangle that is defined by SM_CXDOUBLECLK and SM_CYDOUBLECLK for the system to consider the two clicks a double-click. The two clicks must also occur within a specified time. To set the width of the double-click rectangle, call SystemParametersInfo with SPI_SETDOUBLECLKWIDTH.
SM_CXDRAG 68	The number of pixels on either side of a mouse-down point that the mouse pointer can move before a drag operation begins. This allows the user to click and release the mouse button easily without unintentionally starting a drag operation. If this value is negative, it is subtracted from the left of the mouse-down point and added to the right of it.
SM_CXEDGE 45	The width of a 3-D border, in pixels. This metric is the 3-D counterpart of SM_CXBORDER.
SM_CXFIXEDFRAME 7	The thickness of the frame around the perimeter of a window that has a caption but is not sizable, in pixels. SM_CXFIXEDFRAME is the height of the horizontal border, and SM_CYFIXEDFRAME is the width of the vertical border. This value is the same as SM_CXDLGFRAME.
SM_CXFOCUSBORDER 83	The width of the left and right edges of the focus rectangle that the DrawFocusRect draws. This value is in pixels. Windows 2000: This value is not supported.
SM_CXFRAME 32	This value is the same as SM_CXSIZEFRAME.
SM_CXFULLSCREEN 16	The width of the client area for a full-screen window on the primary display monitor, in pixels. To get the coordinates of the portion of the screen that is not obscured by the system taskbar or by application desktop toolbars, call the SystemParametersInfo function with the SPI_GETWORKAREA value.
SM_CXHSCROLL 21	The width of the arrow bitmap on a horizontal scroll bar, in pixels.
SM_CXHTHUMB 10	The width of the thumb box in a horizontal scroll bar, in pixels.
SM_CXICON 11	The system large width of an icon, in pixels. The LoadIcon function can load only icons with the dimensions that SM_CXICON and SM_CYICON specifies. See Icon Sizes for more info.
SM_CXICONSPACING 38	The width of a grid cell for items in large icon view, in pixels. Each item fits into a rectangle of size SM_CXICONSPACING by SM_CYICONSPACING when arranged. This value is always greater than or equal to SM_CXICON.
SM_CXMAXIMIZED 61	The default width, in pixels, of a maximized top-level window on the primary display monitor.
SM_CXMAXTRACK 59	The default maximum width of a window that has a caption and sizing borders, in pixels. This metric refers to the entire desktop. The user cannot drag the window frame to a size larger than these dimensions. A window can override this value by processing the WM_GETMINMAXINFO message.
SM_CXMENUCHECK 71	The width of the default menu check-mark bitmap, in pixels.
SM_CXMENUSIZE 54	The width of menu bar buttons, such as the child window close button that is used in the multiple document interface, in pixels.
SM_CXMIN 28	The minimum width of a window, in pixels.
SM_CXMINIMIZED 57	The width of a minimized window, in pixels.
SM_CXMINSPACING 47	The width of a grid cell for a minimized window, in pixels. Each minimized window fits into a rectangle this size when arranged. This value is always greater than or equal to SM_CXMINIMIZED.
SM_CXMINTRACK 34	The minimum tracking width of a window, in pixels. The user cannot drag the window frame to a size smaller than these dimensions. A window can override this value by processing the WM_GETMINMAXINFO message.
SM_CXPADDEDBORDER 92	The amount of border padding for captioned windows, in pixels. Windows XP/2000: This value is not supported.
SM_CXSCREEN 0	The width of the screen of the primary display monitor, in pixels. This is the same value obtained by calling GetDeviceCaps as follows: `GetDeviceCaps( hdcPrimaryMonitor, HORZRES)`.
SM_CXSIZE 30	The width of a button in a window caption or title bar, in pixels.
SM_CXSIZEFRAME 32	The thickness of the sizing border around the perimeter of a window that can be resized, in pixels. SM_CXSIZEFRAME is the width of the horizontal border, and SM_CYSIZEFRAME is the height of the vertical border. This value is the same as SM_CXFRAME.
SM_CXSMICON 49	The system small width of an icon, in pixels. Small icons typically appear in window captions and in small icon view. See Icon Sizes for more info.
SM_CXSMSIZE 52	The width of small caption buttons, in pixels.
SM_CXVIRTUALSCREEN 78	The width of the virtual screen, in pixels. The virtual screen is the bounding rectangle of all display monitors. The SM_XVIRTUALSCREEN metric is the coordinates for the left side of the virtual screen.
SM_CXVSCROLL 2	The width of a vertical scroll bar, in pixels.
SM_CYBORDER 6	The height of a window border, in pixels. This is equivalent to the SM_CYEDGE value for windows with the 3-D look.
SM_CYCAPTION 4	The height of a caption area, in pixels.
SM_CYCURSOR 14	The nominal height of a cursor, in pixels.
SM_CYDLGFRAME 8	This value is the same as SM_CYFIXEDFRAME.
SM_CYDOUBLECLK 37	The height of the rectangle around the location of a first click in a double-click sequence, in pixels. The second click must occur within the rectangle defined by SM_CXDOUBLECLK and SM_CYDOUBLECLK for the system to consider the two clicks a double-click. The two clicks must also occur within a specified time. To set the height of the double-click rectangle, call SystemParametersInfo with SPI_SETDOUBLECLKHEIGHT.
SM_CYDRAG 69	The number of pixels above and below a mouse-down point that the mouse pointer can move before a drag operation begins. This allows the user to click and release the mouse button easily without unintentionally starting a drag operation. If this value is negative, it is subtracted from above the mouse-down point and added below it.
SM_CYEDGE 46	The height of a 3-D border, in pixels. This is the 3-D counterpart of SM_CYBORDER.
SM_CYFIXEDFRAME 8	The thickness of the frame around the perimeter of a window that has a caption but is not sizable, in pixels. SM_CXFIXEDFRAME is the height of the horizontal border, and SM_CYFIXEDFRAME is the width of the vertical border. This value is the same as SM_CYDLGFRAME.
SM_CYFOCUSBORDER 84	The height of the top and bottom edges of the focus rectangle drawn by DrawFocusRect. This value is in pixels. Windows 2000: This value is not supported.
SM_CYFRAME 33	This value is the same as SM_CYSIZEFRAME.
SM_CYFULLSCREEN 17	The height of the client area for a full-screen window on the primary display monitor, in pixels. To get the coordinates of the portion of the screen not obscured by the system taskbar or by application desktop toolbars, call the SystemParametersInfo function with the SPI_GETWORKAREA value.
SM_CYHSCROLL 3	The height of a horizontal scroll bar, in pixels.
SM_CYICON 12	The system large height of an icon, in pixels. The LoadIcon function can load only icons with the dimensions that SM_CXICON and SM_CYICON specifies. See Icon Sizes for more info.
SM_CYICONSPACING 39	The height of a grid cell for items in large icon view, in pixels. Each item fits into a rectangle of size SM_CXICONSPACING by SM_CYICONSPACING when arranged. This value is always greater than or equal to SM_CYICON.
SM_CYKANJIWINDOW 18	For double byte character set versions of the system, this is the height of the Kanji window at the bottom of the screen, in pixels.
SM_CYMAXIMIZED 62	The default height, in pixels, of a maximized top-level window on the primary display monitor.
SM_CYMAXTRACK 60	The default maximum height of a window that has a caption and sizing borders, in pixels. This metric refers to the entire desktop. The user cannot drag the window frame to a size larger than these dimensions. A window can override this value by processing the WM_GETMINMAXINFO message.
SM_CYMENU 15	The height of a single-line menu bar, in pixels.
SM_CYMENUCHECK 72	The height of the default menu check-mark bitmap, in pixels.
SM_CYMENUSIZE 55	The height of menu bar buttons, such as the child window close button that is used in the multiple document interface, in pixels.
SM_CYMIN 29	The minimum height of a window, in pixels.
SM_CYMINIMIZED 58	The height of a minimized window, in pixels.
SM_CYMINSPACING 48	The height of a grid cell for a minimized window, in pixels. Each minimized window fits into a rectangle this size when arranged. This value is always greater than or equal to SM_CYMINIMIZED.
SM_CYMINTRACK 35	The minimum tracking height of a window, in pixels. The user cannot drag the window frame to a size smaller than these dimensions. A window can override this value by processing the WM_GETMINMAXINFO message.
SM_CYSCREEN 1	The height of the screen of the primary display monitor, in pixels. This is the same value obtained by calling GetDeviceCaps as follows: `GetDeviceCaps( hdcPrimaryMonitor, VERTRES)`.
SM_CYSIZE 31	The height of a button in a window caption or title bar, in pixels.
SM_CYSIZEFRAME 33	The thickness of the sizing border around the perimeter of a window that can be resized, in pixels. SM_CXSIZEFRAME is the width of the horizontal border, and SM_CYSIZEFRAME is the height of the vertical border. This value is the same as SM_CYFRAME.
SM_CYSMCAPTION 51	The height of a small caption, in pixels.
SM_CYSMICON 50	The system small height of an icon, in pixels. Small icons typically appear in window captions and in small icon view. See Icon Sizes for more info.
SM_CYSMSIZE 53	The height of small caption buttons, in pixels.
SM_CYVIRTUALSCREEN 79	The height of the virtual screen, in pixels. The virtual screen is the bounding rectangle of all display monitors. The SM_YVIRTUALSCREEN metric is the coordinates for the top of the virtual screen.
SM_CYVSCROLL 20	The height of the arrow bitmap on a vertical scroll bar, in pixels.
SM_CYVTHUMB 9	The height of the thumb box in a vertical scroll bar, in pixels.
SM_DBCSENABLED 42	Nonzero if User32.dll supports DBCS; otherwise, 0.
SM_DEBUG 22	Nonzero if the debug version of User.exe is installed; otherwise, 0.
SM_DIGITIZER 94	Nonzero if the current operating system is Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 and the Tablet PC Input service is started; otherwise, 0. The return value is a bitmask that specifies the type of digitizer input supported by the device. For more information, see Remarks. Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista and Windows XP/2000: This value is not supported.
SM_IMMENABLED 82	Nonzero if Input Method Manager/Input Method Editor features are enabled; otherwise, 0. SM_IMMENABLED indicates whether the system is ready to use a Unicode-based IME on a Unicode application. To ensure that a language-dependent IME works, check SM_DBCSENABLED and the system ANSI code page. Otherwise the ANSI-to-Unicode conversion may not be performed correctly, or some components like fonts or registry settings may not be present.
SM_MAXIMUMTOUCHES 95	Nonzero if there are digitizers in the system; otherwise, 0. SM_MAXIMUMTOUCHES returns the aggregate maximum of the maximum number of contacts supported by every digitizer in the system. If the system has only single-touch digitizers, the return value is 1. If the system has multi-touch digitizers, the return value is the number of simultaneous contacts the hardware can provide. Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista and Windows XP/2000: This value is not supported.
SM_MEDIACENTER 87	Nonzero if the current operating system is the Windows XP, Media Center Edition, 0 if not.
SM_MENUDROPALIGNMENT 40	Nonzero if drop-down menus are right-aligned with the corresponding menu-bar item; 0 if the menus are left-aligned.
SM_MIDEASTENABLED 74	Nonzero if the system is enabled for Hebrew and Arabic languages, 0 if not.
SM_MOUSEPRESENT 19	Nonzero if a mouse is installed; otherwise, 0. This value is rarely zero, because of support for virtual mice and because some systems detect the presence of the port instead of the presence of a mouse.
SM_MOUSEHORIZONTALWHEELPRESENT 91	Nonzero if a mouse with a horizontal scroll wheel is installed; otherwise 0.
SM_MOUSEWHEELPRESENT 75	Nonzero if a mouse with a vertical scroll wheel is installed; otherwise 0.
SM_NETWORK 63	The least significant bit is set if a network is present; otherwise, it is cleared. The other bits are reserved for future use.
SM_PENWINDOWS 41	Nonzero if the Microsoft Windows for Pen computing extensions are installed; zero otherwise.
SM_REMOTECONTROL 0x2001	This system metric is used in a Terminal Services environment to determine if the current Terminal Server session is being remotely controlled. Its value is nonzero if the current session is remotely controlled; otherwise, 0. You can use terminal services management tools such as Terminal Services Manager (tsadmin.msc) and shadow.exe to control a remote session. When a session is being remotely controlled, another user can view the contents of that session and potentially interact with it.
SM_REMOTESESSION 0x1000	This system metric is used in a Terminal Services environment. If the calling process is associated with a Terminal Services client session, the return value is nonzero. If the calling process is associated with the Terminal Services console session, the return value is 0. Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP: The console session is not necessarily the physical console. For more information, see WTSGetActiveConsoleSessionId.
SM_SAMEDISPLAYFORMAT 81	Nonzero if all the display monitors have the same color format, otherwise, 0. Two displays can have the same bit depth, but different color formats. For example, the red, green, and blue pixels can be encoded with different numbers of bits, or those bits can be located in different places in a pixel color value.
SM_SECURE 44	This system metric should be ignored; it always returns 0.
SM_SERVERR2 89	The build number if the system is Windows Server 2003 R2; otherwise, 0.
SM_SHOWSOUNDS 70	Nonzero if the user requires an application to present information visually in situations where it would otherwise present the information only in audible form; otherwise, 0.
SM_SHUTTINGDOWN 0x2000	Nonzero if the current session is shutting down; otherwise, 0. Windows 2000: This value is not supported.
SM_SLOWMACHINE 73	Nonzero if the computer has a low-end (slow) processor; otherwise, 0.
SM_STARTER 88	Nonzero if the current operating system is Windows 7 Starter Edition, Windows Vista Starter, or Windows XP Starter Edition; otherwise, 0.
SM_SWAPBUTTON 23	Nonzero if the meanings of the left and right mouse buttons are swapped; otherwise, 0.
SM_SYSTEMDOCKED 0x2004	Reflects the state of the docking mode, 0 for Undocked Mode and non-zero otherwise. When this system metric changes, the system sends a broadcast message via WM_SETTINGCHANGE with "SystemDockMode" in the LPARAM.
SM_TABLETPC 86	Nonzero if the current operating system is the Windows XP Tablet PC edition or if the current operating system is Windows Vista or Windows 7 and the Tablet PC Input service is started; otherwise, 0. The SM_DIGITIZER setting indicates the type of digitizer input supported by a device running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. For more information, see Remarks.
SM_XVIRTUALSCREEN 76	The coordinates for the left side of the virtual screen. The virtual screen is the bounding rectangle of all display monitors. The SM_CXVIRTUALSCREEN metric is the width of the virtual screen.
SM_YVIRTUALSCREEN 77	The coordinates for the top of the virtual screen. The virtual screen is the bounding rectangle of all display monitors. The SM_CYVIRTUALSCREEN metric is the height of the virtual screen.

Return value

Type: int

If the function succeeds, the return value is the requested system metric or configuration setting.

If the function fails, the return value is 0. GetLastError does not provide extended error information.

Remarks

System metrics can vary from display to display.

GetSystemMetrics(SM_CMONITORS) counts only visible display monitors. This is different from EnumDisplayMonitors, which enumerates both visible display monitors and invisible pseudo-monitors that are associated with mirroring drivers. An invisible pseudo-monitor is associated with a pseudo-device used to mirror application drawing for remoting or other purposes.

The SM_ARRANGE setting specifies how the system arranges minimized windows, and consists of a starting position and a direction. The starting position can be one of the following values.

Value	Meaning
ARW_BOTTOMLEFT	Start at the lower-left corner of the screen. The default position.
ARW_BOTTOMRIGHT	Start at the lower-right corner of the screen. Equivalent to ARW_STARTRIGHT.
ARW_TOPLEFT	Start at the upper-left corner of the screen. Equivalent to ARW_STARTTOP.
ARW_TOPRIGHT	Start at the upper-right corner of the screen. Equivalent to ARW_STARTTOP \| SRW_STARTRIGHT.

The direction in which to arrange minimized windows can be one of the following values.

Value	Meaning
ARW_DOWN	Arrange vertically, top to bottom.
ARW_HIDE	Hide minimized windows by moving them off the visible area of the screen.
ARW_LEFT	Arrange horizontally, left to right.
ARW_RIGHT	Arrange horizontally, right to left.
ARW_UP	Arrange vertically, bottom to top.

The SM_DIGITIZER setting specifies the type of digitizers that are installed on a device running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. The return value is a bitmask that specifies one or more of the following values.

Value	Meaning
NID_INTEGRATED_TOUCH 0x01	The device has an integrated touch digitizer.
NID_EXTERNAL_TOUCH 0x02	The device has an external touch digitizer.
NID_INTEGRATED_PEN 0x04	The device has an integrated pen digitizer.
NID_EXTERNAL_PEN 0x08	The device has an external pen digitizer.
NID_MULTI_INPUT 0x40	The device supports multiple sources of digitizer input.
NID_READY 0x80	The device is ready to receive digitizer input.

This API is not DPI aware, and should not be used if the calling thread is per-monitor DPI aware. For the DPI-aware version of this API, see GetSystemMetricsForDPI. For more information on DPI awareness, see the Windows High DPI documentation.

Examples

The following example uses the GetSystemMetrics function to determine whether a mouse is installed and whether the mouse buttons are swapped. The example also uses the SystemParametersInfo function to retrieve the mouse threshold and speed. It displays the information in the console.

#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "user32.lib")

void main()
{
   BOOL fResult;
   int aMouseInfo[3];
 
   fResult = GetSystemMetrics(SM_MOUSEPRESENT); 
 
   if (fResult == 0) 
      printf("No mouse installed.\n"); 
   else 
   { 
      printf("Mouse installed.\n");

      // Determine whether the buttons are swapped. 

      fResult = GetSystemMetrics(SM_SWAPBUTTON); 
 
      if (fResult == 0) 
         printf("Buttons not swapped.\n"); 
      else printf("Buttons swapped.\n");
 
      // Get the mouse speed and the threshold values. 
 
      fResult = SystemParametersInfo(
         SPI_GETMOUSE,  // get mouse information 
         0,             // not used 
         &aMouseInfo,   // holds mouse information 
         0);            // not used 

      if( fResult )
      { 
         printf("Speed: %d\n", aMouseInfo[2]); 
         printf("Threshold (x,y): %d,%d\n", 
            aMouseInfo[0], aMouseInfo[1]); 
      }
   } 
}

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	winuser.h (include Windows.h)
Library	User32.lib
DLL	User32.dll
API set	ext-ms-win-ntuser-sysparams-ext-l1-1-0 (introduced in Windows 8)

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