# Magpie: GPU-Accelerated Window Upscaling for Windows 10 and 11

> Magpie is a lightweight open-source tool that captures any window on Windows 10 or 11 and scales it up using GPU shaders, including Anime4K, FSR, and CRT filters. It is designed for games and older applications that lack native high-resolution support.

**Blinue/Magpie** — A general-purpose window upscaler for Windows 10/11.

- Repository: https://github.com/Blinue/Magpie
- Stars: 15,131 · Forks: 708
- Language: HLSL
- License: GPL-3.0
- Published: 2026-09-21 · Updated: 2026-09-21 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/blinue-magpie

## The problem Magpie solves

Many older games and desktop applications render at a low resolution and rely on the operating system to scale their window. The result is blurry output on high-DPI monitors. Magpie inserts itself between the application and the display, captures the window's output, runs it through a configurable shader pipeline, and presents the enlarged result at full screen or in a larger window. This works without modifying the target application.

The tool is aimed at Windows gamers and power users who want sharper output from software that does not support modern resolution scaling. It requires Windows 10 version 1903 or later, or Windows 11, and a GPU meeting DirectX feature level 11. The repository's primary language is HLSL, meaning the processing runs on the GPU rather than burning CPU cycles. Because Magpie captures any window, it also works on non-game applications such as legacy enterprise tools that render at fixed low resolutions.

## Built-in algorithms and the HLSL shader pipeline

The primary language of the repository is HLSL, reflecting that the core work happens on the GPU. Magpie ships with a library of built-in effects documented on the project wiki, including Anime4K (designed for anime-style content), AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), and CRT shaders for retro display simulation.

The effect system is modular: a profile can chain multiple filters in sequence. For example, a CRT shader can follow an Anime4K pass. The README lists multi-monitor support as a feature, meaning the scaled output can be directed to a specific display in a multi-screen setup.

The user interface is built with WinUI and supports both light and dark themes.

## Installing and starting to scale a window

Magpie is distributed as a pre-built release. The README links directly to the GitHub Releases page for download. There is no package manager installation step documented in the README.

The README includes two configuration hints before starting. First, for applications that do not declare high-DPI support (common in older games), go into the application's compatibility settings in Windows and set "High DPI scaling override" to "Application". Second, if the target application supports resolution changes internally, set it to its native (best) resolution before scaling, because naive in-app scaling will interfere with Magpie's output.

Once Magpie is running and a profile is configured for the target application, the user activates scaling by pressing a hotkey. The scaled window appears over the original. The wiki covers detailed configuration at the Built-in effects and FAQ pages.

## Limitations: platform, scope, and DPI edge cases

Magpie is Windows-only. The README specifies Windows 10 v1903 or newer and Windows 11. There is no Linux or macOS support, and no mention of plans for cross-platform builds.

The DPI scaling interaction is a real failure case. When both Windows DPI scaling and Magpie are active on an application that does not declare high-DPI awareness, the output can be scaled twice: once by Windows and again by Magpie. The README documents this and explains the compatibility override workaround, but it requires per-application configuration. For applications that already render at the full monitor resolution, Magpie adds no benefit and should not be used.

The tool operates at the window capture level, not the game rendering level. It cannot inject itself into the game's rendering pipeline to provide in-engine super-sampling. The quality ceiling is therefore limited by what the GPU can reconstruct from the captured output.

## Compared to NVIDIA DLSS and driver-level scaling

NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR in their native forms run inside the game's rendering pipeline, allowing the upscaler to access depth buffers, motion vectors, and other sub-frame data that improves quality. Magpie applies its shaders to the final captured frame, without that internal data. The trade-off is universal compatibility: Magpie works on any DirectX 11 GPU and any application window, while DLSS requires both a compatible NVIDIA GPU and explicit game integration.

Magpie does include the FSR shader as one of its built-in effects, so it can apply AMD's spatial upscaling algorithm to any window, not just FSR-integrated games. The quality of spatial-only FSR from a captured frame will differ from in-engine FSR with temporal accumulation. For applications that already render at native resolution, running Magpie adds no benefit; it is a tool for the specific case where the source resolution is fixed below the monitor's native panel resolution.

## Maintenance and licence

The last push was on 2026-09-27, one day before this article was written, and the most recent release is v0.12.1 from August 2025. The repository uses a semantic version scheme and maintains a dev branch as default, with releases tagged separately.

The licence is GPL-3.0. This means that any derivative work that is distributed must also be released under GPL-3.0. For personal use, the licence imposes no restrictions. For anyone building a commercial product that incorporates Magpie's code, the copyleft terms require sharing modifications. The project uses Weblate for community-contributed translations and lists numerous contributors in its README.

## Conclusion

Magpie is a practical choice for Windows users who want to upscale older games or applications that do not support native high-DPI output. The tool covers both fullscreen and windowed modes and requires only DirectX feature level 11 hardware, which is standard on any GPU from the last decade. It is not a general-purpose image enhancer and does not run on macOS or Linux. Before installing, check the DPI scaling hint in the README: for applications that do not handle high DPI natively, setting the compatibility option to "Application" scaling first prevents double-scaling artifacts.

## FAQ

### How do I use Magpie to scale a game window?

Download a release from the GitHub Releases page, configure a profile for the target application in Magpie's settings, then press the configured hotkey while the target window is in focus. For older applications that do not declare high-DPI support, the README recommends setting the application's compatibility "High DPI scaling override" to "Application" first.

### How do I install Magpie?

The README links to the GitHub Releases page where pre-built binaries are available for download. No package manager installation is documented in the README. The system requirement is Windows 10 v1903 or Windows 11 with DirectX feature level 11.

### How do I set up Magpie for upscaling with FSR?

FSR is one of the built-in shader effects available in Magpie's effect pipeline. After installing Magpie, create a profile for your target application and select FSR from the list of built-in effects. The wiki's Built-in effects page documents the available options and their settings.

## Sources

- [Blinue/Magpie on GitHub](https://github.com/Blinue/Magpie)
- [Issues](https://github.com/Blinue/Magpie/issues)
- [License: GPL-3.0](https://github.com/Blinue/Magpie/blob/dev/LICENSE)
- [README](https://github.com/Blinue/Magpie/blob/dev/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/Blinue/Magpie/releases)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/blinue-magpie