A safe, native Windows editor for Counter-Strike 2 display settings.
CS2 ResEdit finds the local video configuration for each Steam account and changes resolution and aspect ratio without manual VDF editing. Version 1.0 is a portable, self-contained C#/.NET 10 WinForms application with a warm graphite interface, orange accents, and sharp per-monitor high-DPI rendering.
The application runs locally and requires no PowerShell runtime, separate .NET installation, administrator rights, API key, installer, or network connection.
| Capability | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Steam discovery | Lists local persona names, Account IDs, SteamID64 values, and configuration availability. |
| Display modes | Detects active displays, prioritizes Windows-supported modes, retains 43 curated presets, and accepts validated custom dimensions. |
| Recommended presets | Defaults to 1280x960, 1920x1080, or 1680x1050 when changing aspect families. |
| Live preview | Compares current and pending settings and previews the pending display shape. |
| Safe updates | Preserves encoding, BOM state, line endings, and unrelated VDF content during atomic replacement. |
| Recovery | Creates timestamped backups by default and supports previewed, rollback-safe restoration. |
| Local preferences | Remembers the last account and up to five recent valid custom files. |
| Diagnostics | Copies or exports a privacy-safe support report without identifiers, paths, or configuration contents. |
- Download
CS2-ResEdit.exe. - Close Counter-Strike 2 so the game cannot overwrite the configuration when it exits.
- Place the executable anywhere convenient and run it.
- Select a discovered Steam account or choose Browse to open a
cs2_video.txt. - Select the target display, aspect family, and resolution, review the pending settings, then choose Apply changes.
No installation is required. The usual configuration location is:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\<AccountID>\730\local\cfg\cs2_video.txt
The executable is currently unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen may display a warning. Verify the SHA-256 checksum against the published sidecar before choosing More info and Run anyway.
Changing the aspect family filters the preset list and selects a common starting resolution:
4:3 / 5:4→1280x96016:9→1920x108016:10→1680x1050
Windows-supported modes for the selected target display appear first. Every curated preset remains available afterward and is marked when Windows did not report it. The catalog ranges from low-resolution modes such as 640x480 and 800x600 through 4K-class modes. Choose Custom resolution to enter exact dimensions within the validated range.
The target display affects availability guidance only; the editor does not modify CS2 monitor-selection fields.
Choose Diagnostics to review a local support summary. Use Copy for the readable report or Export JSON for a versioned machine-readable report.
Reports include the app/OS architecture, display and mode counts, Steam discovery counts, and configuration format status. They exclude Steam names and identifiers, file paths, configuration contents, and preferences.
The Create a timestamped backup before applying option is enabled by default. Each successful change creates a backup beside the active configuration.
Choose Manage backups to inspect available editor backups and restore one. A restore is validated before use and creates a rollback backup of the current file first, so the operation can be reversed.
- The editor validates the required resolution fields before modifying a file and remains compatible with current files that omit the retired legacy aspect-mode field.
- Updates are prepared in memory, written to a temporary file, and atomically replace the active configuration.
- The original encoding (UTF-8 or UTF-16), BOM state, and CRLF/LF line endings are preserved.
- Backups use
cs2_video.txt.<yyyyMMdd-HHmmss>.bak; the newest five recognized editor backups are retained. - Unrelated
.bakfiles are never pruned. - Steam names and identifiers are read locally and are never uploaded.
- Preferences contain no credentials and remain at:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Softhe\CS2-ResEdit\v1\settings.json
Version 1 starts with fresh preferences at this path. Preference files from other product names or unversioned folders are neither imported nor modified.
Download the executable and checksum into the same directory, then run:
$expected = (Get-Content .\CS2-ResEdit.exe.sha256).Split()[0]
$actual = (Get-FileHash .\CS2-ResEdit.exe -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLowerInvariant()
$actual -eq $expectedThe result should be True.
Checksum verification confirms that the downloaded file matches the GitHub release asset. Because the executable is unsigned, it does not provide publisher identity verification.
- Windows 10 or Windows 11, x64
- Counter-Strike 2 installed through Steam, or a valid
cs2_video.txt
Choose Refresh after Steam has been started at least once. If the account still does not appear, choose Browse and open its cs2_video.txt directly.
The button remains disabled until the pending settings differ from the current file and both custom dimensions are valid. Select another preset or enter valid width and height values.
Close Counter-Strike 2 before applying a change. The game can overwrite cs2_video.txt with its in-memory settings when it exits.
Choose Manage backups, select the appropriate timestamped backup, preview it, and restore it. The editor creates an additional rollback backup before restoration.
- Windows 10/11 x64 only
- GUI-only; command-line automation is not included
- Unsigned executable; SmartScreen may warn on first launch
- Local Steam installations and manually selected configuration files only
Install the .NET SDK selected by global.json, then run:
dotnet restore CS2-ResEdit.slnx --locked-mode
dotnet build CS2-ResEdit.slnx -c Release --no-restore
dotnet test CS2-ResEdit.slnx -c Release --no-build --no-restore
.\build\Publish.ps1The solution separates the WinForms UI, reusable configuration/Steam/preferences core, and xUnit tests. build\Publish.ps1 runs the tests and produces:
dist\CS2-ResEdit.exedist\CS2-ResEdit.exe.sha256
Pushing a tag that matches the application version runs the test workflow and publishes both verified assets as a GitHub release.
CS2 ResEdit is free software licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.