Mendeley HiDPI manifest (copy this to C:\Program Files (x86)\Mendeley Desktop\)

MendeleyDesktop.exe.manifest

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns:asmv3="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">

<dependency>
  <dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity
      type="win32"
      name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls"
      version="6.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="*"
      publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
      language="*">
    </assemblyIdentity>
  </dependentAssembly>
</dependency>

<dependency>
  <dependentAssembly>
    <assemblyIdentity
      type="win32"
      name="Microsoft.VC90.CRT"
      version="9.0.21022.8"
      processorArchitecture="amd64"
      publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b">
    </assemblyIdentity>
  </dependentAssembly>
</dependency>

<trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
  <security>
    <requestedPrivileges>
      <requestedExecutionLevel
        level="asInvoker"
        uiAccess="false"/>
    </requestedPrivileges>
  </security>
</trustInfo>

<asmv3:application>
  <asmv3:windowsSettings xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2005/WindowsSettings">
    <ms_windowsSettings:dpiAware xmlns:ms_windowsSettings="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2005/WindowsSettings">false</ms_windowsSettings:dpiAware>
  </asmv3:windowsSettings>
</asmv3:application>

</assembly>

@TTTPOB
Thanks for your report, but I'm not using Mendeley recently and I'm not sure this manifesto file is still valid or not.

Update on this: adding the manifest file didn't work for me either to start, but I got it working. The file is still valid, you just need to edit the Registry key so that Windows will read it when Windows loads the app.

This link showed me the steps, and gave some useful context:

https://danantonielli.com/adobe-app-scaling-on-high-dpi-displays-fix/

Big thanks @hayamiz for the original script btw, I really fucking hate this aspect of Windows 10 - and how poorly devs maintain reference managers.

1. Press Windows Button + R, type “regedit”, and then click OK.
2. Navigate to the following registry subkey:
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > SideBySide
4. Right-click, select NEW > DWORD (32 bit) Value
5. Type PreferExternalManifest, and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click PreferExternalManifest, and then click Modify.
7. Enter Value Data 1 and select Decimal.
8. Click OK. Exit Registry Editor.

@CMealings
Thank you for your update!

In current Windows 10, this works after applying the registry change to set PreferExternalManifest=1.

However I do not think the manifest is necessary anymore. You can do the following in Windows 10 build 18363 (version 1909 "November 2019 Update"):

1. Open Properties for MendeleyDesktop.exe
2. Choose Compatibility tab
3. Click Change high DPI settings button
4. Check the box for Override high DPI scaling behavior
5. Set Scaling performed by to System (Enhanced)

I believe this functionality arrived in the Creators Update, but it might not have worked properly back then with Mendeley.

I think the system enhanced settings of high dpi display for mendeley is not perfect. You will get a blurred image

And I tried to add the registry manifest once but failed to yield reasonable result. I will try again this time.

Update: this time it works but yielded the same result as setting the high dpi display option.

In fact I found that another option which may be helpful:
Mendeley is written using QT, and QT program reads a universal environment variable, QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR, to determine the scaling factor. set QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR to 1, you will get a perfect ui(normal size, not blurring), BUT A MALFUNCTIONAL PDF READING INTERFACE. (like this)

I used the approach described above by @patrickmdnet except I checked the top box in the menu, rather than the over-ride box.

It seems to be working well for both the UI and the pdf reader.

Thank you @evanmascitti, your solution is superior and does not scale down the resolution of the icons.

Thank you, @evanmascitti. I was baffled at why my Mendeley was suddenly TINY, but this fixed it and it looks like it did before my last Windows update.

Thank you, @evanmascitti. I was baffled at why my Mendeley was suddenly TINY, but this fixed it and it looks like it did before my last Windows update.

Glad that you found it useful!