What happens inside a multimeter when you switch it from a lower to a higher voltage range?

A voltmeter is designed to measure the potential difference across a component, so it is placed in parallel with the circuit. To prevent the meter from drawing too much current and altering the circuit's behavior, it must have a very high internal resistance. When you switch a multimeter to a higher voltage range, the internal circuitry adds multiplier resistors in series with the basic meter movement. This increases the total resistance, ensuring that the higher voltage does not push excessive current through the sensitive meter coil. Adding resistance in parallel would create a current shunt (used for ammeters), and reducing resistance would cause the higher voltage to overload and destroy the meter movement.