number of display screens connected for sale

Tip:If you"re using a wireless display adapter, connect to an HDMI port on newer TVs, then wirelessly connect your PC to it. After connecting your wireless display adapter to your TV, go to your Windows 11 PC, press Windows logo key + K to open Cast, then select your wireless display adapter.

To see which number corresponds to a display, select Start, then search for settings. Select Settings > System > Display> Identify. A number appears on the screen of the display it"s assigned to.

If you have multiple displays, you can change how they"re arranged. This is helpful if you want your displays to match how they"re set up in your home or office. In Display settings, select and drag the display to where you want. Do this with all the displays you want to move. When you"re happy with the layout, select Apply. Test your new layout by moving your mouse pointer across the different displays to make sure it works like you expect.

After you"re connected to your external displays, you can change settings like your resolution, screen layout, and more. To see available options, in Settings, select System > Display.

Windows will recommend an orientation for your screen. To change it in Display settings, under Scale & layout, choose your preferred Display orientation. If you change the orientation of a monitor, you"ll also need to physically rotate the screen. For example, you"d rotate your external display to use it in portrait instead of landscape.

Trying to boost your productivity with a second screen? Want more immersive gaming sessions? Multiple monitors can help. Dual displays are great for multitasking and are easy to set up, but there are a few things to consider before you wade into a multiscreen world—whether you"re on Windows or Mac.

Be sure to check out our advice on how to use a second monitor or screen with your laptop, and you can find recommendations for monitors, monitor arms, and desks in our Home Office Gear guide.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.

Windows: The presence of several ports on your graphics card indicates it can likely handle multiple monitors. But you should check the maximum number of supported displays and resolutions. (You can see what graphics card you have by typing Device Manager into the Search bar, opening it, and then expanding Display adapters.) Visit the manufacturer’s website to find the specifications for your graphics card, and look for a section titled Display Support or something similar that will list this info.

Mac: If you"re adding monitors to a Mac, click on the Apple icon > About This Mac and double-click your serial number, then tap Command-C on your keyboard to copy it, go to Apple"s website, and paste it into search. Click on Support to find the Technical Specifications and search for Video Support.

You can mix and match the types of screens you have at your workstation, though you"ll likely want some consistency. The most common monitor size is 24 inches, but 27-inch screens are increasingly popular. Having the same size screens will be nice for symmetry. Just keep an eye on resolution when you buy. A 1080p screen on a 27-inch monitor might look too fuzzy.

We dive into orientation and arrangements below, but consider different types of screen arrangements. My current preference is a 34-inch ultrawide screen paired with a 27-inch screen in portrait orientation. As the name suggests, ultrawides are really wide and can deliver the experience of two screens, minus the screen"s bezel in between. Pairing it with a screen in portrait mode means you get enough space on the ultrawide to run two full-size browser windows side by side, plus a vertical screen on the side for apps that benefit from it, like Slack and email.

Alternatively, you can mount your screen to your desk and get rid of the stand, freeing up a lot of space. (You can also freely move your screen to various angles and positions.) Many displays support the VESA mount system. There are different sizes, and monitor arms have a screen size range and maximum weight they can support. Always check whether the monitor"s product page mentions VESA support, and note the VESA mount size. When you buy an arm mount, make sure it supports the screen size and weight of your new screen.

To get the most from your computer and monitors, you"ll need to think about which ports and cables to use. For Windows PCs, your choice is often HDMI vs. DisplayPort. Unfortunately, this isn’t as straightforward as you might expect. There are several versions of each connection type, each with different capabilities. For example, HDMI 2.1 supports up to 8K resolution at 120 Hz, DisplayPort 1.4 can deliver 8K at 60 Hz, and HDMI 2.0 is limited to 4K at 60 Hz.

For laptops, you might be looking at Thunderbolt, Mini DisplayPort, or even USB-C. Sometimes you will need an adapter or USB hub to connect an external monitor.

Check the technical specifications for your graphics card and monitor to find the best option for you. Remember that the card, monitor, and cable (and any adapters) you use must support the same technology and the same version. High-end monitors usually come with a selection of cables in the box, but some manufacturers annoyingly provide a single option that might not match the monitor’s top capability.

You may be able to connect one or more external displays to your Mac (you may need a video cable or adapter for each display). See the Apple Support article Adapters for the Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, or USB-C port.

For each display, securely connect a video cable (and adapter, if necessary) from a video output port on your Mac to the video input port on the display. See About the video ports.

You can connect one or more external displays, depending on your Mac.For Mac computers with the Apple M1 Chip: You can connect a single external display to your Mac. Docks don’t increase the number of displays you can connect. On a Mac mini with M1 chip, you can connect a second display to the HDMI port. See the Apple Support article Mac computers with Apple silicon.

For Mac computers with Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C): You can connect a single display to each port. If you connect multiple Thunderbolt devices to each other, the Thunderbolt 3 display must be the last device in the chain. If your Thunderbolt 3 display has USB ports, those can be used for data and power.

For Mac computers with Mini DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, or Thunderbolt 2: You can connect up to two displays. If the displays themselves have Thunderbolt ports, you can connect one display to another, and then connect one of the displays to a Thunderbolt port on your Mac. If your Mac has two Thunderbolt ports, you can connect each display to separate Thunderbolt ports on your Mac. A DisplayPort device must be the last device in a chain of connected Thunderbolt devices. See Connect a display, TV, or projector to Mac.

For Mac computers with Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) and HDMI ports: You can connect up to four external displays to your Mac, depending on your Mac model. See the Apple Support article Connect a display to your Mac.

Note:Only the device directly connected to your Mac receives power from the computer’s Thunderbolt port. The other devices in the chain must be powered by separate power adapters.

You can arrange your displays in any configuration to create an extended desktop. For example, you can set your external display side by side with your Mac to create one large continuous desktop.

If more than two displays are connected to your Mac, you can specify that some displays use mirroring (showing the entire desktop) and other displays show the extended desktop (displaying the desktop across two or more displays). For example, if you have three displays, you can have two displays showing the same information and the third display showing the extended desktop.Press and hold the Option key and drag one display icon onto another display icon to mirror those two displays.

Generally speaking, most Windows laptops now support dual monitors, at least. But you need to make sure your laptop is capable to add two external monitors. And that depends on your Windows operating system, the capability of your graphics cards and drivers.

First of all, you may need to make sureyour graphics card supports multiple monitors. Normally, every graphics card provides at least two outputs, but you will need to check the graphics card properties on the manufacturer’s website, find your graphics card and check the specificationsto see if it supports adding two external monitors.

For example, if you are using the NVIDIA GeForce graphics card, you can check it out on the official website, and click your graphics card, and check the specification, then you will see if it supports multiple monitors.

You can check the ports on the back or on the sides of your laptop. In addition to the ports on your laptop, the monitors should have the corresponding ports as well. That will save your time and money to connect them. Otherwise, you will need to buy an extra adapter, such as a

If the ports on your laptop are not the same as the connectors in your monitor cables, or there are not enough ports, don’t give up. There is a workaround! You can try one of the methods below to continue:

Plug the cable of the first external monitor to the correct video port on your laptop. So I plug the VGA cable of the first external monitor into the VGA port on my laptop.

Plug the cable of the second external monitor to the other correct port on your laptop. So I plug the HDMI cable of the second external monitor into the HDMI port on my laptop.

You will see three displays labeled with 1, 2 and 3 in display mode. Generally speaking, the display 1 is the monitor of your laptop, and the display 2 and 3 are the external monitors.

Tips: You can click and drag each display (1, 2 or 3) to rearrange the display. You can also change the size of items, display resolution, andorientationaccording to your preferences.

You can update your drivers automatically with either the FREE or the Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes just 2 clicks (and you get full support and a30-day money back guarantee):

Or clickUpdate Allto automatically download all the correct drivers that are missing or out of date on your Windows (this requires thePro version– you’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All).

Multiple monitors have all sorts of advantages — even over single, enormous ultra-wides — from improving productivity to providing versatility in their placement on your desk. But the experience isn’t always perfect. Sometimes, you plug in a second monitor and it doesn’t work at all, or it keeps minimizing your game when you move into it accidentally.

If you’ve followed our guide on how to set up multiple monitors and you’re running into difficulties like the second monitor not displaying properly, not turning on at all, or your games aren’t displaying on the right monitor, then check out the list below of the most common multi-monitor problems for your desktop PC or laptop and how to fix them in Windows 10 and 11.

Although getting no signal to your new monitor can be cause for concern, it’s arguably the easiest problem to fix. It simply means that the display has power, but it isn’t receiving visual data. There are several reasons why this happens and plenty of fixes you can try to sort it out.

Force Windows to detect your monitor: Maybe Windows didn’t recognize your second display’s connection. To force it to check again, right-click the desktop and select Display Settings from the resulting pop-up menu. In the following window, click the Detect button located under the display diagram. In Windows 11, you can find this under the Multiple Displays section.

Turn the screen off and on: Some connection types don’t like hot swapping while a different monitor is powered on. Turn the display off and then on again. That may be all it needs to recognize the video feed and start displaying it correctly.

Verify cable connections: A loose cable can cause “no signal” errors more often than any other problem. If they do seem well secured, unplug them and plug them in again just to be sure.

Remove other peripheral devices: Disconnect any connected cameras or other unnecessary peripherals. If your display starts working afterward, these connections were probably interfering with your setup. You may need to find newer, compatible accessories or use connections on your PC instead of your monitor.

Verify the correct input: Monitors with multiple input options need you to manually select which cable and port you’re using, like HDMI 1, HDMI 2, DisplayPort 1.4, USB-C, and so on. Use the buttons on your monitor to cycle through the channels and select the correct input from your PC. If you are using an adapter to switch from one type of input to another, this may be causing issues with the other monitor. Try to remove the adapter if possible, or replace it with another adapter to see if this fixes the issue.

Change data cable: If you’re using an older cable standard like VGA or DVI-D, you might want to try a newer alternative like HDMI or DisplayPort. You can also try using a new cable in case the old one has issues (bent pins, a short, exposed wire, etc.).

If you’re still having trouble with your extended desktop monitor, verify that it works by unplugging the primary screen and double-checking the above steps again. If it does, consider running it as the primary display until you determine the root problem. If it doesn’t, contact your retailer or manufacturer to discuss a return or replacement.

If you add a new, higher-resolution monitor to your system and find that it’s not displaying correctly, it might be borrowing settings from an older display, or simply trying to match your primary monitor.

Step 4: Select a screen resolution that works best for you. Windows designates one of these resolutions as “recommended” based on the display’s hardware.

Note: You can use two monitors of different sizes, refresh rates, and resolutions as long as they have the required connections. However, they will still be limited by their individual specifications. If one monitor has a significantly lower resolution than the other, that’s not going to change, and some things may naturally look different. We suggest not overclocking specs like refresh rate when in a dual-monitor setup. GPUs may already struggle juggling two monitors, you don’t want to make things any hard for them.

If your monitor is set at an incorrect refresh rate, it will display a “no signal” error. That means the PC is outputting a signal the display simply can’t handle, requiring you to manually adjust the output in Windows.

Step 2:The Settings app opens with the Display panel loaded by default. Scroll down and click the Advanced Display Settings link located under Multiple Displays.

When this happens, other monitors will have a puzzling aspect ratio, often only using a tiny part of the screen as if your PC thinks the other monitor has an extra-large 21:9 aspect ratio — or possibly zooming in too far. Typically, this is caused by a resolution or settings issue that can be resolved.

Switch cables: If you have the option, try a different cable standard, like switching from DisplayPort to HDMI or vice-versa. When doing this, make sure the cables you are using support your current resolution — older cables may not support UHD/4K resolutions, which could cause this aspect ratio issue.

Are you using a TV as a second monitor?: If so, go into your TV settings and look for options to turn off the Overscan or Underscan setting. This may also be called a Relax mode. You may also want to make sure there are no Aspect Ratio modes accidentally enabled. Consult your TV manual for more information.

Check your display orientation: This isn’t as common, but the issue may be the monitor’s orientation. In Windows, go to the Display section and look for Display Orientation. Try switching the orientation to something like Portrait, then switch it back to Landscape and see if this helps.

It’s not uncommon for games to display on your second monitor rather than your first, which isn’t ideal if you have a primary display for gaming and a secondary for everything else. Fortunately, there are some quick and easy ways to fix it.

Use in-game settings: The easiest way is often to just tell the game to display on your primary monitor. Some games have the option of selecting a display in their settings menu, so check there first before adjusting anything else.

Check your display outputs: If you find that this isn’t the first time a game or application has displayed on the wrong monitor, you might want to check your inputs. Is your secondary display plugged into the primary display output on your graphics card? Try swapping them around to see if that fixes things.

Make it your primary display: Press Windows Key + I to open the Settings menu, then navigate to System > Display. Select the monitor you want your games to appear on, and select the box next to Make this my primary display.

Only use one monitor: If the above doesn’t work, in Display settings, select the display you want to game on. From the Monitor Settings (Windows 11) or Multiple Displays (Windows 10) drop-down, select Show only on 1 or Show only on 2 as appropriate. You will need to turn this back off once you’ve finished gaming, but it is a surefire way to get your game working on the right display.

There are a few different ways to display content on two screens, but Duplicate is often the default. If your second display merely copies the desktop rather than extend it, here’s how to change that view.

This can be an issue for designers and artists who find that one of the monitors in their setup has messed-up color saturation or poor color accuracy in general.

Step 1: Unfortunately, there isn’t always an easy fix. If color accuracy and similar factors are important to you, the best way to guarantee them is to get two of the same monitor models. You may need to replace the poor-performance monitor with a copy of your primary monitor with stronger color accuracy.

Make sure that your settings are on Extend these displays: In theMultiple displays sections of Displays on Windows, make sure the Extend these displays option is chosen. It’s a good idea to check all your Display settings to make sure they are set up for multiple monitors: Sometimes a Windows update can reset them.

If you find that your games keep minimizing when playing on a single monitor, you might be accidentally clicking in the pane of your second display. Some games don’t lock the boundaries of their fullscreen window, which means that when you move to the edge of the screen, your pointer can transition into the second window.

Check your display options within the game itself: If you’re playing in “Windowed” mode, try switching to “Full Screen” instead, as it captures your mouse. If that doesn’t work, try switching to the “Borderless Window” mode. It won’t stop your mouse from moving to the other screen, but it can stop the game from minimizing when it happens. You’ll just need to click back into the game window.

Turn off the second screen: It’s a little drastic but turning off the second screen when playing games that don’t need it prevents you from drifting into that extended space mid-game. Simply press the display’s power button, or press the Windows + P keys and select the PC Screen Only option.

This can happen if you go into sleep mode or your monitors switch to screensavers, then you open back up. Suddenly, you find that all your app windows or tabs have changed places, often all moving to the first monitor display, ruining your setup, and wasting plenty of time moving them all back. This is a known issue on Windows 10, most likely due to “Rapid Hot Plug Detect” issues, but there are things you can do to fix the problem.

Update to Windows 11: Windows 11 specifically has a new feature to deal with this problem, so if you update you can fix it. In Windows 11, visit the Display setting, and look in the Multiple Displays section. Here you will find an option to Remember Window Locations Based on Monitor Connection. Make sure it’s enabled, and that should solve your problem.

Switch off DisplayPort: You can also switch from DisplayPort to HDMI. This problem appears to be unique to DisplayPort connections, and you may be able to prevent it from happening by using another connection option.

Sometimes your secondary computer monitor will work, but it will encounter distortions and artifacting that make it difficult to use or impossible to play games with. If your first monitor does not have these display issues, then the issue is probably related to your hardware. You can usually fix it by trying these steps:

Check monitor ports: Make sure all ports on your computer are clean and dust-free. If it’s been a while, clean them out very carefully with a few jets of compressed air and make sure there is no damage or debris to the port or cable.

Shorten the cable length: If possible, pick a new cable that’s shorter than the older one. The longer data has to travel through the cable, the more chance of interference, so a shorter cable can cut down on artifacting and similar problems.

Check your connections: Cover the basics, and make sure your other monitor is still properly connected and that cables haven’t come loose since you last booted up.

Give Windows a reminder: Sometimes Windows stumbles a little and sort of loses track of your additional monitors. Give it a refresh by pressing the Windows Logo + Ctrl + Shift + Bkeys. Hold them all down for a second and let go. See if this helps bring your other monitor back to life.

If necessary, roll back driver updates: If your display driver recently updated, it could be causing the issue. Go to Device Manager, select Display Adapters, and select your display adapter to see more. Go to Properties, look at the Driver tab, and choose Roll Back Driver.

Step 1: The most direct way to deal with this is to adjust a monitor’s resolution scaling. You can either adjust one monitor to bring everything into scale or set the same scale for both monitors at a level that will help them work together. Divide the vertical pixels per diagonal inch of both monitors to find the right scale to set the monitors — Reddit has some helpful guidance here. Review your monitor settings and see if you can set the resolution or DPI scale this way. Your GPU settings may also be able to help.

Determine the type of video connectors that are available on your computer and the monitors. The number of video connectors depends on the type of graphics card that is installed in your computer. Most graphics or video cards on a desktop computer can support two or more monitors depending on the graphics card and computer specifications. However, laptops can support up to two monitors depending on the computer specifications. To learn more, see the Dell Knowledge Base article How to Connect a Monitor to a Dell Computer.

Once the cables are connected securely, your computer should automatically detect and display the desktop screen on the connected monitors. You can now select the display style that best suits your needs.

Microsoft Windows provides multiple display style options on how the desktop screen is displayed across multiple monitors that are connected to your computer.

Extend - Stretch the desktop across the two displays. The desktop screen of your computer is extended across all the detected monitors and allows you to have a desktop screen that spans across all monitors.

To learn how to change the screen resolution, adjust the refresh rate and change the size of fonts and icons, see the Dell knowledge base articles that are listed below based on the operating system that is installed on your computer:

Multiple monitors have all sorts of advantages — even over single, enormous ultra-wides — from improving productivity to providing versatility in their placement on your desk. But the experience isn’t always perfect. Sometimes, you plug in a second monitor and it doesn’t work at all, or it keeps minimizing your game when you move into it accidentally.

If you’ve followed our guide on how to set up multiple monitors and you’re running into difficulties like the second monitor not displaying properly, not turning on at all, or your games aren’t displaying on the right monitor, then check out the list below of the most common multi-monitor problems for your desktop PC or laptop and how to fix them in Windows 10 and 11.

Although getting no signal to your new monitor can be cause for concern, it’s arguably the easiest problem to fix. It simply means that the display has power, but it isn’t receiving visual data. There are several reasons why this happens and plenty of fixes you can try to sort it out.

Force Windows to detect your monitor: Maybe Windows didn’t recognize your second display’s connection. To force it to check again, right-click the desktop and select Display Settings from the resulting pop-up menu. In the following window, click the Detect button located under the display diagram. In Windows 11, you can find this under the Multiple Displays section.

Turn the screen off and on: Some connection types don’t like hot swapping while a different monitor is powered on. Turn the display off and then on again. That may be all it needs to recognize the video feed and start displaying it correctly.

Verify cable connections: A loose cable can cause “no signal” errors more often than any other problem. If they do seem well secured, unplug them and plug them in again just to be sure.

Remove other peripheral devices: Disconnect any connected cameras or other unnecessary peripherals. If your display starts working afterward, these connections were probably interfering with your setup. You may need to find newer, compatible accessories or use connections on your PC instead of your monitor.

Verify the correct input: Monitors with multiple input options need you to manually select which cable and port you’re using, like HDMI 1, HDMI 2, DisplayPort 1.4, USB-C, and so on. Use the buttons on your monitor to cycle through the channels and select the correct input from your PC. If you are using an adapter to switch from one type of input to another, this may be causing issues with the other monitor. Try to remove the adapter if possible, or replace it with another adapter to see if this fixes the issue.

Change data cable: If you’re using an older cable standard like VGA or DVI-D, you might want to try a newer alternative like HDMI or DisplayPort. You can also try using a new cable in case the old one has issues (bent pins, a short, exposed wire, etc.).

If you’re still having trouble with your extended desktop monitor, verify that it works by unplugging the primary screen and double-checking the above steps again. If it does, consider running it as the primary display until you determine the root problem. If it doesn’t, contact your retailer or manufacturer to discuss a return or replacement.

If you add a new, higher-resolution monitor to your system and find that it’s not displaying correctly, it might be borrowing settings from an older display, or simply trying to match your primary monitor.

Step 4: Select a screen resolution that works best for you. Windows designates one of these resolutions as “recommended” based on the display’s hardware.

Note: You can use two monitors of different sizes, refresh rates, and resolutions as long as they have the required connections. However, they will still be limited by their individual specifications. If one monitor has a significantly lower resolution than the other, that’s not going to change, and some things may naturally look different. We suggest not overclocking specs like refresh rate when in a dual-monitor setup. GPUs may already struggle juggling two monitors, you don’t want to make things any hard for them.

If your monitor is set at an incorrect refresh rate, it will display a “no signal” error. That means the PC is outputting a signal the display simply can’t handle, requiring you to manually adjust the output in Windows.

Step 2:The Settings app opens with the Display panel loaded by default. Scroll down and click the Advanced Display Settings link located under Multiple Displays.

When this happens, other monitors will have a puzzling aspect ratio, often only using a tiny part of the screen as if your PC thinks the other monitor has an extra-large 21:9 aspect ratio — or possibly zooming in too far. Typically, this is caused by a resolution or settings issue that can be resolved.

Switch cables: If you have the option, try a different cable standard, like switching from DisplayPort to HDMI or vice-versa. When doing this, make sure the cables you are using support your current resolution — older cables may not support UHD/4K resolutions, which could cause this aspect ratio issue.

Are you using a TV as a second monitor?: If so, go into your TV settings and look for options to turn off the Overscan or Underscan setting. This may also be called a Relax mode. You may also want to make sure there are no Aspect Ratio modes accidentally enabled. Consult your TV manual for more information.

Check your display orientation: This isn’t as common, but the issue may be the monitor’s orientation. In Windows, go to the Display section and look for Display Orientation. Try switching the orientation to something like Portrait, then switch it back to Landscape and see if this helps.

It’s not uncommon for games to display on your second monitor rather than your first, which isn’t ideal if you have a primary display for gaming and a secondary for everything else. Fortunately, there are some quick and easy ways to fix it.

Use in-game settings: The easiest way is often to just tell the game to display on your primary monitor. Some games have the option of selecting a display in their settings menu, so check there first before adjusting anything else.

Check your display outputs: If you find that this isn’t the first time a game or application has displayed on the wrong monitor, you might want to check your inputs. Is your secondary display plugged into the primary display output on your graphics card? Try swapping them around to see if that fixes things.

Make it your primary display: Press Windows Key + I to open the Settings menu, then navigate to System > Display. Select the monitor you want your games to appear on, and select the box next to Make this my primary display.

Only use one monitor: If the above doesn’t work, in Display settings, select the display you want to game on. From the Monitor Settings (Windows 11) or Multiple Displays (Windows 10) drop-down, select Show only on 1 or Show only on 2 as appropriate. You will need to turn this back off once you’ve finished gaming, but it is a surefire way to get your game working on the right display.

There are a few different ways to display content on two screens, but Duplicate is often the default. If your second display merely copies the desktop rather than extend it, here’s how to change that view.

This can be an issue for designers and artists who find that one of the monitors in their setup has messed-up color saturation or poor color accuracy in general.

Step 1: Unfortunately, there isn’t always an easy fix. If color accuracy and similar factors are important to you, the best way to guarantee them is to get two of the same monitor models. You may need to replace the poor-performance monitor with a copy of your primary monitor with stronger color accuracy.

Make sure that your settings are on Extend these displays: In theMultiple displays sections of Displays on Windows, make sure the Extend these displays option is chosen. It’s a good idea to check all your Display settings to make sure they are set up for multiple monitors: Sometimes a Windows update can reset them.

If you find that your games keep minimizing when playing on a single monitor, you might be accidentally clicking in the pane of your second display. Some games don’t lock the boundaries of their fullscreen window, which means that when you move to the edge of the screen, your pointer can transition into the second window.

Check your display options within the game itself: If you’re playing in “Windowed” mode, try switching to “Full Screen” instead, as it captures your mouse. If that doesn’t work, try switching to the “Borderless Window” mode. It won’t stop your mouse from moving to the other screen, but it can stop the game from minimizing when it happens. You’ll just need to click back into the game window.

Turn off the second screen: It’s a little drastic but turning off the second screen when playing games that don’t need it prevents you from drifting into that extended space mid-game. Simply press the display’s power button, or press the Windows + P keys and select the PC Screen Only option.

This can happen if you go into sleep mode or your monitors switch to screensavers, then you open back up. Suddenly, you find that all your app windows or tabs have changed places, often all moving to the first monitor display, ruining your setup, and wasting plenty of time moving them all back. This is a known issue on Windows 10, most likely due to “Rapid Hot Plug Detect” issues, but there are things you can do to fix the problem.

Update to Windows 11: Windows 11 specifically has a new feature to deal with this problem, so if you update you can fix it. In Windows 11, visit the Display setting, and look in the Multiple Displays section. Here you will find an option to Remember Window Locations Based on Monitor Connection. Make sure it’s enabled, and that should solve your problem.

Switch off DisplayPort: You can also switch from DisplayPort to HDMI. This problem appears to be unique to DisplayPort connections, and you may be able to prevent it from happening by using another connection option.

Sometimes your secondary computer monitor will work, but it will encounter distortions and artifacting that make it difficult to use or impossible to play games with. If your first monitor does not have these display issues, then the issue is probably related to your hardware. You can usually fix it by trying these steps:

Check monitor ports: Make sure all ports on your computer are clean and dust-free. If it’s been a while, clean them out very carefully with a few jets of compressed air and make sure there is no damage or debris to the port or cable.

Shorten the cable length: If possible, pick a new cable that’s shorter than the older one. The longer data has to travel through the cable, the more chance of interference, so a shorter cable can cut down on artifacting and similar problems.

Check your connections: Cover the basics, and make sure your other monitor is still properly connected and that cables haven’t come loose since you last booted up.

Give Windows a reminder: Sometimes Windows stumbles a little and sort of loses track of your additional monitors. Give it a refresh by pressing the Windows Logo + Ctrl + Shift + Bkeys. Hold them all down for a second and let go. See if this helps bring your other monitor back to life.

If necessary, roll back driver updates: If your display driver recently updated, it could be causing the issue. Go to Device Manager, select Display Adapters, and select your display adapter to see more. Go to Properties, look at the Driver tab, and choose Roll Back Driver.

Step 1: The most direct way to deal with this is to adjust a monitor’s resolution scaling. You can either adjust one monitor to bring everything into scale or set the same scale for both monitors at a level that will help them work together. Divide the vertical pixels per diagonal inch of both monitors to find the right scale to set the monitors — Reddit has some helpful guidance here. Review your monitor settings and see if you can set the resolution or DPI scale this way. Your GPU settings may also be able to help.

Daisy-chaining monitors means to connect a series of display devices to laptop using a cord connection from monitor to monitor in a series, rather than connecting each device directly to the computer. See the image above for an example of two monitors daisy chained to a laptop connecting by video cords, from laptop to first monitor and from first monitor to the secondary monitor, so on and so forth.

The cables that link each display can be short and tucked away behind the monitors giving you a clutter-free solution. This is a much simpler and efficient setup than if you plug all monitors into your computer.

GPUs usually have an inherent limitation in how many simultaneous displays they can drive; some can drive up to three displays, while others can drive four or even six. Please consult user manual of your devices for detail specification.

By now, a dual-monitor setup has become commonplace. Multitasking on a single screen is just way too confining. But why stop at two displays? I can speak from experience: Having multiple monitors (and I’m talking three, four, five, or even six) is just…awesome, and something you totally need in your life.

Right now, my main PC has a triple-monitor setup: my main 27-inch central monitor, with a 24-inch monitor on either side. I use my extra monitors for a number of things, such as comparing spreadsheets side-by-side, writing articles while also doing research, keeping tabs on my social media feeds, and, of course, watching Netflix.

Using one of your monitors in vertical orientation can make a big difference for scrolling long documents. If you’re a gamer, well, surely you can see how great three-plus monitors can be for games that support multi-monitor setups. You can even use your TV as an extra computer monitor!

Before you run out and buy a bunch of extra monitors, check to see whether your computer is physically capable of handling all that graphics prowess. First, look at the back of your PC: How many graphics ports (DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA) do you see?

Just because you see three or more ports on your discrete graphics card, however, doesn’t necessarily mean you can use all of them at the same time. For example, many older Nvidia cards are unable to run more than two monitors on a single card, even if they have more than two ports. The best way to find out whether your graphics card supports multiple monitors is to find the name of your card (Control Panel > Device Manager > Display Adapters) and Google it with the monitor setup you’re looking to run (e.g. “Nvidia GTX 1660 four monitors”).

If your graphics card supports—and has enough ports for—the number of monitors you want to set up, excellent. If not, you may need to purchase an additional graphics card to get the multi-monitor support you’re looking for.

If you buy a graphics card solely for the purpose of having multiple monitors, it’s best to get a cheaper modern option, as current GPUs can power several displays without issue. Check out the best budget graphics card section of our GPU guide for your best options.

Alternatively, monitors with DisplayPort multi-streaming support can be daisy-chained together from a single DisplayPort connection on your graphics card, using additional DisplayPort cables to connect the additional monitors to one another. The various displays don’t even need to be the same size or resolution. ViewSonic’s VP2468 is one such example. At around $330 on Amazon, this 24-inch monitor is on the pricier side, but in addition to DisplayPort-out, it also offers a premium IPS screen, and a super-thin bezel, which is ideal for multi-monitor setups.

Once you figure out your graphics card situation, it’s time for the fun part: obtaining extra monitors. In general, monitors can be had for fairly cheap these days. Assuming you can’t finagle a hand-me-down, a 24-inch monitor with an IPS screen will run you around $150, such as the Acer R240HY. You can get a 24-inch TN screen, which will likely trade strong off-axis viewing for a lower response time—something gamers might prefer—for roughly the same money, such as the Asus VS248H-P ($160 on Amazon). You can also find smaller IPS monitors at around 21.5 inches, such with this HP Pavilion IPS display, for.

Of course, the perfect monitor for you depends on multiple factors, including the monitors you already have, the size of your desk, and what you’re planning on using your extra monitor for. (Of course, resolution is yet another variable, and you can see our article about 1080p vs. 4K monitors to help you make a decision in that area as well.)

In my case, I already had two 24-inch monitors, and I wanted a larger monitor as the centerpiece of my setup, so I picked up a 27-inch monitor and placed it between my two 24-inch displays. I’m not using my multi-monitor setup to play multi-monitor games, so the difference in sizes (and the difference in heights—my 27-inch monitor’s stand holds that monitor about one inch higher than my 24-inchers) isn’t an issue for me. However, if you’re planning on doing a lot of gaming or watching videos that span multiple monitors, this height difference will make for a not-so-seamless experience.

Before you buy your monitors, you’ll also want to make sure they have input ports that correspond with your PC’s output ports. While you could use conversion cables, such as DVI-to-HDMI or DisplayPort-to-DVI, they can be a hassle. If you have a VGA port on your PC or your monitor, I suggest staying away from it: VGA is an analog connector, which means your picture will be noticeably less sharp and colors will be less vivid.

The first thing you’ll want to do is configure Windows to play nicely with your multiple monitors. If you’re running Windows 7 or Windows 8, right-click on the desktop and click Screen resolution;in Windows 10, click Display settings. This will take you to a screen where you can configure the options you have for multiple monitors in Windows.

Here, you can confirm that all your monitors are detected. Click Identify, which will cause a large number to appear on each of your displays, so you can determine which screen is which. Select the monitor you’d like to serve as your main display (which will also determine where your taskbar and Start button appears). A drop-down menu lets you choose whether to duplicate your desktop or extend your desktop across all the screens. In most multi-monitor setups, you’ll want to extend your desktop across all three (or four, or whatever) of your displays.

Alternately, you can set up your multi-monitor configuration in your GPU’s control panel. Right-click your desktop and choose either the Nvidia or AMD control panel (depending on your graphics card), and find the Display section, which will offer similar options as Windows.

Gaming on several displays at once requires far more graphical firepower than gaming on a single screen alone, because the GPU has so many more pixels to push—so if you’re not running a sufficiently robust graphics card or cards, you’ll almost certainly see lag and artifacting in your multi-monitor games. Once again, check out PCWorld’s guide for choosing the best graphics card for gaming.

You’ll also need to go into your game—not all games are multi-monitor compatible—and configure the video or display settings to the correct resolution so that the game spans across all of your monitors instead of staying squished on just one. You’ll also want to play around with other settings as the game allows, including field of view (too low, and there will be too much going on around you; too high and everything on your left and right screens will be hugely distorted).

For gaming, it’s easier if you have multiple identical displays, because otherwise you’ll run into issues with resolution, distortion (if your displays aren’t at the same height), and color calibration, all of which can be difficult to work with if you’re trying to play in a “seamless” environment.

If working with multiple displays seems like more trouble than you want to bother with for gaming, maybe you’d be better off with a single ultrawide monitor. Check out our article on the pros and cons of dual displays versus a single ultrawide.

It is such a waste to only use the LCD for desktop computers. Connecting it up with a laptop PC has many merits for the user and can also bring out the latent power of the laptop.

Note: Below is the translation from the Japanese of the ITmedia article "The dual display in Windows 7 is now even more convenient" published March 1, 2010. Copyright 2011 ITmedia Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Most laptops have a handy "external display output" port. It can be used in the home to transmit videos played on the laptop to a large screen TV or, in the office, to connect up with a projector for presentations. In fact, there must be many users who already use it like this. However, people tend to use just the laptop in their daily routine and there are probably not so many cases where they use the external display output.

A laptop can be put to more effective use if it is connected to an external LCD. The photograph shows an EIZO 23-inch wide-screen LCD connected by HDMI to a Sony VAIO C laptop (VPCCW28FJ/R).

This time we would like to suggest a style that can be used in both the home and the office, where a laptop and stand-alone LCD remain connected. A laptop already has an LCD, but using it with an additional stand-alone LCD offers various merits. Not only does it make the laptop environment more pleasant and convenient, it also expands the potential of the computer itself, for example by making it possible to use it for new purposes.

Even if the LCD is already connected to a desktop computer and being used for something other than the laptop, most monitors nowadays have two or more video inputs and they tend not to use this capability to the full. It is such a waste to let the laptop"s external display output function and the monitor"s video input function remain dormant, so we would like them to be put to effective use. Of course, we would also recommend the introduction of a new LCD to connect to your laptop.

The biggest merit of connecting a laptop with a stand-alone LCD is that it gives you a large screen and high resolution dual display environment. Standard laptop models usually come with a built-in 13-inch to 15-inch wide-screen LCD with a 1280 × 800 dot or 1366 × 768 dot resolution.

This level of resolution is good enough for basic Windows operations, but it goes without saying that a large, high-resolution computer screen is much more user-friendly. Combining a laptop with one of the latest wide-screen monitors enables you to easily construct a large-screen, high-resolution dual display environment. It is a real boon to dramatically boost the screen size and resolution while continuing to use your familiar laptop.

In particular, the increased vertical resolution makes applications such as web browsers and document display and editing far easier to use. For example, you can do things like check things with the web browser, refer to pdf files, organize data using word processing or presentation software, and create spread sheets and documents without having to change windows.

Another plus is that you can create the luxury of a "watching while" environment where you run the web browser, for instance, on the laptop"s built-in LCD and watch the video content on the large screen of the external monitor. This can be really useful for hobbies too. For example, while playing a game on the large external LCD screen you can check out strategies on websites, post information on a BBS or communicate with other users.

You can smoothly use multiple applications at the same time in the large workspace provided by a dual display. The photograph shows an EIZO 24.1-inch wide-screen LCD, the FlexScan SX2462W connected to a VAIO C. By supplementing the laptop"s built-in 1366 × 768 dot 14-inch wide-screen LCD with a 1920 × 1200 dot 24.1-inch wide-screen, it is possible to show more data at a time, a huge boost to work efficiency.

With two screens it"s easy to have full-screen display of the video content on one screen while you operate the computer on the other. The photograph shows an EIZO 23-inch wide-screen LCD monitor connected to a VAIO C. The VAIO C has HDMI output and the LCD monitor has HDMI input so visuals and sound can be transmitted by a single HDMI cable. The LCD monitor has full HD screen resolution (1920 × 1080 dot), making it the perfect match for HD video content.

At the office, it is very helpful for presentations to use "clone view" for the laptop"s built-in LCD and the external LCD screen. Clone view means showing exactly the same content on two display screens. It is normally set by a graphics driver function.

When holding small meetings it is certainly very convenient to be able to offer simple explanations of the presentation materials displayed on the external LCD, rather than having to ready a projector. Being able to explain about what is displayed on the screen means fewer documents to distribute, helping your office to "go paperless", which can only be a good thing.

We would like to point out here that you should check in advance the maximum resolution that the laptop"s external display output can handle. This can be found in documents such as the laptop"s specifications chart and support information. This is because, although most laptops can handle output up to 1920 × 1080 dots or 1920 × 1200 dots, some slightly older computers have an upper limit of 1680 × 1050 dots or 1600 × 1200 dots.

Even if the upper limit is 1680 × 1050 dots, the LCD can still display the data if its own resolution is 1680 × 1050 dots or higher. In such cases, it is better to use a monitor that offers dot-by-dot display, which displays the input resolution as it is, or enlarged display, which maintains the screen"s aspect ratio as it is. You do not need to worry because EIZO wide-screen LCDs can handle such display methods (although in some cases they do not function properly depending on the laptop computer or input resolution).

This is an example of a low-resolution display on the 1920 × 1200 dot display SX2462W. Since dot-by-dot display outputs the physical "1 dot" of the LCD and the input resolution "1 dot" without enlargement or reduction, it is shown small in the center of the screen (photo on the left). The display is a little blurred if it is enlarged while maintaining the aspect ratio, but this method is suitable for displaying images as they are shown large with low resolution to make the most of the screen size (photo on the right). Many monitors that cannot handle such display methods enlarge the display to full screen regardless of the input resolution. In such cases you have to be careful as the aspect ratio of the image is altered (for example, people appear to be thinner or fatter).

It is easy to set up a dual display in Windows 7. A menu is displayed when you right-click on the desktop. From "Screen resolution" it is possible to detect and align the external LCD, and set details such as resolution, display method and which will be the main display screen.

The "Screen resolution" menu. If the external LCD is not automatically recognized, click on "Detect". After the monitor has been recognized, you can select the display mode from the "Multiple displays" drop-down menu. Select "Extend display screen" to make the laptop screen and the external LCD into a single display screen (dual display).

Select "Duplicate display screen" from the "Multiple displays" drop-down menu to display the same content on the laptop screen and the external LCD screen (clone view). With this drop-down menu you can also set it to display video on one of the LCDs.

You can also call up a settings menu to decide the display method for a projector or external display by pressing the "Windows" and "P" keys. This is a tip worth remembering as selecting "Extension" for dual display or "Duplicate" for clone view here allows you to switch swiftly between them as necessary.

The menu launched by simultaneously pressing the "Windows" and "P" keys. You can easily switch between display methods such as dual display or clone view.

It is also worth noting that Windows 7 has added functions so that dual display can be used more effectively. An active window can be moved to the screen of another LCD by simultaneously pushing "Windows" + "Shift" + "→" (or "←"). It is also possible to maximize the window by pressing "Windows" + "↑", minimize it by pressing "Windows" + "↓", and shift it to the left or right of each screen by pressing "Windows" + "→" (or "←"). Making good use of these shortcuts should enable the efficient placing of windows in the two screens.

We would recommend a wide-screen model with a screen resolution of 1920 × 1080 dots (Full HD) or 1920 × 1200 dots (WUXGA) as the LCD to connect to a laptop, so that you can make full use of the advantages of dual display. EIZO has an extensive line up of wide-screen LCDs which can offer many benefits, in addition to the merits of a large screen and high resolution, when used with a laptop for dual display.

The SX2462W stand. The simultaneous adjustment of its tilt, swivel and height enables the optimum screen position to be aligned for its operating environment.

The SX2462W is also equipped with vertical display function, turning the screen through 90 degrees. Vertical display is really handy when viewing elongated documents, graphics or web pages. In addition, when used as a standard horizontal screen, a 24.1 wide-screen, with its 518.4 × 324.0 mm display area, can display two A4 sheets, in other words one A3 (420 × 297 mm) in actual size. As well as being very useful in areas such as graphics or desk top publishing, this is also bound to come in handy when checking large business or accounting documents.

Setting the connected monitor into a vertical position is very convenient when displaying elongated web pages and documents or photographs that were taken vertically

We must not forget that EIZO"s wide-screen LCDs have non-glare screens (processed to reduce ambient light reflection). Nowadays the trend is for laptops to have an LCD with glare (glossy) surface treatment. While these can display images in bright color, reflected ambient light can sometimes be distracting.

A laptop screen is not so large and adjusting its angle can avoid the reflection of lights and so on, however it is not so easy with the large screen of an external LCD. When it comes to the large screen of an LCD in habitual use, a non-glare type that is not reflective is probably easier to see, as well as being kinder on the eyes. A large screen, high resolution and non-glare ensure that you can comfortably continue viewing over a prolonged period of time.

The surface treatment of an LCD makes a difference to the background reflection. Glare panels do not diffuse background light, making it easier to achieve high color purity, but easily reflect the user or lights (photo on the left). If the lights are similarly trained on a non-glare panel they do not have much effect, only appearing as a fuzzy brightness (photo on the right).

Another distinctive feature of EIZO wide-screen LCDs is a commitment to energy saving. They incorporate various power saving features that support "EcoView". A pivotal feature is the "EcoView Sense" adopted in the FlexScan EV series, such as the EV2333W.

This is the motion sensor on the front of the LCD. It constantly monitors the user"s movements to automatically take finely-tuned power saving measures. To be more precise, if the user"s presence is not detected for a specified period of time, for example if he leaves his seat, the monitor automatically switches to power save mode, and then automatically switches back when the user"s presence is detected again.

Other features include "Auto EcoView", which automatically optimizes the brightness of the LCD based on ambient lighting, and "EcoView Index", which displays a meter on the screen showing how much power is being saved. All these features can be expected to have a strong energy saving effect and to boost the user"s awareness of power saving, making them particularly useful in the office.

A standard laptop computer switches to sleep mode if the built-in LCD is closed while it is running but, if this function is turned off, a laptop can be treated as a "small desktop computer."

It can be set to use only the connected external LCD and not to react when the laptop"s built-in LCD is closed. The transformation into a small desktop PC is complete if you add a keyboard and mouse connected to the laptop via USB ports, for example. The OS is still running even though the laptop"s built-in LCD is closed, so you can carry out normal operations using the external keyboard and mouse, and also use the laptop"s built-in optical drives.

The idea is to use a large screen, high resolution external LCD at home or in the office, and to use the laptop"s built-in LCD as usual for mobile purposes. This helps to boost the longevity of the laptop"s built-in LCD and many people do use their laptop in this way. If you feel reluctant to use a dual display environment, where the screen is split in two, why not give this a try?

Select "Only show the desktop on 2" from the "Multiple displays" list in the "Screen resolution" menu. The laptop"s built-in LCD will be switched off and the external LCD will become the main display.

In the case of Windows 7, open "Alter power button operation" from the "Power options" list in the Control Panel"s "Hardware and sound", and alter the "Operation when the cover is closed" to "Do nothing".

Recently some high-end laptop computers, such as the Sony VAIO F, are insisting on good display quality for their LCDs. However, a typical laptop"s built-in LCD does not have as good image quality as a stand-alone LCD. This is only natural since the costs allowed for display quality are completely different for an LCD incorporated into the PC as one of its parts and a specialized LCD.

However, by using an EIZO wide-screen LCD a laptop user can still fully enjoy such benefits of a stand-alone high-quality LCD as excellent color reproduction, a wide viewing angle, more even display and a wealth of items that can be adjusted to improve image quality. This is a crucial point for people who use their computer for photographs and videos in particular.

EIZO"s wide-screen LCDs emphasize color reproduction, and the coloration in sRGB mode has a high degree of accuracy. The standard color gamut used in PC environments and Internet content is sRGB, so you need have no worries about viewing or editing videos and photographs. They can also display images on web pages, such as products in online shops or goods for sale in online auctions, in colors that are very close to the real thing. (This is also influenced by how the seller took the photographs and processed the images, so we cannot say that the colors will always be accurate.)

Furthermore, in addition to sRGB color gamut accuracy, the high resolution-oriented FlexScan SX has the added benefit of covering more than 95% of Adobe RGB. Adobe RGB is a color gamut whose definitions encompass more highly-saturated colors than sRGB. In other words, it can represent a larger number of colors and brighter hues than sRGB.

Adobe RGB is the de facto standard in the publishing field and, closer to home, is used in digital SLR cameras and high grade compact digital cameras. The FlexScan SX series can reproduce the colors of photos taken in Adobe RGB mode with almost perfect accuracy on the screen. Retouching photographs proceeds more efficiently since subtle differences in color can be checked on the screen.

An example of sRGB color gamut image data displayed on a standard laptop and on the SX2462W. The SX2462W"s reproducibility of sRGB mode is of a considerably high standard but the color balance on the laptop has been lost. This would make it difficult to perform rigorous photo retouching.

In this case, if the image is edited on the external LCD with its high color reproducibility and the many tool palettes in the application are grouped in the laptop"s built-in LCD, there is less need to display or hide the tool palettes or to switch back and forth, and the image data to be edited can be displayed in a large form, making for more efficient work.

In this case, if the image is edited on the external LCD with its high color reproducibility and the many tool palettes in the application are grouped in the laptop"s built-in LCD, there is less need to display or hide the tool palettes or to switch back and forth, and the image data to be edited can be displayed in a large form, making for more efficient work.

When doing things like photo retouching, using software where there is a lot of switching between tool palettes it is very handy to display the image data to be edited on the external LCD with its high color reproducibility, and to gather the palette tools to be used on the laptop"s built-in LCD.

Going back to the subject of laptop computers, it is not going too far to say that applications and functions are being spoiled in laptops whose built-in LCD"s image quality is not too good. Connecting a laptop to a monitor with high image quality dispels any concerns about work that deals with colors and also helps to bring out the laptop"s potential.

We expect that you now understand how displaying screens from a laptop computer on a stand-alone LCD can create a very pleasant environment. It feels as if your everyday laptop has been transformed into a completely different desktop machine. Even if you only use laptop computers, it is definitely worthwhile to add a stand-alone LCD.

When choosing the type of LCD the most important consideration is to choose one with overall high quality. When it comes to that, we can recommend EIZO wide-screen LCDs to a broad range of laptop users. In addition to their high image quality, EIZO wide-screen LCD are built with careful attention to detail, including non-glare screens, versatile stand feat