Change main monitor: Multiple monitors in Windows – here’s how.
Windows 10 is one of the best-known and certainly the most popular operating systems in the world. The range of functions has increased significantly in recent years. In the meantime, it is common to work not only with one, but with two or three monitors, especially at work, but also in many private environments. Windows 10 and other versions are of course prepared for this. The only limitation can occur due to non-existent ports on your computer. Therefore, first check that your computer is capable of „serving“ multiple monitors as well. A separate graphics card, detached from the classic onboard variant, usually comes with correspondingly versatile connections, so that you can connect several monitors. But how can it be determined which monitor is your default monitor? How can you ensure that the taskbar as well as your desktop icons appear on your desired monitor? We’ll clarify that for you in this post.
Customize primary monitor
First of all, make sure that all the monitors you want to use are connected. You may now see that your taskbar is displayed on the middle monitor, for example, and that you cannot navigate from left to right with the mouse, but that the arrangement of the monitors looks reversed. You can conveniently adjust this without physically moving the monitors from left to right. Certainly, you could also reposition your devices to allow for easy navigation. However, the easiest way is to access the display settings on Windows 10 or Windows 11, and older versions as well.
Customize Windows display settings
- Perform a right-click on a free desktop area
- Now select „Display settings
- Now look at the „Rearrange screens“ section
- Click on „Identify“ to have the screen numbering displayed in large size
- Click on „Identify“ to identify monitors
- Click and hold Monitor 1, Monitor 2 or Monitor 3 and move it to the desired location – left, right, up or down
You can arrange your monitors according to your personal taste. If you like, you can dock one monitor relatively high up, the other relatively low down. This refers to the scroll and navigation area that is activated when you switch from one monitor to the other with the mouse. Sometimes this happens in the upper right corner, sometimes in the lower left corner. You can define this behavior by the exact placement of the devices.
Rearranging screens
By moving the bold icons that represent a monitor, you can change the arrangement without having to physically move the devices. Select a display to change your settings: Press and hold the display, or select it by clicking on it, and drag it to rearrange it. The changes will also be applied immediately. Your screen may go black for a brief moment before rearranging itself within your system. Any changes made in this area do not need to be re-saved. All settings are applied directly and immediately.
Change main screen and customize taskbar
By moving the monitors, you have now changed your main screen to a different device and, of course, your taskbar. You can, of course, expand or duplicate the taskbar so that it either extends or doubles on a second monitor, depending on which setting you chose. You can specify in detail which monitor you want as your main screen in the Windows 10 display settings and also position it exactly. Therefore, your main screen does not always have to be on the left side – it can also be in the center. The left and right monitor can consequently be controlled when you move the mouse out of the picture.
Conclusion
The display settings in Windows 10 make it easy to arrange monitors according to your personal and own taste. Try it out and feel free to use a second or third monitor to increase the workspace and work with multiple screens.