How To Switch 1 And 2 Monitors Windows 10

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Are you lot running into problem with your Windows dual-monitor setup? Some video conferencing and screen-sharing software prioritizes monitor numbers over your display settings, which can lead to accidentally sharing the wrong screen. While yous can ready either monitor as your primary display, yous cannot switch the "one" and "ii" labels without making a registry change. We'll walk yous through modifying the Windows registry to change the monitor numbering on your PC.

1
Correct-click whatever blank space on your desktop. Correct-click whatsoever part of your main desktop that doesn't have whatever apps, programs, or icons. This will display a carte du jour.
- Use this method if you're using two monitors and want to rearrange them and ready the secondary monitor as your main display.
two

Click Brandish settings . Information technology's towards the bottom of the correct-click menu, side by side to the icon of a monitor.

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3
Click and drag your displays into the desired lodge. Each of your monitors is represented past a number in this window. You'll commonly want your displays bundled to replicate how you lot take your monitors positioned. For example, if brandish 1 is your laptop screen and your external monitor, display 2, is positioned on your desk to the left of your laptop, you'd want to elevate display 2 to the left of display i.^[1]
- If you're non sure which brandish is which, click one of the displays, and then click the Identify button. This makes a "1" or "2" appear at the bottom-left corner of each monitor.
- If y'all brand any changes, click Apply to save them.
4

Click the monitor you want to set as your primary brandish. This selects the monitor.
5
Scroll downwardly and click the checkbox next to "Make this my main display" . It's just beneath the "Multiple displays" carte du jour.^[2]
- If the checkbox is already checked, this monitor is already your primary display.
- To change the main display to a unlike monitor, click that monitor at the pinnacle, and then bank check the box side by side to "Make this my principal display" once selected.
6

Click Apply . This is the below the checkbox. This will utilise the new display settings and swap the monitors.

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1
Disconnect all monitors except the primary monitor. To swap the monitor numbers on your Windows PC, you'll demand to alter which port each monitor is connected to. All the same, just plugging each monitor into a different port isn't plenty—you lot'll accept to remove the registry keys that call up the monitor numbers so Windows can properly find the new monitor order.^[3] Before opening the editor, unplug all monitors that aren't the one that's current set as the principal monitor.
- For example, if you're using a laptop plugged in to a docking station, just use your laptop monitor and unplug your external monitor(s).
two

Open the Registry Editor. To open the Registry Editor, blazon regedit into the Windows search bar, then click Registry Editor in the search results.
three
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Arrangement\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers. An easy way to practice this is to copy that accost, paste it into the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor, then press Enter. Another pick is to navigate there using these steps:
- Double-click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE in the left console.
- Double-click the System folder beneath that.
- Double-click the CurrentControlSet folder below that.
- Double-click the Command folder below that.
- Double-click the GraphicsDrivers binder beneath that.
4
Rename the "Configuration" key to Configuration.old. The idea is to delete this primal, but renaming it can help you restore it in case anything goes wrong. Here'southward how:
- Right-click the "Configuration" folder in the left panel.
- Click Rename.
- Type Configuration.erstwhile.
- Press Enter.
- If annihilation goes wrong later (information technology shouldn't), you tin always render here and rename the new "Configuration.old" folder to "Configuration" to restore your previous settings.
v
Rename the "Connectivity" cardinal to Connectivity.old. Here'due south how:
- Right-click the Connectivity binder in the left panel.
- Click Rename.
- Type Connectivity.old.
- Press Enter.
- As with the last step, if anything goes wrong with your settings, you tin return here and rename the new "Connectivity.one-time" folder to "Connectivity" to restore your settings.
six

Shut downward your PC. Don't restart it—you lot'll actually want to shut it down. To do this, just click the Windows Starting time carte, click the Ability icon at the bottom-left, and then select Shut downwards. Continue to the next stride one time your calculator is shut downwardly.
7
Connect simply the monitor that you want to set every bit Monitor 1. It'southward of import that this monitor be continued to the primary video port on your PC. If yous take a multiple-port video carte, plug information technology into the first port. If you have a monitor port built in to your motherboard, that one is usually the primary port (Monitor 1).^[four]
- If you're using a laptop, the built-in monitor will always exist Monitor 1.
- If you take multiple video cards, in that location'south no surefire way to know which is the primary other than simply trying the contrary guild.
- Exercise not plug in your second monitor yet.
8

Power on your PC. Press the power push button on your laptop or desktop tower to practise so. If your monitor is turned off, plough that back on as well.
ix

Right-click the desktop and select Display settings . This opens the Brandish settings window.
x
Plug in the second monitor. Windows will automatically detect the monitor and install whatever necessary drivers. Once the monitor is detected, you should see two monitors under "Multiple displays" in the right panel. The monitor labeled "Monitor 1" is the one that's at present plugged in to the principal port. The one labeled "Monitor ii" is now the second monitor that you only plugged in. If you connect a third monitor, it will exist detected every bit Monitor three, and then on.
- If you don't encounter the 2d (and/or tertiary) monitor in the Display Settings window, click the Observe button under "Multiple displays" to detect it at present.
- Windows has automatically recreated the registry entries yous renamed before, so at that place'south no need to return to the registry.

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Article Summary Ten

ane. Right-click the desktop.
2. Click Brandish Settings.
3. Click the monitor you want to gear up as primary.
four. Check "Make this my primary display".
5. Click Apply.

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