mouse pointer gets lost on inactive display


  1. sgt panties
    Posts : 31
    Windows 10
       New #1

    mouse pointer gets lost on inactive (powered down) display


    I have a 4K monitor and an HDTV set up as an extended display in Windows 10. Why does Windows allow my mouse pointer to travel to the HDTV when it is off? I continually lose my mouse pointer in this way. My HDTV is to the left of my main display and the cursor can travel off the left edge of my 4K monitor into nowhere land. (The cursor is barred from crossing the top, bottom and right edges, as expected.) Is this actually some brilliant feature that simple people like me just can't understand? Certainly Windows can detect the number and state of the displays (?). Explain it to me.

    GigaByte GA-X99-UD3-WiFi, NVidia GTX 1060, Adesso Nuform keyboard/trackpad
    Last edited by sgt panties; 27 Aug 2017 at 09:55.
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  3. Kari
    Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
       New #2

    sgt panties said:
    I have a 4K monitor and an HDTV set up as an extended display in Windows 10. Why does Windows allow my mouse pointer to travel to the HDTV when it is off?
    If you just turn secondary display off but you still have Settings > Display > Multiple displays set to Extend, Windows thinks the display is there even it has been turned off. It's not enough to turn it off, you must also set Multiple Displays to Show only on 1.

    mouse pointer gets lost on inactive display-image.png
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  4. sgt panties
    Posts : 31
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Yes, Kari, that's the way it works, but it's a PITA. It's a little like having to issue commands to tell the Windows that a USB drive is present after you've inserted it. If Windows can detect a monitor, what's the sense of Windows allowing me to move a pointer to a monitor that isn't on? It's a bug.
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  6. alphanumeric
    Posts : 15,037
    Windows 10 IoT
       New #4

    It knows its there, it just doesn't know its off. Press the Windows Logo Key + P and select "PC only" and it won't happen. I have short cuts on my taskbar to switch from PC only to Extend.
    C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /internal
    C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /extend
    mouse pointer gets lost on inactive display-extend-capture.png
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  7. sgt panties
    Posts : 31
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Thanks alphanu. I think I'll put it on my list to write a C# tray program that registers to receive that event then does the equivalent of your commands automatically in a callback. You got my mind a workin'.
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