How to Set a Display as Main Display in Windows 10
If you have two or more displays connected to your PC, then you will be able to select which display you want as the main display for all users by default.
The display set to be the main display will act as the active desktop, show the clock and notification area on the taskbar, sign in, lock, and CTRL+ALT+DELETE screens will open on, and most items will open on the main display by default when you initially open them.
See also:
- Set up dual monitors on Windows 10 | Microsoft Support
- How to use multiple monitors in Windows 10 | Microsoft Support
This tutorial will show you how to set a display to be the main display when you have multiple displays connected to your Windows 10 PC.
Any user on the PC will be able to set a display as the main display.
The display set as the main display will be applied to all users on the PC.
Contents
- Option One: Set a Display as Main Display in Settings
- Option Two: Set a Display as Main Display in NVIDIA Control Panel
EXAMPLE: Display set as Main Display
1 Do step 2 or step 3 below for how you would like to open Display settings.
2 Right click or press and hold on your desktop, click/tap on Display settings, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)
3 Open Settings, click/tap on the System icon, and go to step 4 below.
4 On the right side of Display, click/tap on the display number at the top that you want to make the main display, and check the Make this my main display box under Multiple displays. (see screenshot below)
You can click/tap on the Identity button to briefly display numbers on your display(s) to help see which display belongs with each number.
If Make this my main display is grayed out, then it means that the currently selected display is already set as the main display.
5 When finished, you can close Settings if you like.
This option will only be available if you have NVIDIA graphics and the latest NVIDIA GeForce graphics driver installed.
1 Right click or press and hold on your desktop, and click/tap on NVIDIA Control Panel. (see screenshot below)
2 Click/tap on the Set up multiple displays link under Display in the left pane, right click on the display number you want to set as the main display, and click/tap on Make primary. (see screenshot below)
The display number with an asterisk * on it is the current primary (main) display.
You can click/tap on Identity in the context menu to briefly display the number on the display it is for.
3 Click/tap on Apply. (see screenshot below)
4 Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)
You will only have 20 seconds to click/tap on Yes before your changes automatically revert back to what it was set to before.
That's it,
Shawn
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