How to Change Primary and Secondary Monitor in Windows 7 and 10

If you want to know how you can switch primary and secondary monitor in Windows effectively and smoothly, we have all the information you need to know below.

It is quite rare to see a person performing only one task at a time on a PC. Most of us have become skilled multitaskers and like to work on several projects at the same time. Whether it is listening to music while doing your homework or opening multiple browser tabs to write your report in BecomeCreative staff and professional gamers take multitasking to another level and have an unnoticeable number of applications/windows open at any given time. For them, the usual multi-window setup doesn't quite work and that's why they have multiple monitors connected to their computer.

Popularized primarily by gamers, multi-monitor setups have become quite common across the globe. However, knowing how to quickly switch the primary and secondary monitor in Windows and how to split content between them is vital to realizing the benefits of having a multi-monitor setup.

Fortunately, switching the primary and secondary monitor in Windows is fairly easy and can be accomplished in less than a minute.

How to switch primary and secondary monitor in Windows

The procedure to switch the primary and secondary monitor in Windows 10 is slightly different from other versions of Windows you may have running on your personal computer. It may sound unusual, but there are still a good number of computers running Windows 7. However, below is the procedure to switch monitors in Windows 7 and Windows 10.

Switch Primary and Secondary Monitor in Windows 7

• Take the Right click on an empty space / negative on your desk.
• In the options menu that appears below, click on Screen resolution.
• In the next window, all monitors connected to the main computer will be displayed as a blue rectangle with a number in the center under the section «Change the look of your screen».

• The blue screen/rectangle that has the number 1 in the center represents your primary screen/monitor at the moment. Simply put, Click on the icon of the monitor you would like to make your primary display.
• Check the box next to the option «Make this my home screen» (or Use this device as your primary monitor in other versions of Windows 7) found in advanced settings.
• Finally, click on Apply to change your primary monitor and then click OK to exit.

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Switch Primary and Secondary Monitor in Windows 10

The procedure to switch the primary and secondary monitor in Windows 10 is mostly the same as in Windows 7. Although, a couple of options have been renamed and to avoid confusion, below is the step-by-step guide to switch monitors in Windows 10:

• click with it right button in an empty area of ​​your desktop and select Screen settings.
• Alternatively, click on the start button (or press the key Windows + S), type Display Settings and press Enter when the search results return.
• Just like in Windows 7, all the monitors you have connected to your main computer will be displayed as blue rectangles and the main monitor will carry the number 1 in its center.
• Click on the rectangle/screen you would like to set as your primary display.

• Scroll down the window to find «Make this my home screen» and check the box next to it.
• If you can't check the box next to "Make this my primary display" or it's grayed out, it's most likely that the monitor you're trying to set as your primary display is already your primary display.
• Also, make sure all your screens are extended. The feature/option "Extend these screens" can be found in the Multiple Displays section within Display Settings. The feature allows the user to set one of the monitors as the primary display; if the feature is not enabled, all connected monitors will receive the same treatment. By extending the display, you can open different programs on each display/monitor.

Other options included in the Multiple Displays drop-down menu are: Duplicate these displays and Show only on …

Obviously, select the option of duplicate these screens will display the same content on both or all monitors you have connected. On the other hand, by selecting Show only in… the content will be displayed only on the corresponding screen.

Alternatively, you can press the keyboard combination key Windows + P to open the project side menu. From the menu, you can select the preferred display option, either to duplicate displays or to extend them.

Switch Primary and Secondary Monitor in Windows via Nvidia Control Panel

Sometimes, the graphics software installed on our personal computers counteracts the switching between monitors done from the Windows Display Settings. If that is the case and you were unable to switch the primary and secondary monitor in Windows using the above procedure, try switching monitors through the graphics software. Below is the procedure to switch the primary and secondary monitor in Windows using the Display Control Panel. NVIDIA.

• Click on the icon of the NVIDIA control panel on your taskbar to open it. (It's often hidden and can be found by clicking the Show hidden icons arrow.) Although, if the icon isn't present on the taskbar, you'll need to access it through the Control Panel.
• Press the key Windows + R on your keyboard to launch the Run command. In the text box, type control or control panel and press Enter to open the Control Panel.
• Look for the NVIDIA control panel and double-click it to open (or right-click and select open). To make the NVIDIA Control Panel easier to find, change the icon size to large or small according to your preference.

• Once the NVIDIA Control Panel window has opened, double-click on Screen in the left panel to open the list of sub-items/configurations.
• In Display, select Set up multiple screens.
• In the right pane, you will see a list of all connected monitors/displays under the label «Select the screens you want to use.»
• Note: The monitor number marked with an asterisk (*) is currently your primary monitor.

• To change the primary display, right-click the display number you want to use as your primary display and select Make main.
• Click on Apply to save all changes and then Yes to confirm the action.

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Final words

With this guide you can easily Switch Primary and Secondary Monitor in Windows 7 and Windows 10. We wanted to show you all the methods you can use to make the change correctly.