Windows 10: Desktop Icons Rearranged To Laptop Monitor From External Monitor

Windows 10 laptop. I connect it to an external monitor and use hdmi cable. My external monitor is my main monitor. I use the laptop monitor as the secondary monitor. I extend the display.



My desktop icons are always on my external monitor desktop. I had moved the hdmi cable connected to my laptop i believe which caused all my icons from my external monitor to go on the laptop monitor. Also there is even spacing on all of the icons. Has anyone had this happened? I then clicked sort and then it rearranged so there is no spacing etc. However, i then noticed hey why are my icons on my laptop monitor and not my external monitor.



Does anyone know why this happened? When i open chrome and other programs, it does open up on my external monitor though which is my primary monitor. I believe i can just drag each of the icons on my desktop on my laptop screen to my external monitor. So just do this and that fixes the issue right? Or is there a way to have all the icons just move to the external monitor. The reason i ask this is in case the icons just suddenly move to the laptop screen again.

:)

 

Screen Icon arrangement changes.

I use a laptop with external monitor. Sometimes If I use my laptop by itself its fine, but sometimes after doing so and hocking up my External monitor my Laptop screen rearranges my Desktop Icons.

Is their a way to save my Desktop Icon arrangement so I can recall my prefered setting???

 

How do I stop Windows 10 from rearranging my desktop icons?

Since upgrading to Windows 10 my laptop has developed the annoying habit of rearranging the desktop icons seemingly at random, but specifically after connecting to an external monitor.

Is there any way to lock them in place? . . . until only I can add to, remove or rearrange them.

 

If you booted up without the external connected, it likely switched the laptop screen to now be the main screen. Just go back in and double check which one is set to main.
I run dual screens on my laptop but leave the laptop screen as main. My external is a smaller screen than my laptops 17 inch screen. It's a portable 15 inch USB screen.
I on occasion boot up my laptop without the external connected. Having the laptop screen as the main screen helps in this situation.
I don't put any ICONS on my desktop, its just my personal preference. I launch my every day Apps/programs from my taskbar.

 

my external monitor was connected to my laptop. However i had moved my laptop a bit and think i might have made the hdmi cable a bit loose. Does that make sense? Im not 100 percent sure if that happened though.


I think my screen went out very quickly then turned back on and then all my icons suddenly shifted to the laptop screen. But not only that, there was a space on each icon though.


How can i tell if my external monitor is my main screen now though? I believe my external is my main screen because any program i open, it shows on the external. So should i just drag each icon from my desktop to my external and that is good enough? I like to also mention that i had no sound on my computer as well when this happened and had to change the settings. So what does that mean? Is my external my main monitor? Can i just drag each icon to the desktop on the external?

 

Settings > System > Display. The one that is the main display will have a checkmark in the box for "Make this my main display".
Programs will open on what ever display they were last used/closed on. They remember where you last opened them. That has nothing to do with what Monitor is set as main.
Any App or Program launched for the first time will open on the monitor set as main though.

 

The taskbar will be different too. My main display shows the notifications area, my other monitors only show the date and time.

 

on display there is 2 boxes... box 1 and box 2.


Box 1 is on the left , box 2 is on the right. Box 2 seems to be a bit bigger size than box 1? By that i mean very little. What does that mean?


Box 2 has the make this my main display. There is nothing else shown on the laptop screen besides the icons. No taskbar, nothing else... which is what i want.


So what do i do here?


Is my display setting correct? So just drag each icon to the external monitor?

 

The size of the boxes is in relation to screen size. My 1280 x 1024 monitors show smaller than my 1920 x 1080 screen. The 1280 x 1024 boxes are also square as they aren't wide screens. My 1080 P screen shows a rectangle as it is wide screen.
If you click the Identify it will put numbers up on your actual monitors to show which one is no 1 and which one is no 2.
Check mark the box for monitor no 2 for Make this my main display and see if the icons all move over on their own.
If they don't then do what you talked about. Move them one at a time manually.