Windows 10: display settings revert to duplicate every time I connect a new monitor

Hello.I have a laptop which I regularly connect to monitors to improve my productivity and posture, however every time I connect to a monitor, I am greeted by a duplicated display. I can live with it, but I would rather like to have extend be the default.Cheers, James.

:)

 

Display setting reverts to "Duplicate" instead of staying at "Second Screen Only" after sleep on Windows 10

Thank you for the reply Ariel.

To answer your first 3 questions:

• When does the issue start? It has always been this way, as I just started using the laptop with a second monitor recently.
• Is your laptop runs the latest Windows update? Yes
• What troubleshooting steps have you tried so far? I tried checking the graphics driver and generally playing around with the display settings.

I tried your suggested steps of using "Extend these displays" first, then check the second monitor as the main display (nice). Then I selected "Show only on 2", which disabled the "Make this main display" for 2, but stayed checked at least. (see image #1)

The bad news is that after sleep or restart, it reverts back to "Extend" mode (see image #2).

It's still an improvement from before (which was reverting to Duplicate) because at least now the main monitor isn't shrinking down to a tiny screen size to match the laptop. However, I still want to stay at "Show only on 2". Any other ideas?

 

Windows 10 doesn't show native display for second monitor

Hi,

In order to for your Windows 10 to show the native display for the second monitor, you may revert all screen settings back to default, and see if this resolves the issue. If it doesn't, you may try these steps:

• Press Windows key + P.
• If your monitor settings is on Duplicate, try choosing
  Extend.
• If your monitor settings is on Extend try choosing the
  Duplicate.
• Check the resolution if both monitors are showing the same resolution value.
  

Let us know the result for us to assist you further.

Regards.

 

Setup 2 monitors with different refresh rate in duplicate mode

Hi, СуминНикита

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.



Unfortunately, running two monitors with different refresh rates in duplicate mode may cause some issues. Duplicate mode essentially mirrors the exact same image on both screens. Since the refresh rates differ between your monitors, Windows will default to the lowest common refresh rate to ensure compatibility, which in your case is 120Hz.

To run programs or games at 144Hz on your internal monitor while duplicating the display on your external monitor, you may need to utilize third-party software that can manage this kind of setup, but it may still lead to graphical issues or performance anomalies.

Here are some steps you can try:

1. Set Primary Display:
   
   • Right-click on the desktop and select “Display Settings.”
     
   • Scroll down to “Multiple displays” and select “Duplicate these displays” from the dropdown menu.
     
   • Choose the monitor you wish to set as your main display and check the box that says “Make this my main display.”
     
2. NVIDIA Control Panel (if you have an NVIDIA GPU):
   
   • Open the NVIDIA Control Panel by right-clicking on your desktop and selecting it from the dropdown menu.
     
   • Go to “3D Settings” > “Manage 3D settings.”
     
   • Under the “Global Settings” tab, find the “Preferred refresh rate” option and set it to “Highest available.”
     

Please note that these steps may not fully resolve the issue due to the inherent limitations of running duplicate displays with different refresh rates. It’s generally recommended to use monitors with the same refresh rate for the best performance.

Best Regards

Martin | Microsoft Community Support Specialist