Laptops are the perfect choice for working on the go, but their relatively small displays can often leave a bit of a hindrance. Hooking up a second, third, or even fourth screen can help give you a little bit of breathing room and make your workload feel much more manageable.
Essentially, having multiple displays means you dont need to flip between applications on one screen anymore. For example, you can display your email client on your laptops native screen and run Photoshop on a bigger external monitor. Maybe you have one monitor dedicated to Slack and another for browsing.
This article explains how to hook up your laptop to your external monitor and configure the display to work the way you want. There are also details on resolution limitations for various connections and advice on finding the correct adapter if your video inputs dont match.
How to Connect and Use Multiple Monitors
1. Check the Connections
If you own a Windows laptop, connecting external displays should be very easy to do. The first step is to determine which type of cable you need. Most modern laptops have an HDMI, DisplayPort, mini-DisplayPort, or USB Type-C port.
If the inputs and outputs on the monitor and laptop match, you can purchase a cable, such as this simple HDMI cable on Amazon,and hook the two together. If the inputs dont match, or youve tried connecting your PC to your monitor and have no picture, scroll down for more information on adapters and converters.
2. Choose to Extend or Duplicate the Desktop in Windows
Extending/Duplicating the Desktop in Windows 8, 8.1, and 10
Once youve got your cable, plug it into the monitor and laptop, the Windows side of things is straightforward.
- On Windows 8, 8.1, or 10, hit WIN + P to open the Project options, which pops out in a menu on the right-hand side.
- Use the Duplicate or Second screen only options to display a presentation through a projector or to play a movie. For work or gaming, however, the option you need is Extend. This setting allows you to spread your whole desktop over both screens and drag windows and other items from one to the other.
Extending/Duplicating the Desktop in Windows 7
Users of Windows 7 need to follow a different procedure than Windows 8, 8.1, or 10 to duplicate or extend their display.
- Right-click anywhere on the desktop and select Screen resolution.
- Choose Extend these displays or Duplicate these displays from the Multiple displaysdrop-downmenu, and click OK or Apply.
Note: If your monitor doesnt display your laptop output automatically after all this, it may be necessary to use the monitors controls to switch to the correct input manually.
3. Adjust Multi-Monitor Positions in Windows
By default, Windows positions the laptops built-in screen to the left and the external monitor to the right, meaning you have to move the cursor off the internal screens right-hand side when navigating to the monitor. If you have things the other way around, youll need to slightly adjust the position since the monitor appears stationed on the left side.
Changing Multi-Monitor Screen Positions in Windows 10
- Click on the Start Menu, then select Settings.
- Click on System.
- In the preselected Display Menu, click on a monitor and slide it around into position. If it sits to the left of your main screen, position it to the left of the main one, or move it wherever it is positioned aorund the main monitor.
- No other action is neccessary. Just close the Settings Menu and youre good to go.
Changing Multi-Monitor Screen Positions in Windows 7
- On the Windows 7 desktop, right-click and select Screen resolution.
- Then, in the dialog box that appears next, click and drag the screen icons [screens numbered as 1, 2, etc.] until theyre in the correct order/position as they appear in your workspace. Use Identify if needed.
- Select OK or Apply when finished.
Youll notice that Windows doesnt restrict you to just left and right configurations; you can also arrange the monitor so that it sits above your laptop or below it. You can also fine-tune the screens position so that various windows and other items span the two screens and match up.
4. Solve Video Adapters and USB-C Problems
Dont fear if you have DVI and HDMI, HDMI and DisplayPort, or even VGA and any of the above connections. You can still connect multiple screens using a dual-purpose cable, such as DVI-to-VGA, HDMI-to-DVI, or some other adapter or converter.
An increasing number of laptops use a USB Type-C socket to complicate matters further, carrying data, video, and charging capabilities. USB Type-C is brilliant, but its not always obvious what the port on your laptop can and cannot do. Indeed, some devices only support USB 2.0 connectivity and power transfer and wont carry a video signal at all. In contrast, others offer USB 3.0 but wont let you plug the connection into a monitor. Alas, theres no way of telling beyond trying it out or checking the specifications for the USB controller hardware your laptop uses.
If you attempt to use that same cable to connect your laptop to your monitor, youll be out of luck. Again, theres no way of telling beyond trial and error or buying a specifically video-compatible cable.
Fortunately, cables are pretty cheap, even though USB Type-C is a relatively newer standard. If you need an HDMI to USB Type-C adaptor, For instance, you can get a low-cost converter on Amazon if you dont mind attaching a small USB Type-C to HDMI adapter to the end of your Type-C cable.
However, its best to purchase a multi-adapter instead, which gives you much more flexibility. These connectors are a bit more expensive than one-to-one adapters, but they wont break the bank, and they will provide you with connections for your monitor, your standard USB accessories, and power input all in one.
5. Adjust Display Quality
There is another factor to your choice of cable or adapter, however. Depending on your secondary monitors specifications, some video connections may not be capable of displaying images at the monitors native resolution.
Although you can still connect the monitor as a secondary display, you may find that the screen gets stretched or appears more blurry than it should be. With many affordable consumer monitors offering WQHD [2,560 x 1,440 pixel] or 4K [3,840 x 2,160 pixel] resolutions, its worth making the right choice to get the best quality on your particular device.
Although theres no hard limit to the maximum resolution of a VGA connection, laptop graphics cards often top out around 2,048 x 1,536. Its worth knowing that images can look softer and less sharp via a VGA cable as its an analog signal rather than a digital connection.
A DVI connection is a better choice, partly because its a digital connection, but you still have to be careful. If you want to use resolutions above 1,920 x 1,200, youll need both a dual-link DVI cable and a dual-link compatible connector on your laptop. Take a look at the image below to see the difference between a dual-link [left] and a single-link cable [right].
Similarly, although the HDMI 1.3 standard added support for monitors and displays that stretch beyond the popular Full HD resolution [1,920 x 1,080 pixels], and HDMI 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 now support up to 4K resolutions, both your laptop and monitor will need to support the standard for the connection to work. If you have a portable computer with an HDMI 1.2 or earlier port, you wont be able to push the secondary monitor resolution higher than 1,920 x 1,200.
DisplayPort is the most flexible connection of the bunch [as is USB Type-C, since its merely a carrier for a DisplayPort or HDMI connection]. Even the older DisplayPort 1.1 standard supports up to 4K resolutions at 30Hz. That specification limits the onscreen framerate to a jerky 30fps. So, while movies look fine, it isnt suitable for 4K gaming. DisplayPort 1.2 adds support for 4K at a smooth 60Hz refresh rate.
The most recent standard, DisplayPort 1.3, supports 8K [7,680 x 4,320 pixels]. With some laptops and graphics cards, different outputs will support different resolutions and refresh rates. Therefore, its worth checking to see which connection is most capable before buying any cables or adapters. If you dont get the right one, you may end up with a lower resolution and refresh rate produced by a monitor capable of delivering better quality.
If youve got a recent Apple laptop or desktop with a Thunderbolt connection, then bear in mind that you can use a mini DisplayPort-to-DisplayPort cable [or a DisplayPort adapter] to connect to any compatible monitorthe monitor doesnt need to have a Thunderbolt input. You can pick up a mini DisplayPort-to-DisplayPort cable for a few dollars on Amazon.
6. Connect Two or More Monitors
In many cases, connecting two [or more] monitors to your laptop is as simple as plugging them into several video outputs. Depending on your portable PCs age and the graphics chipset inside, there may be hardware limitations that prevent you from doing so. Older laptops may only support two displays: the laptop display and a secondary monitor. Newer models may allow as many as three external displays. Other devices, such as Ultrabooks, hybrids, and tablets, may be limited by only having one display output or possibly none.
However, there are ways to add an extra monitor even if youve already used all the connections or your laptop doesnt have a working video output.
For devices with a DisplayPort 1.2 connection, there are a couple of options. Firstly, you can buy a DisplayPort hub that splits your single connection into multiple outputs. These splitters arent cheap, but they allow an available DisplayPort connection to power two 2,560 x 1,600 monitors and a third 1,920 x 1,200 display simultaneously. Another option is buying a monitor with daisy-chain functionality: compatible monitors use a DisplayPort output at the rear to allow you to connect multiple monitors via a single DisplayPort connection.
Even if youve got an older laptop or a device without any working video connections, all you need is a spare USB port to add another display. There is a variety of reasonably priced USB to DVI, VGA, or HDMI converters on the market, which will allow you to add an extra monitor. You may need drivers for Windows 7 and earlier, but Windows 8 devices should pick them up automatically.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure to think about the resolution issue we mentioned earlier when connecting multiple monitors. For instance, if you want to run a 4K monitor and a 1,920 x 1,080 monitor simultaneously, make sure to link the 4K monitor to the video connection, which will allow the highest, and ideally native, resolution to get used. Get them the wrong way, and you wont get the best out of your display.
In closing, whether youre connecting multiple monitors to your laptop for work or streaming movies to a bigger monitor, there are several ways to accomplish the task. Connecting various monitors directly to a laptop has never been easier. Just follow the instructions above, and youll be up and running in no time.
Were you able to connect your monitors? Did you run into issues? Share your experience in the comments below.