Sunday, 07 February 2021

Making Windows open applications on a specific monitor

When you have multiple monitors Windows will generally open applications on the main one, but that might not always be the case. Furthermore, sometimes you want a specific app to always open on your second monitor, leaving the primary one free.

For a long time I tried to find any way to configure that, and when I didn't find anything I assumed there was no way to control that. But a while ago I stumbled upon a SuperUser question, and one of the answers was exactly what I was looking for.

This doesn't seem to be common knowledge, so I decided to post about it here both to spread the knowledge, and for my own records for the time when I will inevitably forget this once again (this is not something you have to configure often and it is the third time I went on a search for this key sequence)

To change which monitor an app should open by default, do the following:

  • Ensure all instances of the app are closed. (this step might not be required, but I've noticed that without it it sometimes refuses to work)
  • Open your program.
  • Move it to the monitor on which you would like it to open by default.
  • Hit the Windows key + Shift + Enter.
  • Close the application, and open it again - it should now open on the correct monitor