To browse the Internet, or watch a video on YouTube or Netflix, a single monitor is enough to be able to do it without problems. However, when we often start working with the computer, we realize that a single screen on the PC is insufficient and we have serious space problems, wasting a lot of time switching between applications and pages. Time lost that, if you had used two monitors, would have become better productivity.
Connect two monitors to Windows 10: what to consider
Initially, any user can connect a second monitor to the computer . It does not matter whether it is a new screen or an old one. The only drawback that we can find when doing this is that a second screen takes away a lot of space on the table or desk, it is something to consider. A very important aspect when working from home is keeping a desk tidy and as minimalist as possible, something that, having two screens, is difficult to achieve.
If we do not have too much space, it may be worth buying an ultra-wide monitor before a second monitor, since that extra screen will give us more order and space on the work table.
If we have a laptop, it will surely have a video output in the form of HDMI or USB-C. In this case, we can connect the second monitor to this video output. We will not need more.
In case of having a tower computer, what we must take into account is that we need our graphics card to have at least two video outputs. If we are using the graphics integrated in the processor, the motherboard will only allow us to connect a screen.
If we have a graphic with more than one video output , we must make sure that our second monitor has a connection (VGA, DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort) according to the graphic’s video output. If this is not the case, we can use adapters. But the safest thing is that our graphics have at least two HDMI. Therefore, we can connect the two screens without problems.
Quickly change the operation of the two monitors
When we connect the second monitor to the computer for the first time, it will surely appear with the duplicated image. That is, we will see in the second what we do in the first. In some situations this can be useful, although in our case it is not.
We can easily change the operating mode of Windows 10 monitors with the Windows + P keyboard shortcut. When you press it, a drop-down like the following will appear on the right where you can choose the type of dual monitor configuration you want to use:
- PC Screen Only : Shows only the main screen, leaving the secondary screen off.
- Duplicate: shows the same on both screens.
- Extend: Allows you to extend the desktop to the second monitor, having twice the space.
- Second screen only : turn off the main screen and show only the second screen.
The most useful option is to expand, since it is the one that allows us to take full advantage of the two monitors.
Set up both screens in Windows
Although at first we don’t have to do anything to be able to use the two screens in Windows 10, some configurations may help us make the most of this new way of working.
The first thing is that Windows allows us to order the workspace best for us. This is useful if when we place one of the screens on the left it appears on the right, which can be chaos. If we enter the menu of Configuration> System> Screen we will see the monitors that we have connected to the PC. We can drag and drop them the same way we actually have them. So the screen on the left will be the one on the left, and the one on the right will be the one on the right.
It is also essential to adjust the scale and resolution of the two monitors. We can do this from the same section of “Configuration> System> Screen, selecting the monitor we want in the section to order the monitors and looking below, we can choose the scale and distribution for each of the monitors.
Although they are not essential, there are other settings that could help us feel more comfortable. For example, we can adjust the frequency (Hz) of each screen, configure a different wallpaper for each desktop and even choose whether we want the taskbar to appear on both monitors or only on the main one.
Can virtual desktops replace a second monitor?
Microsoft introduced in Windows 10 a feature called ” Virtual Desktops “. This function allows us to have several virtual desktops, dedicating each one to a specific type of task. Thanks to them we can organize our applications and our work easily. However, they cannot replace a second monitor.
Working with virtual desktops is not as comfortable or fast as it is to work with two screens on the same computer. Although this function can get us out of some trouble, if we really want to improve our productivity, what we should do is invest in a second screen for the PC.