How to set display order on Windows 10
Windows 10 lets you connect as many displays to your system as your GPU allows. External displays are mostly plug & play which means you need only connect a monitor or TV to your desktop and laptop, and it will automatically start working. You do have to choose if you want the second or third display to mirror your primary display or to extend it across the multiple displays that are connected. One other aspect that you need to look at is the order of the displays i.e., which is the left most display and which one is placed to its right.
This determines how your mouse moves and where the display ‘ends’. Here’s how you can set display order on Windows 10.
Set display order
Before you can set the display order for your displays, you need to first know which number is allocated to each display. If you’re using a laptop and you’ve connected an external monitor to it, the laptop’s internal screen is always going to be the first screen with the number 1 allocated to it. Still, to be on the safe side, you can check the display number.
To check the display number, open the Settings app and go to the System group of settings. Select the Display tab and click Identify. A number will be superimposed on your screens indicating the number that is allocated to them.
Now that you know which display is which, you can set its order. First, step back and look at your multi-display set up. Which screen is physically located on the left and which is located on the right. On the Display tab in the Settings app, check if the screens are lined up the same way they are physically.
For example, let’s say you have an external display marked screen 2, and an internal display marked screen 1. Physically, Screen 2 is placed on the left side of Screen 1 but the Display tab shows you that Screen 2 is placed on the right side of Screen 1. If you leave this set up as is, what will happen is if you move your mouse to the right edge of Screen 1, it will disappear and reappear on the left edge of Screen 2. The scrolling direction will basically be incorrect.
To fix this, you need to drag and rearrange the displays on the Displays tab in the Settings app. It really is that simple. Drag one display and drop it on on to the left or right side of the other display to align it with how the displays are physically set up. If the two displays are different in size i.e., one is smaller and the other is bigger, you need to match their resolutions. This may not always be possible especially if you have an ordinary internal display and a 4K external display. In such a case, try and set the resolution of the displays are close as possible.
