Are you looking to expand your computer’s display size for work or gaming purposes? Then, perform the dual monitor setup to make it easy and simple to perform. On this page, you’re going to see how to setup dual monitors on your Windows or Mac computer.

Preparations

• Modern computers come with motherboards that support multiple monitors. But, the older computers don’t. So, initially, check whether your main or primary computer supports dual monitors.
• To do so, get your computer’s motherboard name and google it.
• On the motherboard features screen, look for the Multi-Monitor, Dual Display, or Multi-Display feature.
• If the selected primary computer doesn’t support multiple monitors, then get the one that supports it.
• Check whether your primary computer has a dedicated video-out port. If not, look for a USB-C/Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 port for the second monitor.
• Make sure that your second monitor has either the video-out port or the port that supports multiple monitors.
• If necessary, get an adapter for connectivity. For example, if a monitor has the HDMI port and your computer has the DVI port, then get the DVI-to-HDMI adapter to connect both the devices.

Now, let’s see how to perform the dual monitor setup in detail.

Step 1: Connecting the second monitor to the primary one

• Get the HDMI or USB cable and connect one end to your primary computer securely.
• Plug the cable's other end to the second computer or monitor.
• If necessary, connect the cable to the adapter first and then plug it into the monitors.

Step 2: Turning on the monitors

• Turn on your primary computer and wait for it to become stable.
• Now, connect your second monitor to a power outlet. (Note: Try to avoid using a surge protector for connectivity).
• Press the Power button on your second monitor to turn it on.

Step 3: Setting the primary & secondary monitors

If you haven’t set up which one is primary & secondary monitors, after connecting the two monitors together, follow the instructions given below.

Note: The below instructions are suitable only for the Windows 10 computer.

• On any one of the monitors, open the Settings window.
• Click on the Display option.
• Now, at the top of the window, you can find two displays.
• Select the one that you wish to set as the primary monitor and click the checkbox beside the Make this my main display option.

• Now, the selected display will be set as the primary monitor.

Scroll down this page to know how to configure the dual monitor setup settings.

Configuring the dual monitor display settings on Windows

• Click the Window icon on your Windows computer’s taskbar.
• Now, open the Settings menu screen by clicking the gear icon in the lower-left side of the screen.
• In the Settings window, locate and click on the System option.
• Now, the System Settings window will open.
• Go to the Display menu.
• Locate and click on the Multiple displays option above or below the Connect to a wireless display command.

• Now, in the opened window, go to the Multiple displays menu.
• Click on the drop-down arrow beside the box.
• Now, you will find the following options: Extend these displays, Duplicate these displays, Show only on 1, or Show only on two.
• "Extend these displays": Select this option if you want to use the second monitor to extend the first monitor.
• Duplicate these displays: To display the same content displayed on your first monitor on the second monitor, use this option.
• Show only on 1: To display all the contents only on the first monitor, select this option.
• Show only on 2: Similarly, to display all the contents only on the second monitor, use this option.

• Select any one of these options from the drop-down menu.
• After selecting the option, click the Apply button in the drop-down menu.

• If you wish to configure the advanced settings such as "Monitor resolution," then click the Advanced display settings command in the Display Settings window.

Configuring the dual monitor display preferences on Mac

• Click on the Apple menu.
• Select the System Preferences option from the drop-down menu.
• On the opened screen, locate and double-click on the Displays option.

• Go to the Arrangement tab.

• Clickthe checkbox beside the Mirror Displays option if you wish to duplicate the first monitor content on the second one. Otherwise, uncheck this option.
• Configure the display settings as per your needs.

Setting display preferences in Linux Ubuntu

To know more about how to perform the dual monitor setup, contact us by clicking the Call button provided on this page.