Connecting more than one monitor to a single computer is something that many users care about, whether they work in programming, design, or business in general to increase productivity instead of dedicating tasks to a single screen. This simplifies and facilitates their work. You can actually connect one, two, or three screens to a single computer using cables, whether HDMI, VGA, or DVI-D. The number of screens you want to connect depends on the number of available ports on the computer’s graphics card. And if you are wondering if there are specific monitors that should be used for connecting? The answer is no, as you can use any computer monitor regardless of its specifications, as long as both the monitor and the computer have different ports.
But if you care about the visual appearance, you may need to choose identical monitors in terms of size and specifications to keep your work organized. However, if you have a laptop and prefer to connect it to an old computer monitor, this is also possible if the laptop has an HDMI or VGA port. In this article, let me show you how to connect them using either of these ports and set them up on Windows.
First, check the connection ports on the laptop. Most modern laptops usually come with an HDMI port, and in this case, if the computer monitor has a different port like VGA, for example, you will need to buy a VGA to HDMI cable. However, some laptops also come equipped with a VGA port as shown in the image below. In this case, you can directly connect the monitor cable to the laptop if it is VGA. The same goes if the monitor has an HDMI port and the laptop also, you can connect them directly. Clear so far? Let’s start.
As a first step, connect the monitor power cable to the power outlet to start working. Then, connect the VGA or HDMI cable to the designated port on the laptop. You will notice immediately that the computer monitor has started working and displaying the laptop screen content.
Now we need to adjust some settings in Windows to customize them. Start by clicking on the Action Center icon in the taskbar, then click on Expand to display all options, and then start by clicking on the Project button, or alternatively press the Windows logo key + letter P together on the keyboard.
From the menu that appears on the right side, you will select the display mode between the laptop screen and the second screen. For example, choosing Duplicate means that both screens will work as one screen, meaning anything you do on the laptop screen will be duplicated on the second screen.
As for the Extend option, which is the better option, it means that the second screen will become an extension of the laptop screen and independent at the same time. That way, open windows can be moved between the two screens as shown in the image above. This is useful for expanding the workspace on the laptop if you work with many windows or want to play games on both screens, it will be more enjoyable.
Now after selecting the screen mode, you will go to adjust the position of the second screen, informing the laptop of where the second screen is located to be compatible with it. You can do this by going to the Settings app, then System, then Display, and specifically under Customize your display, you will drag and drop the first or second screen to determine its position. If the computer screen is on the right or left of the laptop, you adjust it by moving the screen with drag and drop, then after finishing, press Apply to make the laptop screen compatible with the computer screen.
Another setting step is to adjust the taskbar on both screens, you will right-click on the taskbar, then click on Settings to take you to the taskbar settings page, scroll down to Multiple display, and here you can either show or disable the taskbar on the second screen, or choose Main taskbar and taskbar where the window is open to have a separate taskbar for each screen.
Finally, if you care about appearance or if the screens are identical in size, you can make the background extend to the laptop screen and the other screens as a panoramic image, which will give you a better look for sure. You can do this by going to Settings, then moving to Personalization, then scrolling down to Choose a fit, select Span from there, and then the background will be displayed on both screens.
