Specify which of my dual monitors the game runs on?

User Support Hub Hardware & Peripherals
1

This might be an easy one for all of you, but is there a way to “choose” which monitor of my dual monitors FS runs on?

I have 2 different Dell monitors - a 32" 1440p gaming monitor (165Hz), and an ultrawide 34" (3440 x 1440) which is only a 60Hz. I have the primary monitor set up as the 32", and this is the one that the game always launches on when I run it full screen (extended desktop mode). I have been hesitant to run it on the widescreen monitor because of its lower refresh rate and higher pixel count (and what I assume would be a performance hit), but I want to give it a shot. I do pop some of the windows to the secondary monitor, but I also use it for reference purposes with a browser open quite often (youtube vids, online charts, etc).

So is there a way to have it launch on my secondary monitor? Or do I have to change my primary monitor to the widescreen to make this work?

2

If you’re just talking about changing it to run on the other monitor for a test you can force the game to move by holding “Shift+Windows Key” and then one of the arrow buttons (whichever direction the screen you want to go to is). I’m not sure if it will open there every time, but it’s easy enough to move.

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3

Interesting - I will give that a shot. Thanks!

4

No problem, I can’t remember if it will work when in full screen so you may have to put it windowed while you move it.

5

Nvidia control panel also lets you choose the primary panel.

6

All programs will open on the the Primary Display, unless otherwise specified. You can assign which display is Primary very easily in Control Panel/Settings/Display in Windows 10.

But, I must tell you, with the monitors running at different refresh rates, you’re just asking for trouble. It would be best for Full Screen MSFS to use only ONE refresh rate.

7

Really? Why would this make a difference? Would this only be the case if I am dragging some of the windows (like ATC) to the other monitor when the main application is running full screen?

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Also, when you say “unless otherwise specified”, is there a way to assign a certain program to always open on a specific display (either in windows or in MSFS)?

9

Just for testing purposes, alt-enter the sim to a window, drag it over and alt-enter again back to fullscreen. This way it works for me at least.

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10

I run on a laptop so its monitor is considered “Primary” however, when I attach my 2nd monitor as extended display (not primary) FS always opens on the 2nd monitor since I’ve moved it over there from the first time playing. I also move ATC and Nav to the laptop display while I’m playing and have not had an issue even though they’re different resolutions and rates.

11

I will try some stuff out here when I am on lunch hour. The windows-shift-arrow key combo is new to me and very handy. I tried it out with my work pc connected to these monitors and it is quite helpful. Need to try this with the full screen game running to see if it works for non-windowed apps too.

12

Well, the Alt-Enter method worked for me. I Alt-Entered the FS application, dragged it to my other monitor, and then Alt-Entered it back to full screen. After shutting it down, restarting the app did bring it up full-screen on my widescreen (secondary) monitor. I did need to adjust the resolution in the game to get it to match the 3440x1440 of that screen, but otherwise it worked well.

I tried the Shift-Windows-Arrow key method while in full screen mode, and it did move the application over, but it appeared on the secondary monitor in windowed mode. I think it might work to do that, but it seemed a bit flaky. I will stick with the first method above for now while I am playing with the quality settings and FPS values with the higher resolution.

Thanks all!

1 Like
13

where is it specified other than pc settings? As it launches on my screen 2 not the primary display.

14

The game started to launch on secondary monitor for me after recent (either Windows or game) Update.

The problem is, my second monitor resolution is 1920x1080, while main is 2560x1440.

I tried switching into Windowed mode, drag it to main, then re-enable FullScreen mode. But there’s no 2560x1440 resolution option in-game. Now in full screen mode it’s obviously doing upscaling from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 since I can see the blurry edges on the game options.

15

Thank you so much. My screen changed over and I couldn’t get it back over. If I tried “ALT+Enter” to get into windowed so I could drag it over the game window would disappear and only come back if I hit “ALT+Enter” again. This was a huge help thanks.

16

Thanks @HopNatic have you worked out how to get it to start on the other screen since your post? Your tip is great for moving it between screens. I’ve had this issue ever since moving it to a third screen my LG CX. Maybe because it’s not always plugged into it is why it’s starting on display 2. I guess I’ll try that. This question actually made me remember that fact and hopefully it’s as simple as plugging it in again.