On a dual-monitor setup, how can I keep the game in one monitor without the browser windows on the other monitor moving?

On a dual-monitor setup, how can I keep the game in one monitor without the browser windows on the other monitor moving? - Modern computers with keyboards and mice placed in row on table with chairs  in contemporary workplace with orange walls

I have two monitors. One is an Acer LED LCD and the other is a plain Dell LCD. My goal is to have a full screen game on my Acer monitor (the primary monitor) with a browser running on the Dell monitor. I am already able to do that, but the windows on the Acer monitor are pushed (either partially or fully) over to the dell monitor, and the windows open on the Dell monitor upon game launch are partially pushed outside of the display.

In the picture I've attached, the line between the black portion and Chrome is the split between the monitors. The black portion is the game that is currently open. Chrome was open on the Acer monitor (to the left), and it was pushed halfway onto the Dell monitor (to the right). Also, Steam was open on the Dell monitor, and it was pushed further to the left, causing part of it to lie outside of the display.

Does anyone know of a way to combat this with software or tweaks to the hardware preferences?

windows while the game is open



Best Answer

The positions of the windows on the secondary monitor are based on the relative position of those window to the resolution.

Not using actual numbers here: So if you imagine that your monitors are each 1000 wide, the total width of both monitors is 2000. A window 1000 wide on the second monitor taking up the whole screen would occupy from the halfway mark to the edge. Now if you play a game full screen on the main monitor at a resolution of 500 wide, the total width is now only 1500. That window on the second monitor would still be positioned from the halfway mark to the edge. However the halfway mark is now at 750 and the window would also be 750 wide. If that window was forced to still have a 1000 width, then 250 of it would be off screen.

The solution to having things move around is to play games on the primary monitor at the native resolution of the primary monitor.




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How do I use a second monitor without exiting the game?

Use Borderless Windowed Mode
  • Navigate to your game's graphics options.
  • Locate the display mode settings. ...
  • Check your Aspect Ration settings. ...
  • Click on the other monitor (the game won't minimize).
  • To switch between the two monitors, you need to press Alt + Tab.
  • Bring the mouse back to the main game window to switch back.


  • How do I make games stay on one monitor?

    2] Use Windows Settings panel
  • Press Win+I to open Windows Settings.
  • Ensure you are in the System tab.
  • Click on the Display option on the right-side.
  • Click on the monitor settings drop-down list.
  • Select Show only on 1 or Show only on 2 option.
  • Click on the Keep changes button.


  • How do I move games from monitor 1 to monitor 2?

    Connect the second monitor to your PC, and launch the game you wish to play. Next, navigate to your desktop screen, and hit Windows and P keys together. A few options will display, select the PC screen only option. Finally, your primary display will go blank, but the game will continue to run on the second monitor.

    How do I make my second monitor work separately?

    Windows 10
  • Right click on an empty area of the desktop.
  • Choose Display Settings.
  • Scroll Down to the Multiple displays area and select select Duplicate these displays or Extend these displays.




  • Stop Full screen Games From Minimising 2020 ! When using 2 monitors or alt tab !!




    More answers regarding on a dual-monitor setup, how can I keep the game in one monitor without the browser windows on the other monitor moving?

    Answer 2

    I know I am 3 years late and that this is not the exact problem of the original post, but I wanted to share my findings:

    Second monitor black out while aplication is running on main monitor

    Note: I use windows 7

    When playing a new game (which doesn't allow windowed fullscreen) I got the change to windows basic message and accepted it. After a few times I realised my second monitor was only working when I did that, so I wento to play around with my setting options and stumbled upon this perfect fix:

    Control painel > System and Security > System > Advanced System Configurations > Advanced > Disable "enable desktop composition"

    This fixed my second monitor from blacking out with any other aplications I tested on my PC. Hope this helps someone trying to find a fix. I believe it could help with the problem here stated, but I can't test it, because I never got this, I only found this post when I searched for my problem.

    Answer 3

    The reason this happens is because your game is taking full-screen, full control over your PC. This effectively tells Windows to disregard your other screen. Run your games in border-less windowed mode to solve the problem. (It shouldn't affect performance at all and, as a bonus, alt-tab will work faster) That's what I do when I have a game on one monitor and Chrome/work on the other.

    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

    Images: Josh Sorenson, Andrea Piacquadio, Ken Tomita, Tranmautritam