[multiple-monitors] What determines the monitor my app runs on?

I am using Windows, and I have two monitors.

Some applications will always start on my primary monitor, no matter where they were when I closed them.

Others will always start on the secondary monitor, no matter where they were when I closed them.

Is there a registry setting buried somewhere, which I can manipulate to control which monitor applications launch into by default?

@rp: I have Ultramon, and I agree that it is indispensable, to the point that Microsoft should buy it and incorporate it into their OS. But as you said, it doesn't let you control the default monitor a program launches into.

Here's what I've found. If you want an app to open on your secondary monitor by default do the following:

1. Open the application.
2. Re-size the window so that it is not maximized or minimized.
3. Move the window to the monitor you want it to open on by default.
4. Close the application.  Do not re-size prior to closing.
5. Open the application.
   It should open on the monitor you just moved it to and closed it on.
6. Maximize the window.

The application will now open on this monitor by default. If you want to change it to another monitor, just follow steps 1-6 again.

Right click the shortcut and select properties. Make sure you are on the "Shortcut" Tab. Select the RUN drop down box and change it to Maximized.

This may assist in launching the program in full screen on the primary monitor.

It's not exactly the answer to this question but I dealt with this problem with the Shift + Win + [left,right] arrow keys shortcut. You can move the currently active window to another monitor with it.

So I had this issue with Adobe Reader 9.0. Somehow the program forgot to open on my right monitor and was consistently opening on my left monitor. Most programs allow you to drag it over, maximize the screen, and then close it out and it will remember. Well, with Adobe, I had to drag it over and then close it before maximizing it, in order for Windows to remember which screen to open it in next time. Once you set it to the correct monitor, then you can maximize it. I think this is stupid, since almost all windows programs remember it automatically without try to rig a way for XP to remember.

Get UltraMon. Quickly.

http://realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

It doesn't let you specify what monitor an app starts on, but it lets you move an app to the another monitor, and keep its aspect ratio intact, with one mouse click. It is a very handy utility.

Most programs will start where you last left them. So if you have two monitors at work, but only one at home, it's possible to start you laptop at home and not see the apps running on the other monitor (which now isn't there). UltrMon also lets you move those orphan apps back to the main screen quickly and easily.

Do not hold me to this but I am pretty sure it depends on the application it self. I know many always open on the main monitor, some will reopen to the same monitor they were previously run in, and some you can set. I know for example I have shortcuts to open command windows to particular directories, and each has an option in their properties to the location to open the window in. While Outlook just remembers and opens in the last screen it was open in. Then other apps open in what ever window the current focus is in.

So I am not sure there is a way to tell every program where to open. Hope that helps some.

I've noticed that if I put a shortcut on my desktop on one screen the launched application may appear on that screen (if that app doesn't reposition itself).

This also applies to running things from Windows Explorer - if Explorer is on one screen the launched application will pick that monitor to use.

Again - I think this is when the launching application specifies the default (windows managed) position. Most applications seem to override this default behavior in some way.

A simple window created like so will do this:

hWnd = CreateWindow(windowClass, windowTitle, WS_VISIBLE | WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW, CW_USEDEFAULT, SW_SHOW, CW_USEDEFAULT, 0, NULL, NULL, hInst, NULL);

Important note: If you remember the position of your application and shutdown and then start up again at that position, keep in mind that the user's monitor configuration may have changed while your application was closed.

Laptop users, for example, frequently change their display configuration. When docked there may be a 2nd monitor that disappears when undocked. If the user closes an application that was running on the 2nd monitor and the re-opens the application when the monitor is disconnected, restoring the window to the previous coordinates will leave it completely off-screen.

To figure out how big the display really is, check out GetSystemMetrics.

I'm fairly sure the primary monitor is the default. If the app was coded decently, when it's closed, it'll remember where it was last at and will reopen there, but -- as you've noticed -- it isn't a default behavior.

EDIT: The way I usually do it is to have the location stored in the app's settings. On load, if there is no value for them, it defaults to the center of the screen. On closing of the form, it records its position. That way, whenever it opens, it's where it was last. I don't know of a simple way to tell it to launch onto the second monitor the first time automatically, however.

-- Kevin Fairchild

So I agree there are some apps that you can configured to open on one screen by maximizing or right clicking and moving/sizing screen, then close and reopen. However, there are others that will only open on the main screen.

What I've done to resolve: set the monitor you prefer stubborn apps to open on, as monitor 1 and the your other monitor as 2, then change your monitor 2 to be the primary - so your desktop settings and start bar remain. Hope this helps.