Multiple Display (resolution caused?) problems

jro11 · Nov 8, 2023

I’m running Win11 off a laptop (plus two monitors). Display resolutions (Laptop 3072 x 1920, Mon1 1280 x 1024, Mon2 1280 x 1024)

When I start the computer and/or when a window is opened from one of the displays, that window may open neatly (in the display from which it was summoned, for example) or opened in a way that makes it extremely time consuming to correct, to wit: the window may open up encompassing all three monitors, covering everything on all the monitors, and with a VERY VERY SENSITIVE resize-window arrows (can this sensitivity be adjusted?) can take minutes to readjust so that I can get it to fit within a monitor (getting it to exactly fit the monitor is no problem). Indicative of the problem is the behavior I experience when moving a window from the laptop screen to one of the monitors--it automatically resizes to gigunda followed by adjusting to the monitor resolution as I slowly continue to move the window across the monitor.

What's especially wierd is that my DAW-devoted Win10 computer, also run from a laptop (and 3 monitors!) doesn't have this problem at all. moving it from the laptop to a monitor does resize the window but not in outrageous proportions.

I wonder if I could use the laptop to control the computer but eliminate its screen from the process; or change the laptop screen resolution to 1280 x 1024. But these seem very cooky approaches.

Any ideas?

p.s. Maximizing the size of the window is not a solution because it's very difficult to get the window to unmaximize when it didn't start out smaller. (i.e., you don't get the 'double-box/background-box icon in the top right corner [next to the close window 'x']]

johnlgalt · Nov 8, 2023

Use the Windows Key plus the arrows on the keyboard (if it is a laptop, you may need to invoke them with a Fn key). Should work on all focused windows that are not coded to a fixed size.

Win + Down == un-maximize a maximized window, and will hide to the taskbar an already un-maximized window.
Win + Left moves to the next slot to left of where it thinks it is. Right moves right.
Win + Up maximizes a window that is not maximized.

A lot faster than trying to use the mouse in that situation.

jro11 · Nov 8, 2023

What's happening here is:
1) Move window from laptop screen to larger monitor...window becomes HUGE (monitor + partial other monitor).
2) WIN/up maximizes window to screen it takes up the most.
3) WIN/down Restores window to size it was before the WIN/up
In other words Win/down restores window to previous size. (Same situation as if you had hit the (top right) square to maximize the window followed by hit double/square to restore window to the size/position it was.)
4) WIN/left (or WIN/right) no effect

p.s. my taskbar is in the 'normal'--across the bottom--position.

jro11 · Nov 8, 2023

By the way, this icon

doesn't seem to have been very well thought out (or tested). It's pot luck if the window you click on shows up in front and equally lucky if the window shows up Snapped Left or Snapped Right when chosen. What ever happened to the various ways (e.g., staircase overlap) of aligning all the windows you used to be able to do?

And has anyone come up with some uniquely useful way of using Multiple Desktops to sort out (in this case 11 windows over 3 monitors) a(n even small) multi-window forest?

johnlgalt · Nov 8, 2023

If you Win + Up, it maximizes. If you then Win + Down it returns to the previous size. If you then Win + Down again it minimizes to the taskbar.

If Win + Left and Win + Right are not doing anything, something strange is going on. On any window maximized to a full monitor size, it should move to the left half of that monitor with Win + Left and the Right half of the monitor to Win + Right.

However, if you've enabled full screen mode in that application, the top bar auto-hides itself, and you have to hover the mouse in the general are of the right corner for it to appear. Edge is particularly ornery about showing that top bar with the sizing icons. Most applications windows that have such a full screen mode can be exited from full screen by pressing Escape. Most browsers, on the other hand, use the F11 key to enter and exit from full screen mode.

Also, in Full screen mode, Win + Left and Win + right don't work, and Win + Up does nothing, while Win + Down hides the window.

This may also be occurring because of Tablet mode, IIRC.

hdmi · Nov 9, 2023

jro11 said:
use the laptop to control the computer but eliminate its screen from the process

Input Director - Software KVM to Control Multiple Computers

Control multiple windows systems with one keyboard/mouse. Share a keyboard and mouse across multiple windows system.

www.inputdirector.com

johnlgalt · Nov 9, 2023

There is also Synergy, and the open source fork of the original Synergy 1, plus Microsoft's Mouse Without Borders (now integrated into the Windows PowerToys for 10/11), and quite a few more.

But, jro11 - gotta figure out what exactly is happening. I'm still convalescing from my illness from last week and over the weekend, so I may have misinterpreted what you are describing. I thought it was simply a certain app that sometimes opens filling all three screens. Is it any random app that this happens to?

Fabler2 · Nov 9, 2023

Dunno if this helps but if I drag a window from one monitor to another and it's the wrong size I just double click on an empty space on the tab/title bar. The window goes to full size for the monitor.

johnlgalt · Nov 9, 2023

The OP says that not only is it spanning all three monitors, but he has trouble grabbing it (because it spans all three) and that the maximize / un-maximize box is 'hard to get to show' (paraphrasing) which is why I was thinking that the window is spawning in some sort of full screen mode, where that top bar auto hides after a brief amount of time.

Or, at least, that is my interpretation of what he wrote. lol. I've been wrong before, and I may be here, hence my last post.

Fabler2 · Nov 9, 2023

johnlgalt said:
The OP says that not only is it spanning all three monitors, but he has trouble grabbing it (because it spans all three) and that the maximize / un-maximize box is 'hard to get to show' (paraphrasing) which is why I was thinking that the window is spawning in some sort of full screen mode, where that top bar auto hides after a brief amount of time.

Or, at least, that is my interpretation of what he wrote. lol. I've been wrong before, and I may be here, hence my last post.

In that case I make the window smaller on the original monitor before dragging it over. Works for me but this might be a different issue.

johnlgalt · Nov 9, 2023

Which is what he has having trouble doing, it seems.

jro11 · Nov 9, 2023

It may be that because I use Chrome Profiles (for me, the most useful aspect of Chrome - see

for explanations re browsers I commonly use) that my Win/(direction) keys are working differently.

For one thing, I never use Chrome in full screen mode (thanks for telling me about it). Otherwise, the Win/(direction) keys operate as I specified above (which is not an unreasonable way for Win/up and down to work, but doesn't solve the problem).

In that case I make the window smaller on the original monitor before dragging it over. Works for me but this might be a different issue.

The window is smaller on the original monitor because the original monitor is the laptop monitor. And you're right, if the window is contained within the laptop monitor and I manually resize the window it does slide over (into the other monitor) in a more reasonable size. But that makes it a multi-step process again (resize on laptop monitor; slide it onto the larger monitor; resize it on the larger monitor).

johnlgalt · Nov 9, 2023

I use profiles too. In fact, I have multiple profiles in Chrome, in Edge in Firefox stable and in Firefox Nightly.

But in Chrome and both Firefox installations, I have the profile manager always start up initially, and select one of my profiles from that window that shows.

In that respect, Edge royally makes me mad every time I use it because it does not have a profile picker when starting, and there is no real easy way to force a profile to load even via commandline.

Fabler2 · Nov 9, 2023

jro11 said:
The window is smaller on the original monitor because the original monitor is the laptop monitor. And you're right, if the window is contained within the laptop monitor and I manually resize the window it does slide over (into the other monitor) in a more reasonable size. But that makes it a multi-step process again (resize on laptop monitor; slide it onto the larger monitor; resize it on the larger monitor).

I've got so used to it when the size issue crops up I just double click on the title bar (that will also lower the size from full size) on the laptop, drag over to the other monitor and again double click on the title bar to maximize size to fit monitor that I don't even think about it. There's no fiddling with manually resizing just simple double clicking twice.

johnlgalt · Nov 9, 2023

Yeah. but look at his resolutions. I suspect because of the weird native resolution on the Beelink device, that the dimensions are out of whack going from any monitor to the next. That might actually be exacerbating the issue for him, now that I think about it.

jro11 · Nov 9, 2023

johnlgalt said:
I thought it was simply a certain app that sometimes opens filling all three screens. Is it any random app that this happens to?

When, for example, I startup I like to have all previous windows/including apps restore to the way it was earlier (like what happens when you set your browser to reflect previous tabs and window). Some of those 'restores' nicely fit on screen; others span multiple (and are often larger, vertically and horizontally) screens.
Judging from how easy it is to resize a small window on the laptop screen vs near impossible to "grab" the oversize windows, it must have something to do with the screen resolutions involved.

johnlgalt said:
There is also Synergy, and the open source fork of the original Synergy 1, plus Microsoft's Mouse Without Borders (now integrated into the Windows PowerToys for 10/11), and quite a few more.

What's (app?) Synergy and Synergy1 and all the other stuff? How's that relevent?

Fabler2 said:
I just double click on an empty space on the tab/title bar. The window goes to full size for the monitor.

Yes, that works provided the window fits into that monitor before you do the double click.

johnlgalt said:
The OP says that not only is it spanning all three monitors, but he has trouble grabbing it (because it spans all three) and that the maximize / un-maximize box is 'hard to get to show' (paraphrasing) which is why I was thinking that the window is spawning in some sort of full screen mode, where that top bar auto hides after a brief amount of time.

The vertical and horizontal dimensions can be larger than the monitor.

Fabler2 said:
In that case I make the window smaller on the original monitor before dragging it over. Works for me but this might be a different issue.

When I make the window smaller on any original monitor it fits onto the larger monitors and getting/using the resize arrows is relatively easy. It's when the image spans multiple monitors that it's difficult.

johnlgalt said:
I use profiles too. In fact, I have multiple profiles in Chrome, in Edge in Firefox stable and in Firefox Nightly.

But in Chrome and both Firefox installations, I have the profile manager always start up initially, and select one of my profiles from that window that shows.

In that respect, Edge royally makes me mad every time I use it because it does not have a profile picker when starting, and there is no real easy way to force a profile to load even via commandline.

I used to employ a Firefox profile manager (no longer remember how), but it was only a conduit to the one-profile I wanted to use.
Chrome allows one to have multiple profiles up at once.
I didn't know Edge has a profile picker. I use Edge as my default browser purely because I can generate a history page (w. search) and then delete all the rest of the tabs.
What do you get out of using Nightly (other than a very ADHD window)?

Fabler2 said:
I've got so used to it when the size issue crops up I just double click on the title bar (that will also lower the size from full size) on the laptop, drag over to the other monitor and again double click on the title bar to maximize size to fit monitor that I don't even think about it. There's no fiddling with manually resizing just simple double clicking twice.

Ah ha! this is where we're different. I seldom have a window full size on screen. I always have overlapping windows because I'm always going from one window to another.

johnlgalt said:
I suspect because of the weird native resolution on the Beelink device, that the dimensions are out of whack going from any monitor to the next. That might actually be exacerbating the issue for him, now that I think about it.

What's a Beelink device?

johnlgalt · Nov 9, 2023

jro11 said:
When, for example, I startup I like to have all previous windows/including apps restore to the way it was earlier (like what happens when you set your browser to reflect previous tabs and window). Some of those 'restores' nicely fit on screen; others span multiple (and are often larger, vertically and horizontally) screens.
Judging from how easy it is to resize a small window on the laptop screen vs near impossible to "grab" the oversize windows, it must have something to do with the screen resolutions involved.

OK, this is a whole difference ballgame. I thought you were referring to starting up applications, not starting up the system (really glad I asked now).

Because you're using multiple displays, with varying resolutions, you're more than likely running into an issue with DPI Scaling of applications, which, in this day and age, should really not be a problem, but not all apps are coded equally (and Windows' implementation of it is rather lacking, too).

Now everything you've been explaining makes perfect sense.

Backstory: For several months in 2021, I was running 1x 4K monitor and 1x 1080p monitor - and I had the exact opposite issue, as I was using the 4K as my main monitor. So, sometimes, things on the 4K looked fine, and other times everything was really, really tiny.

Your laptop's main monitor has the highest resolution, the two external monitors have lower resolution, so stuff on the other two monitors will get bigger compared to how it looks on the laptop's main display. A decrease in resolution equals an increase in displayed object size (not a decreased in the object's resolution, but a decrease in the display's resolution, as the object is actually not changing its resolution).

So, this is where DPI Scaling comes into play - and why it is sometimes Windows' fault, but sometimes just the application's fault.

There are various methods of implementing DPI scaling, but for some applications you have to play with implementation used by Windows to make it work correctly.

For any application that this happens to, find the actual executable (you can try a shortcut to it, but it is better if you use the direct executable, from my testing), you'll right click on it and select Properties, then click on the Compatibility tab. See the following example:

On the compatibility tab, click the Change high DPI settings button (lightly colored blue above). That opens a new box with this showing:

Now, here is where it gets a bit tricky, and not all programs will allow you to change all settings. Also, since there are 8 different combinations here (when Windows or the application does not block one or the other), it may take some trial and error to get it working, and that is if both settings are checkable. If one is grayed out for any application, then the application may need an update from the developer to allow for this (or may have a setting that needs to be enabled in the app itself before these values can be adjusted).

The 2 settings are the top one, Program DPI, and the bottom one, High DPI scaling override. I'm going to call the first one P and the second one H.

Now, H, when checked, has 3 possible values:

Application (which I'll call A)
System (which I'll call (S)
System (Enhanced) (which I'll call E)

So, your possible combinations are:

Everything unchecked (as most applications usually are set this way by default)
only P checked
only H checked, set to A
only H checked, set to S
only H checked, set to E
Both P and H checked, H set to A
Both P and H checked, H set to S
Both P and H checked, H set to E

(One thing to note: I've never ever changed that middle setting from I signed in to Windows to I open this program (and it can only be changed when P is checked).)

One of those combinations should work to have the application in question scale correctly when it encounters multiple resolutions (I say should, because I've found a couple where no combination worked, the application simply continues to look too large on low resolution monitors and too small on high resolution monitors.

What I suggest is that you try #2 and see how it behaves.

If it still does the super sized jumbo layout, then try #8.

those two combinations #2 and #8 have fixed the vast majority of applications have this DPI Scaling issue on Windows 11.

So, for any misbehaving application, #2 first, and if it does not work, try #8 next.

Of course, now that you know the combinations, the few apps that still misbehave you can try some of the other combinations, because at that point you'll have already knocked out 3 of them - #s 1. 2 and 8.

Remember, you'll want to find the executable itself - so, for example, if you're adjusting Chrome, you'll need to find where it is installed (usually C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application and then you'll right click on chrome.exe to get started. Make sure the application is not running, and after change a setting, try the application right then, then log out and log back in and try again, then reboot and try again. Sometimes it is logging in that causes an issue - but sometimes an application may already be running in the background on boot, so a reboot is required to it to be truly restarted.

This will be a long, arduous process if a lot of apps are misbehaving like this. It took me several months to get it all nailed down with certain apps, until I finally realized that a couple of apps were poorly coded and did not respect any form of DPI scaling, meaning no matter which combination I tried, the application still showed in the wrong size.

OK, now that that is over, I'll use the next post to answer the other questions (and correct my mistakes from before).

johnlgalt · Nov 9, 2023

jro11 said:
What's (app?) Synergy and Synergy1 and all the other stuff? How's that relevent?

That reply was actually to HDMI's post about Input Director, which he suggested as a method to control that laptop from another PC. I was offering additional alternatives.

jro11 said:
The vertical and horizontal dimensions can be larger than the monitor.

Yeah, now that I know what you're talking about, you're spot on. And almost all of my previous advice was useless because I completely misunderstood. My apologies for that.

jro11 said:
I used to employ a Firefox profile manager (no longer remember how), but it was only a conduit to the one-profile I wanted to use.
Chrome allows one to have multiple profiles up at once.

Firefox also allows for more than one profile at a time. I do it all the time.

That can be a topic for another time, or in another topic entirely, so I don't confuse myself anymore until we get this issue for you squared away.

jro11 said:
I didn't know Edge has a profile picker. I use Edge as my default browser purely because I can generate a history page (w. search) and then delete all the rest of the tabs.
What do you get out of using Nightly (other than a very ADHD window)?

It does, but only from inside a profile - you can click on the user icon at the top right next to the three horizontal dots, and you can set up new profiles from there.

As I noted, though, it doesn't have a profile picker when you start up - it loads the last used profile. Always.

jro11 said:
What's a Beelink device?

That's the mistake I mentioned at the end of the last post - I confused your post with another topic I was helping with someone else who has a Beelink device.

The confusion was only about the device, the details in that topic were completely unrelated to this issue you're experiencing.

jro11 · Nov 9, 2023

My whole career, from being a technical illustrator (specializing in charts, maps, and diagrams); software designer; Quality Assurance grunt, Manager, and Director (all [the QA] thankless tasks); and technical editor (a career I see AI displacing)--in other words a middleperson between the technically proficient and the everyday person--has been about communicating in a way that is clear and credible. It's terribly embarrassing to find I'm no longer (was I ever?) succeeding.

Thanks for your long/involved answer. It might take me a while to try it all out. I'll get back.

(back to All Quiet on the Western Front)

hdmi · Nov 9, 2023

AFAIK if you set the Scale on each different monitor to a different value, you will almost certainly bump into weird problems, and, if you try to use a Custom Scale, then a lot of desktop apps will have all sorts of misalignments as for their GUI elements, with text being cut off in various places so it becomes unreadable and whatnot.

I almost always use my 55 inch 4k TV as my only monitor, on a table at ~10 ft. viewing distance with the laptop standing right against the wall behind it so the laptop's built-in screen is almost completely blocked from view by the TV. The laptop's built-in screen is mainly for when I can't use the TV, e.g. due to a power outage or because I need to use the laptop elsewhere (very rarely) or the TV breaks.