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I have a setup with three screens as shown in the picture. Screen 1 is designated as the primary screen.

enter image description here

However, when I try and start video games that don't start in the windowed mode but in the fullscreen mode, the games run on screen 2 instead of screen 1. This is quite problematic since screen 2 is rotated vertically and you can't really see half of the intended screen.

I tried pressing Shift + Windows Key + Left to move the game from screen 2 to screen 1, and although it does move it, the dimensions don't adjust to the new monitor - the dimensions stay as they were on screen 2, meaning that now not only you can't see half of the game, but the top and the bottom are also cut off since they are higher than screen 1's height.

So I was wondering how can I make my computer start games up on screen 1 with proper dimensions and orientation?

J. Doe
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    Try [this answer](https://superuser.com/a/1539936/8672). – harrymc Feb 26 '21 at 17:08
  • When restarting your PC, which of the three displays do BIOS and Windows loading screens appear on? – Amorphous Feb 27 '21 at 01:51
  • @harrymc Looks promising, but in the last step you have to drag the application while holding shift. It's impossible for me to drag the application as it's in fullscreen mode and not in the windowed mode. I can only move it using hotkeys, do you think it's possible to assign the app to a zone just using hotkeys and no dragging? – J. Doe Feb 27 '21 at 11:31
  • @Amorphous BIOS and Windows loading screens appear on screen 1 – J. Doe Feb 27 '21 at 11:32
  • The [FancyZones documentation](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/fancyzones) has in its settings: "Override Windows Snap shortcut (Win + Arrow) to move windows between zones", which I understand to mean that it takes over these shortcuts to become its own hotkeys. Left to verify if it works across monitors, only done by testing. – harrymc Feb 27 '21 at 15:11
  • @harrymc Thank you, but I checked it out and it doesn't work. I have tested it out with other applications too and it does indeed seem to work as long as the app starts in the windowed mode. However, if the app is fullscreen then it doesn't have any effect. – J. Doe Feb 28 '21 at 08:34
  • Try are the solutions in [this post](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/138531/how-to-move-a-fullscreen-game-to-the-second-monitor). – harrymc Feb 28 '21 at 14:42
  • @harrymc Thank you, the first solution from that post has worked! – J. Doe Mar 01 '21 at 09:15
  • I added my answer with the most upvoted answer of that post. Let me know if this isn't the one you used. – harrymc Mar 01 '21 at 09:20

3 Answers3

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The poster has indicated that the solution was found in the post How to move a fullscreen game to the second monitor?.

I quote the most upvoted answer in the post:

I may have a solution/workaround if you're using windows 8.1:

  1. Make your "secondary" (the one you want the game to display the game on) as primary.
  2. Right-click your taskbar and unlock it.
  3. Drag and drop your "primary" taskbar (The one with the clock) to your now secondary monitor (the one you don't want the game to be displayed on)
  4. Right-click your taskbar and go to properties, and go to the navigation tab.
  5. Check the box stating: "Show Start on the display I'm using when i go to Start and hit OK or Apply
  6. Drag and drop all your icons from your now Primary monitor to the now secondary monitor.

This makes the secondary monitor feel like the primary, and the games start on the "secondary" monitor.

Windows should treat this as a "profile" which means that when you unplug your external monitor your icons and taskbar should stay on the correct screen, and when you plug it back in, it should go to the defined settings, but I'm not sure about this.

harrymc
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Open your program. Move to the monitor on which you would like it to open by default. Hit the Windows key + Shift + Enter. From now on, it should open each time on the monitor of your preference.

Bilal Yahya
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I figured out a workaround. You can force the app to open in windowed mode and then move it to the desired screen afterwards.

This can be done by making a shortcut of the program and appending "-window" to the Target, as shown in the picture below.

(Taken from here https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-10-11-windowed-mode-games/) enter image description here

plu
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