HOW DO I MAKE A PROGRAM OPEN ON A SPECIFIC MONITOR THAT I DESIGNATE EVERY TIME I WANT TO OPEN IT?

Anonymous
2024-02-15T00:34:12+00:00

This isn't a new question but I've seen it asked here for 15 years and 3 OS variants with no actual answer (you'd think this would be something to work on instead of obfuscating how to get to your control panel, file, and drive locations while trying to turn my +$3K pc into a sub $400, non-portable tablet with no touch screen).

HOW DO I MAKE A PROGRAM OPEN ON A SPECIFIC MONITOR EVERY TIME?

Note, the question is NOT how to move a program after you open it; it is NOT how to change primary display; it is NOT how to anything other the actual question asked as specifically as the question is. If there is no answer and Windows just isn't able to (and our programmers don't care to work on it) just say so.

I have an OLED gaming monitor that I paid more for than I would ever have wanted to pay for a monitor and would like it to last as long as possible. I would therefore like it not to be the primary display. I only use it for media and gaming. The problem is that windows doesn't let me choose secondary displays to open games and reverts half of the applications I open and move over back to the primary display. I can do this with some games but most default to only opening on the primary monitor. I have a good LCD monitor I use for productivity and streaming while playing games that I would like to remain my main display where most apps, and all non-media apps, are default opening. So far the only way I know to do it is to turn the OLED off unless I am using it. This solution is clunky and kind of like using a kitchen knife to sharpen pencils when a pencil sharpener is can be made.

So please don't answer this if you are going to give the same non-answers I've been reading while searching for an answer to this (going back 15 years btw, because someone really cares about the user experience). If you have a real answer please give it, again, even if it is "we don't have a way and don't care to make one."

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Display and graphics

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-04-06T11:20:41+00:00

    Why on everything that is holy does this work but nearly nothing else does,

    anyways thanks Frank your solution worked for me

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-03-27T08:14:03+00:00

    I agree completely. Unfortunately, Microsoft is no longer a company but a money machine. They can't take care of the little things, but the system itself is stuffed with ads for products you don't want or need. It doesn't matter that we choose NOT TO USE.... still every now and then they remind of themselves....

    The policy of this company now looks like: everything bit by bit, nothing good.

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-02-26T18:47:06+00:00

    And just for random, I opened a new workbook, moved it where I wanted it, and in the options, set the "multiple display" option to optimize for compatibility. So far, that is working for me. Time will tell, but it even opened subsequent xlsx in the "Fancy Zone" I have set for Excel.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-02-26T18:30:43+00:00

    Thanks Frank.

    All of the suggestions you provided were in past replies, and none work for me with any consistency or regularity.

    I have all my xlsx documents on one wide-screen monitor, and regardless of any "zones/fences" or general Win11 position, setting or -screen:X parameter (which doesn't work), if I shift between systems with my KVM, or launch another instance of Excel, it moves some, if not all, of my current xlsx windows back to the default monitor. Acrobat doesn't do that, nor does any other non-MS app. Just MS. Word is equally frustrating, as it will open on the last active monitor I was using. But One-Note stays where I put it. Same with Edge. TEAMs is its own problem. It simply doesn't give a ****. It does what it wants. It'll open on a virtual desktop, Full screen, default to groups, not chat. Sometimes it will just relaunch mid-day and put itself front and center. Excel is the biggest issue as I'll have 5-6 different spreadsheets open at a time, and it's annoying to have to move them repeatedly throughout the day.

    Still. I appreciate the suggestions.

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-02-26T01:20:15+00:00

    Did you try this?

    1. Open the program that you want to use, and put it on the monitor you want it to always be on.

    Do not go into full screen, just make it as big as possible without full screen mode.

    1. Close the program.
    2. Open the program. It opens up on the correct monitor (not full screen)
    3. Go to full screen mode on that program.
    4. Close the program.
    5. Open the program (it now opens in full screen mode on the monitor that you wish. Was monitor 5 for me) I also had the "-screen:5" suffix in the target box, but I don't think that matters.

    Worked for me.

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