Second Monitor not Working
Nowadays an increasingly large number of people make use of a second monitor. Whether you need a larger workspace, work with multiple applications you need to have visible at all times or stream and need the second monitor for all your streaming needs, a second screen has become something of a necessity.
Even though with Windows 10 it is relatively quick and painless to connect a second monitor and get it working, there can be some hiccups in the process that may cause issues. This article will give you a few suggestions on what to do if your second monitor does not work properly.
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Table of Contents
Check the cable connection of the second monitor
A lot of the time seemingly complex issues have simple solutions. Before you delve any deeper, make sure the cable you used for your second monitor is in good condition. Make sure your cable is plugged in on both ends and there are no loose connections. If the cable is plugged in properly, try replacing it with another, to make sure there is no breakage inside the length of the original cable.
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Make sure your graphics card is in good condition
Sometimes the auxiliary signal ports on your graphics card that you use to plug in a second monitor may be faulty. To make sure your signal port is not the issue, you can try two things. Either move your default, first monitor to the second monitor port, or connect a different monitor to the suspicious port. This will help you eliminate the graphics card port as a possible source for the problem.
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Update your graphics card drivers with a clean install
Sometimes conflicts and unresolved issues with your graphics card may cause issues with your second monitor. To eliminate this as a possible source of problems, download the newest driver installer package for your GPU, depending on your manufacturer, and select the "Clean install" option when installing the drivers.
This will first wipe your existing driver pretty thoroughly and perform a clean, more reliable install of the latest driver version at the time of downloading. This will often eliminate many issues related not only to your second monitor but also to GPU performance and even random system crashes.
If those steps don't help with setting up your second monitor, you may want to try a hardware replacement, as the unit may be faulty.
