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I usually use more than one monitor, but am travelling with just my laptop now. My computer is acting like there is still another monitor, but no other monitors are detected in settings. When I open a program, it shows open in the task bar, but is not showing on my screen. I am using Windows 10 professional. How can I view my open programs? Thanks.
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Good day! I'm Raniel, an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user like you.
Can you hold the shift key and right-click on the program on your taskbar and select "Maximize" on the options? I also suggest that you perform the steps on this article and see if it works: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/181691...
I hope this helps.
Hi and thanks for reaching out. My name is William. I'm a Windows technical expert. I'll be happy to help you out today.
This is a common issue among mobile users who switch back and forth between docking stations and or multiple monitors to the single display on their laptop. The programs are remembering the last X - Y coordinates they were opened on when the device was connected to an additional monitor. Those coordinates have not refreshed and as a result, they are opening in a virtual desktop area that is not part of the physical display.
To overcome this, you have a couple options: right-click + shift the program icon in the taskbar > select Move. Your mouse cursor will now jump to wherever the program is (somewhere off screen). While holding down the left mouse button, move the mouse around until the program comes into the display. Alternatively, you can use the cursor keys to do the same thing. This may take a few tries as you will not know if the mouse has jumped either up-down-left or right.
The other option is to locate the program settings in the windows registry (most modern programs dont use this type of X-Y positioning). I will use Notepad as an example. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Notepad. You will see several DWORD values that denote the Windows Position (measure by pixel position). These values indicate where notepad was in elation to desktop display when it was closed. To reset, you would simply delete these values and then launch Notepad to bring to the center of the main display.
Thanks for trying to help Raniel. I still cannot resolve my problem.
When I hold shift and right click on the program in the task bar, "maximize" is not given as an option.
When I attempt the methods suggested in the attached article, there is no option to "move". Insead I have snap left, snap right, show this window on all desktops, and close.
Cascading windows, shows me other open programs, but not the one that is out of reach/sight! I do not have another monitor until I return home to try the last method in attached article.
I have re-started. I have double checked the monitor settings and it isnt showing any other monitors.
Any other suggestions?
Hi yoginiES,
My sincere apologies if the suggested methods didn't work. Let's see if someone else has a better idea with regards to this issue.
