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

Question

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."

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

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

anyways thanks Frank your solution worked for me

Answer 4

Frank,

I appreciate the suggestion. This does not work for a remote desktop. Nor does the -screen: parameter.

Answer 5

If you want to open Remote Desktop on a specific window, you need to edit the individual RDP files in a text editor.

Look for these lines at the beginning. I think this example opens an RDP to the left monitor.

screen mode id:i:2
desktopwidth:i:1280
desktopheight:i:1024
session bpp:i:24
winposstr:s:0,3,-1280,0,0,600

replace the 1st lines with this stuff in notepad

Look for the keyword winposstr. The most important parameters are the numbers after winposstr. Ignore the initial ":s:0,1," and focus on the last four comma-delimited numbers.

The last four numbers express, in pixels, the position of the left, top, right, and bottom edges of the remote session window.

The numbers actually refer to the window position when the window is restored, but the pixel position of the left edge of the window is important because it also determines the monitor that the remote session will use when the window is maximized.