my desktop icons on windows 11 go on the opposite display of my main

Question

When i make my right screen my main the icons go on the left and vice versa ive tried everything from old drivers to explorer.exe to settings i dont know anymore.

Answer 1

Hi Duke de jong.

Thanks for posting here in Microsoft Community, I understand that you’re having an issue where your desktop icons move to the opposite screen when you change your main display.

On your desktop icons are anchored to the coordinate system of the primary display so when you change which monitor is set as “Main,” Windows recalculates the desktop origin (0,0) and snaps icons to the opposite side to keep them on‑screen which is why they silently move every time you swap primaries to prevent or stabilize this. To fix this you can try to go to Settings and System also Display and drag the numbered monitors so their on‑screen layout exactly matches their physical left‑to‑right position with aligned top edges, then select the correct monitor and enable Make this my main display, and finally right‑click the desktop and turn Auto arrange icons OFF while keeping Align icons to grid ON before manually placing your icons.

Also, may I know if this happens only with a dual‑monitor setup or also when using a single display?

If you still needed further assistance or you still have any more question feel free to comment I'll be happy to assist you.

Best regards,

April P.