Settings are on ghost monitor unable to access settings

Question

have been successfully using three monitors on my Win 1 Pro Desktop for a long time. Somehow a 4th monitor appeared in Display Settings. I have never had a 4th monitor physically connected. Now some apps open on the non-existing monitor 4. The apps can be seen using Alt-Tab but when selecting them with Alt-Tab, I cannot actually get the apps on any of the three real monitors. I cannot access them at all except I can close them by typing the X within Alt-Tab. Now here is the real, non-trivial problem: All Settings open on the Phantom Monitor 4. I cannot change ANY settings because I cannot get to the Settings app.

Answer 1

Hello

Thank you for your question and reaching out. I can understand you are having issues related to 4th Ghost Monitor.

You may experience an issue with "phantom" or "ghost" monitors showing in the Windows Display Settings, even though these extra monitors are not connected to the computer. Follow the steps below to resolve this issue:

Right-click and remove any excess generic PnP monitors from Devices and Printers in Control Panel.
Right-click and uninstall any Generic PnP monitor(s) appearing in Device Manager.
Install the latest video drivers (for either the onboard Intel graphics card, or the add-on NVIDIA or AMD graphics card)

You may need to reboot your computer after installing the video drivers. After the driver completes the installation, only the monitors connected to the computer should be showing in the Display Settings.

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Answer 2

Try right clicking the task bar, and select cascade.

Hopefully it will cascade all of your windows onto your main display which will allow you fix the issue within the settings.