How to Make Steam Games Open on Your Second Monitor

The quickest reliable fix is to make your second monitor the main display in Windows. Most full-screen games open on whichever screen Windows marks as main, so once you switch it, your Steam games follow.

If you want to keep your current main display, you still have options. You can pick the monitor inside the game’s settings, run the game in borderless windowed mode and move it with Windows + Shift + Arrow, add a Steam launch option, or set a Preferred Display in Steam’s Big Picture mode. This guide walks through each one, from easiest to most specific.

Why do Steam games open on the wrong monitor?

Steam itself doesn’t decide where a game appears. It checks that you own the game, then starts the game’s program. From that point, the game asks Windows for a screen, and unless the game has its own setting, Windows hands it the main display.

A few things can change which monitor counts as main without you noticing:

• You plugged in a new monitor or TV, and Windows reassigned the main display.
• A graphics driver update reset your display layout.
• The game saved its last window position from an earlier session.
• A TV or second screen turned on first during startup and was detected as the primary output.

The display mode also plays a part. In exclusive full screen, the game takes direct control of one monitor and often changes that screen’s resolution and refresh rate while it runs. Most games pick the main display for this. In borderless windowed mode, the game is just a large window with no frame, so Windows treats it like any other app and lets you place it on any screen.

That difference explains why some methods below only work in one mode. Moving a window with a keyboard shortcut needs borderless or windowed mode, while changing the main display works for both.

So the fix is either to change what Windows calls the main display, or to tell the game directly which screen to use.

Method 1: Make the second monitor your main display

This is the most dependable method because it works for almost every game at once.

On Windows 11:

• Right-click an empty spot on the desktop and select Display settings.
• Click Identify. A number appears on each screen so you know which is which.
• Click the box for the monitor you want games to open on.
• Scroll to Multiple displays and expand it.
• Check Make this my main display.

On Windows 10, the steps are almost the same. Open Display settings, select the monitor, and check Make this my main display under the Multiple displays section.

After you switch, your taskbar clock, notification area, and new windows move to that screen too. Launch the game again, and it should open on the new main display. If the game was already running, close it fully first.

Doing the same thing from your graphics card software

Your graphics driver can also set the main display, which is handy if Windows Settings doesn’t seem to stick.

• NVIDIA: Right-click the desktop, open NVIDIA Control Panel, go to Display > Set up multiple displays, then right-click the monitor you want and choose Make primary.
• AMD: Open AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, go to the Display tab, and check the display order and settings for each screen. The main display itself is still chosen in Windows Settings.
• Intel: Integrated Intel graphics rely on the Windows Settings steps above, so use those.

Whichever tool you use, the result is the same: the chosen screen becomes the one full-screen games open on.

Tip: If you want the second monitor as your main display only while gaming, the shortcut in Method 6 gives you a faster way to switch back and forth.

Method 2: Pick the monitor inside the game

Many newer games let you choose the screen directly. Open the game’s Settings, then look under Display, Video, or Graphics for an option called Monitor, Display, Adapter Output, or Screen.

Pick the monitor you want, apply the change, and restart the game if it asks. The game saves the choice, so it opens on that screen every time, even if your Windows main display stays the same.

This is the cleanest option when it exists, because it only affects one game and doesn’t touch your desktop layout. The drawback is that plenty of games, especially older ones, don’t offer it.

Method 3: Borderless windowed mode plus a keyboard shortcut

Games in borderless windowed mode behave like normal windows that happen to fill the screen. That means you can move them the same way you move a browser window.

• Open the game’s video settings and set Display Mode to Borderless, Windowed Fullscreen, or Fullscreen Windowed. The name varies by game.
• Click inside the game window so it has focus.
• Press Windows + Shift + Left Arrow or Windows + Shift + Right Arrow to jump the window to the neighboring monitor.
• Close and reopen the game. Many titles remember the last screen they were on.

If your game only has plain windowed mode, you can drag it by the title bar to the other monitor instead, then switch to full screen from there. Some games stay on the screen where you pressed the full-screen toggle.

Borderless mode has a side benefit on a two-screen setup. You can move your mouse to the other monitor or Alt + Tab without the game minimizing. The tradeoff is that some older games run slightly slower in borderless mode than in exclusive full screen.

Method 4: Add a Steam launch option

Launch options are short commands Steam passes to a game when it starts. Some game engines accept a command that picks the monitor.

To add one:

• Open your Steam Library.
• Right-click the game and choose Properties.
• On the General tab, find the Launch Options box.
• Type the command, then close the window. Steam saves it automatically.

Which command works depends on the engine the game was built with. Steam’s launch options guide covers the basics of the box itself. The commands below are the ones most often used for monitor selection.

The Unity option is part of the engine’s official list of standalone player command line arguments, which also includes -window-mode borderless if you want a borderless window from the start.

Pay attention to the numbering. The first command counts from 0, and the second counts from 1. If the game opens on the wrong screen, change the number by one and try again. The numbers may not match the ones Windows shows under Identify, so a little trial and error is normal.

If a game ignores the option, it simply doesn’t support that command. Clear the box so leftover commands don’t cause other problems later.

Method 5: Use Big Picture’s Preferred Display

Steam’s Big Picture mode, built for TVs and controllers, has a display setting that can move your games too.

• Open Steam and start Big Picture mode from the View menu or the controller icon at the top right.
• Open the menu, then go to Settings > Display.
• Under Preferred Display, choose the monitor or TV you want.

On Windows, this setting switches which monitor acts as the main display while Big Picture is running. Games you launch from Big Picture then open on that screen. When you leave Big Picture, Windows returns to your normal main display.

This makes it a good fit for a PC connected to a living-room TV. You can game on the TV from the couch, then go back to your desk setup without changing any Windows settings by hand.

Method 6: Turn off the other screen for a moment

This is the brute-force approach, and it works on games that ignore everything else.

• Press Windows + P to open the projection menu.
• Choose Second screen only. Your main monitor goes dark.
• Launch the game from Steam. It opens on the only active screen.
• Once the game is running, press Windows + P again and choose Extend.

Some games handle the second step well and stay put. Others move or minimize when the display layout changes, so test it once before relying on it. If a game gets confused, you can simply stay on “Second screen only” for that session.

Using a laptop with an external monitor

Laptops follow the same rule, but the built-in screen usually starts as the main display. To game on the external monitor, open Display settings, select the external screen, and check Make this my main display. If you don’t need the laptop panel while playing, press Windows + P and pick Second screen only. That also frees a bit of graphics power for the game.

Gaming laptops add one more wrinkle. Many have two graphics chips: a low-power one built into the processor and a separate, faster graphics card. On some models, the HDMI or USB-C port is wired straight to the faster card, while on others the signal passes through the low-power chip first. If a game runs poorly on the external screen, open Settings > System > Display > Graphics, find the game, and set it to High performance so it uses the faster card.

Check your laptop’s manual or the maker’s support page to see which port connects to which graphics chip. Plugging the monitor into the port wired to the faster card often gives smoother frame rates and makes features like G-Sync available.

Which method should you use?

How to stop games from jumping back

A setup that worked last week can break after an update. These habits keep it stable.

• Recheck the main display after driver updates. New graphics drivers sometimes reset your monitor layout. A quick look at Display settings saves confusion.
• Keep your monitors connected to the same ports. Moving cables between outputs on the graphics card can change the order Windows detects them in.
• Turn on window position memory in Windows 11. Under Display settings > Multiple displays, check Remember window locations based on monitor connection so windows return to the right screen after a monitor wakes up.
• Set each monitor’s refresh rate. In Display settings > Advanced display, pick the highest refresh rate for each screen. A game that starts on a 144Hz monitor set to 60Hz will feel choppy even when it’s on the right screen.
• Launch Steam on the monitor you game on. If Steam’s window sits on the second monitor when you click Play, some games take that as a hint.

Common problems after moving a game

The game is stretched or blurry

Your two monitors probably have different resolutions. After moving the game, open its video settings and set the resolution to match the new monitor’s native resolution, such as 2560 x 1440.

The game minimizes when you click the other screen

That happens in exclusive full-screen mode, where the game takes full control of the display. Switch to borderless windowed mode to keep it visible when you click elsewhere.

The mouse slips onto the other monitor mid-game

Borderless mode lets the cursor leave the game window. Many games offer a Lock Cursor or Confine Mouse setting. If yours doesn’t, a multi-monitor tool such as DisplayFusion can lock the cursor to one screen while a game runs.

The game opens on the right screen but at the wrong refresh rate

Check the in-game refresh rate setting and Windows’ Advanced display page. Also confirm that G-Sync or FreeSync is enabled for the monitor you moved to, since these settings are applied per display.

Conclusion

Setting the second monitor as your main display in Windows is the fastest way to make Steam games open there, and it works for nearly every title. When you only want to move one game, use its built-in monitor setting, borderless mode with Windows + Shift + Arrow, or a launch option like -sdl_displayindex or -monitor. Once it works, the game should open on the right screen at the correct resolution every time.

Frequently asked questions