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I recently upgraded my computer and replaced it's motherboard, RAM, CPU, case and re-installed Windows on a new NVMe drive, however my graphics card & monitors stayed the same.

The graphics card is a Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB by Palit.

  • My left screen is connected via HDMI
  • My right screen is connected via HDMI to DisplayPort (Active Adaptor)
  • My middle screen is connected via DVI

I used to boot up my computer and it would always boot showing the middle screen as the primary display... so as it was booting or if I loaded BIOS it would appear on my middle screen and I would have to set the primary display to be the middle screen in either Nvidia Control Panel or within Settings > System > Display.

However currently it's booting on my right screen... it does switch to the middle screen as the primary when the computer reaches Windows.

That said, Nvidia Shadowplay for some reason keeps recording my right screen (the incorrect primary screen) even if I have a game open... I want to make it record my middle screen but it refuses to do so.

How can I change the primary screen (before windows boots) to the middle screen? I can't change cables over because they just don't reach.

I'm not sure if I purchased another HDMI to DisplayPort cable if that would suffice or if the GPU would prevent it from loading because of a GPU limitation. I would prefer not having to purchase anything extra though.

See:

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and

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Thanks

mashuptwice
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Hyflex
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  • "How do I change my monitors' identity number (1) to another number (2) without re-ordering?" - Switch which monitor is the primary monitor. You can switch which monitor Shadowplay records by the way. – Ramhound Feb 18 '22 at 02:08
  • I think he means during boot. I suspect you can only do this by changing the ports the monitors are hooked up to: https://superuser.com/questions/895988/how-do-i-change-which-monitor-my-computer-uses-at-boot – MiG Feb 18 '22 at 05:54
  • Switch the cables. That's the only way you can reorder monitors without doing it inside the OS. – LPChip Feb 18 '22 at 15:51
  • @LPChip So how was it booting with the middle monitor as the primary before installing the new motherboard/ram/cpu.. etc The GPU and it's cable layout are both identical to how they used to be... – Hyflex Feb 19 '22 at 08:58
  • I have no answer to that, but if you want to reorder monitors during boot, just switch the cables. – LPChip Feb 19 '22 at 12:24

3 Answers3

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Every search I did for this produced similar answers so forgive me for replying to a months old question, but I eventually found the answer by trial and error.

My setup is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX3070 with 3 monitors connected via Display Port and a TV connected via HDMI (that's all the connectors in this card). It's a heavy card so when I first set it up, I had to tweak the card support bar to ensure the alignment of the card. Each time I did this, the "main" display on startup seemed to be randomly chosen by the BIOS (some sort of first come, first served thing!)

In Windows 10 my default display setup is for two specific monitors to display and the other monitor and TV to be "disconnected" (Windows term). So the boot display might be on a monitor that was normally on standby and which would then return to standby once Windows started. Like the OP I prefer to use my "main" monitor for startup, BIOS management etc. It seemed to me that BIOS management should have a setting like this and although a post elsewhere stated that the person's BIOS had a setting for this, mine doesn't and I don't think it is very common.

After a lot of experimentation following similar advice to the comments, none of which was reliable, I found the solution:

  1. Shutdown/power off the PC.
  2. Unplug all the displays.
  3. Plug in your "main" display ONLY. (In my case, it did not matter which connector on the graphics card I used, but this may vary with card.)
  4. Start the PC and enter BIOS management (F2, Del key or whatever applies in your BIOS.) (This is not to change any settings, just to save time as you don't want Windows at this stage.)
  5. Shutdown/power off the PC.
  6. Leaving your "main" display as is, plug in your other displays.
  7. Boot up and your BIOS boot display should be on your "main" display.
  8. Windows will then do what it usually does with display management.

Caveat: This graphics card disables the on-board graphics. I cannot test so I do not know whether using multiple displays using both on-board graphics and a graphics card makes a difference.

Note: In all my experiments neither swapping around the connectors nor changing any display settings in Windows affected this. Also note that the Windows display identification numbers have nothing to do with this and I know of no way to change those numbers so your "main" might be #2 and a "disconnected" display might be #1.

brit0n
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the only solution that worked: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3871-change-main-display-windows-10-a.html It´s so simple, but we never read between the lines

Leonardo Viegas Pereira
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    While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. - From Review – zx485 Jul 18 '23 at 12:49
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Sadly the solution by @brit0n did not work for me. I'm using Win10 Pro 21H2, 6900XT and 3x 4K monitors. In my case the order of GPU outputs matters. So it simply required plugging the 'main' display to a particular DisplayPort output to default as 'main' display and boot on startup inc BIOS. Then plugged in the two other displays thereafter which corresponded to display 2 and 3 in windows. Cheers

King_Ultra
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    As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community Aug 29 '23 at 06:46