Can Lightroom choose a specific secondary monitor in a 3-display Windows setup?
Asked 10/26/2015
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I use Lightroom on Windows with three displays. Physically they are arranged left to right as: screen 1 (a TV I don’t want to use for photo work), screen 2 (center), and screen 3 (right). I’d like to use screen 2 as my main Lightroom workspace and screen 3 as the secondary preview.
The problem is that Lightroom seems to place its secondary window based on display order rather than letting me choose any monitor. In my setup it always picks the display immediately to the left of the main Lightroom screen. So if I make screen 2 my main display, Lightroom uses screen 1 as the secondary display instead of screen 3.
I’ve already tried changing Windows display settings and swapping cables, but Lightroom still behaves the same way. Is there any workaround to make Lightroom use the center monitor as the main workspace and the right monitor as the secondary preview?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
2
This has long been a problem in LR, and unfortunately it looks like Adobe has no interest in fixing it, as it has persisted from LR4 thru to LR CC. You may find one of the tips listed in this long thread helpful:
Originally by user45931. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user45931
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Lightroom itself does not reliably let you freely choose any monitor for the secondary display in a 3-monitor setup. This has been a longstanding limitation in multiple Lightroom versions.
A practical workaround is to change the Windows monitor arrangement so Lightroom “sees” the monitor you want as the adjacent secondary display. One reported solution is:
- set the right-hand monitor as the Windows main display
- drag the left monitor’s position in Windows so it sits below the center monitor instead of in a straight row
That way, Lightroom can place its primary window on the right monitor and the secondary window on the center monitor, avoiding the TV. The tradeoff is that mouse movement between screens will no longer be a simple straight left-to-right path; for example, reaching the left display may require moving the cursor downward from the center screen.
So: there’s no clean Lightroom setting for this, but rearranging monitor positions in Windows may give you a usable workaround.
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