Comments on: How To Close Your Laptop Lid And Use An External Monitor On Windows 11, 10

By: Charlie Arehart

Charlie Arehart — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 20:27:51 +0000

Thanks for the post and for continuing to answer questions from folks a couple years on. I have a challenge that is the reverse of what this discusses, and I’ve not been able to find an answer. So I wonder if you or anyone else here may have one.

i am finding that if I have my laptop connected to an external monitor (set as “extended”), when I close the lid on the laptop, what was on the laptop screen switches to the external monitor. I do NOT want it to do that–so it’s the opposite of what you are proposing. (I want to be able to close the laptop to work on another–which is NOT connected to the external display. Let’s say one is for work and one for personal use.)

FWIW, I DO have have the “close lid” setting set to “do nothing” when “plugged in” (and yes, the laptop is plugged in). That is indeed what I want, regarding POWER. But there is nothing about how closing the lid controls the display. This is on Windows 10 21H1. Thanks in advance for any thoughts on solving this, from anyone.

By: Usman Khurshid

Usman Khurshid — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 19:03:17 +0000

In reply to Hardik Arora. Make sure that the resolution of each display is exactly what you want.

By: Hardik Arora

Hardik Arora — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 19:31:29 +0000

So when I keep both my monitor and laptop open the windows taskbar and the tab bar (don’t know what it is technically called) on chrome are zoomed in. However, the moment I close the lid of my laptop and start working just on the monitor, the display refreshes and everything seems zoomed out. How do I fix this?

By: Usman Khurshid

Usman Khurshid — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 01:35:24 +0000

In reply to Martin gavelin. You can try using Autostart on power on in the BIOS settings. If you want to go out, just plug the power cable out of socket. When you return, plug it in and the system should start automatically. This setting is not available in all systems.

By: Martin gavelin

Martin gavelin — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 17:00:53 +0000

i dont see no comments about waking up, with lid closed.
as i see it, having the laptop stuffed away under the worktable, external keys, monitor and sound, is awesome. but what if i want to turn the computer off. and be able to start it up again – lets say, going away for a few weeks, coming back.
depending up setup, opening the laptop up to restart, can be a hassle, getting it out from under the table, with all cables fixed neatly underneath…

im trying the “usb wake up ” in bios settings, but my keyboard and mouse is wireless, (and i dont fully understand the settings, i guess)
i need that first initial usb- wake up.

any tips n trix for this?

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 22:28:45 +0000

Interestingly, the one thing that is not all that straight forward but still works is when you do Windows P and select “second screen only” that option actually means…”all monitors other then the laptop monitor” I have multiple monitors connected and (thankfully) when i select “second screen only” it turns off monitor 1 but keeps on all the other monitors.

but the instructions here are exactly correct.

By: Usman Khurshid

Usman Khurshid — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 10:28:17 +0000

In reply to Rye. How did you disconnect the laptop lid? The LED screen will always be the primary display when booting the laptop.

By: Rye

Rye — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 23:54:20 +0000

I disconnected the lid of the laptop and connected VGA to a monitor, now laptop doesn’t power on.

By: Usman Khurshid

Usman Khurshid — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 11:58:56 +0000

In reply to Rajeev. Please check your system event viewer logs and make sure it is not related to any hardware issues.

By: Rajeev

Rajeev — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 20:12:44 +0000

my laptop keeps shut down after 9 minutes when connected to external monitor. I have set power settings to “NEVER” go to sleep and lid closing is set to “Do Nothing” but it keeps shutting down my laptop