Be More Productive! Dual Monitor Set Up & Tips for Office Paperwork Application!
2026/06/10 updated｜By G Editor
You may have such experiences: write a paper or compile a report, while cross-checking information on the Internet; replying the message from your friends while watching YouTube videos. Windows OS allow you to do multi tasks at the same time. As a result, switching multiple windows frequently do make you dizzy. Therefore, you need to learn Dual Monitor Set Up and tips of dual monitor application to save your productivity.
Just like lighting a fire, drilling wood for fire certainly can help you achieve the goal, but the efficiency is not comparable to a gas spray gun. For work, it’s the same. Bury yourself in work, stay up late and work overtime, and you can surely finish the work as well, but the efficiency is non-comparable to someone who uses dual monitors. Here we use simple words to explain what the function of dual monitors is and guide you step by step to know how!
Those Hidden Troubles in Work Can be solved by dual monitors.
7 Tips of Dual Monitor Applications
1. Opening Multiple Windows at the Same Time Makes "Data Comparison" as Natural as Breathing
When you need to read datasheets and type on another document, you often print out the files for referencing and keep looking up and down between the papers and the screen. However, with an external screen, you can open two windows at the same time, which makes working effortless.
2. Maximize Effect of Ctrl+C and Ctrl V
Easy tips that are known by almost everyone: copy, paste and attach file. When you have only one single screen, you need to constantly switch between windows. Using dual monitors allows you to copy the left screen and paste on the right screen. Drag the files from one screen to the outlook on another makes a simple thing simpler.
3. Comply with the Features of the File, Read the Document Upright!
About 70% to 80% of the web pages and files opened every day are straight-through design. The news websites, accounting statements, PDFs, etc. are all presented in the portray layout.
Type on a horizontal laptop screen and examine data on an external vertical monitor to fully utilize each inch of display.
4. Help Proofreading Work, No Errors Missed!
Doing Proofreading requires one to be very attentive to details. By using two monitors, you can open different drafts and versions of a document, and verbatim check the words. With Microsoft Word's "Track Change" function, proofreading work can be done electronically.
5. Composing an essay while cross-checking information
Copywriters, editors or students who need to write papers often need to write an essay while searching materials to get inspiration. When you are deeply trapped in typing your own work, using dual monitors can avoid to switching between windows which may interrupt the flow of thought in your writing.
6. Set up a Mobile Meeting Room without a Projector
Frequent business trips and meetings with customers are Sales' daily routines. Even if all of meeting rooms are occupied, or you forget to print out meeting agenda in hard copy, you can simply start business briefing to your customers by taking out a portable second monitor to duplicate your laptop's screen.
7. Full Screen Preview on Dual Monitors, Film Editing Becomes Easier!
With the need to deal with a large amount of scattered video fragments, the dual screen is very useful for video editing. You can open the folder and view video thumbnails on one screen to quickly find the wanted file and pull into the editing software. For example, if you use Adobe Premiere, you can drag "Timeline" and "Preview Windows" to the external monitor and keep "Toolbar" on your laptop. In this way, there is enough space for those tools and the icons are no longer crowded together.
How to Install Dual Monitors
What is the connection between external monitor and PC?
PC peripherals can be roughly divided into two categories: Output and Input
Output Device
Input Device
The devices receive data from computer and transform into a form that humans can understand.
The devices receive data from human and transform into a form that computer can read
EX: Monitor, Speakers, Printer
EX: Keyboard, Mouse, Card Reader
An external monitor is simply an output device. Once connected to a computer, the resolution, as well as whether the display is in portrait or landscape orientation, is determined by the CPU and GPU of the computer’. Currently, the three most common video connectors used to connect laptops to external monitors are HDMI-A, micro-HDMI, and USB-C.
General Laptops
Equipped with HDMI-A, a full-size HDMI port
Ultra-Slim Laptop
Equipped with micro-HDMI, a smaller HDMI connector for video output
Ultra-Slim Laptops / MacBooks
Equipped with USB Type-C, the leading video interface of DisplayPort Alt.
Three Steps to Connect to an External Monitor
Installing an external monitor on a laptop involves two steps: ➊ Powering the monitor ➋ Connecting the laptop and monitor with a video cable.
Of the three most common video interfaces on laptops—HDMI-A, micro-HDMI, and USB-C—only the USB-C port can transmit both audio/video signals and power simultaneously. Therefore, only USB-C can be used to connect an external monitor with a single cable, while HDMI and VGA connections require a separate power cable to power the monitor.
Tutorial Video of Dual Monitor Installtion
Display Settings of Dual Monitors
Once your external monitor is connected and powered on, you’ll need to configure computer's display settings to use extended desktop mode—which allows each screen to display different applications. Let's show you some common display settings for dual-monitor setup!
Windows 11 Display Setting
① Click the right button of mouse on Windows desktop and then select "Display Settings" on the quick menu.
② If both screens are displaying the same image, a 1/2 merge icon is shown in the System > Display settings. Click the [Duplicate these displays] menu in the lower right corner, and then select [Extend these displays]>> click [Keep Changes] and the screens will be changed as extended desktop.
③ Simply drag and drop the monitor icons to configure the arrangement of monitors. Generally, the arrangement of monitor icons should match the physical setup: if the external monitor (Icon 2) is positioned to the right of the laptop, place Icon 2 to the right of Icon 1 so that the cursor movement can be intuitive. Similarly, if you are using a stacked dual-screen setup- an externaly monitor is stacked vertically on the top of laptop, you should drag and drop Icon 2 above Icon 1.
④ Selecting display resolution: When using dual monitors in extended mode, select the highest resolution for each monitor (for example, the common Full HD resolution is 1920x1080); if the resolutions of the two monitors are different, the icon sizes will also vary, 🔔 Note: In this case, you must pay attention to how the icons are aligned in the monitor arrangement; the cursor can only move between the two displays in the area where the icons meet.
When using duplicated display mode, if the native resolutions of the two screens differ, you can only select the lower resolution. In this situation, the screen with the reduced resolution will not be able to display in full-screen mode.
*The cursor cannot pass through the red lines shown in the image above.
⑤ To change the orientation of an external monitor, simply change the default “Landscape” setting in the [Display Orientation] menu to ‘Portrait’ (rotated 90°) or “Portrait (Flipped)” (rotated 270°).
🍬 For more skills of display settings on multi-screens, please read this article:
Windows 11 Advanced Multi-Screen Display Settings Tips—Multi-screen Alignment and Barrier-Free Cursor Movement
macOS - Display Setting
①Click on Apple, select "System Settings" → click on "Displays"
▉ Extended mode
① After the MacBook is connected to the second monitor, the default screen is the extended desktop. After clicking "Arrange", you can drag the screen icons to arrange their relative position.
② If you want to use the external monitor as main display, click the external monitor icon, and select "Main display" in the menu below.
▉ Mirror mode (synchronous mode)
①If you need to used mirrored mode for both screens. Click the external monitor icon and select "Mirror for Built-in Display" in the menu below.
▉ Vertical mode
① Select "270°" or "90°" for "Rotation" to put the Gechic monitor upright. (Place the monitor in the direction not pressing the OSD buttons and cables.)
Commonly Used Shortcut Keys for Dual Monitors
Once you use two monitors, you will open a lot of windows and applications at once. The following common shortcuts help us use dual monitors more easily!
Windows 10 Shortcut Keys for Dual Monitor
① Win+P Switch to "Duplicate," "Extend" mode.
「Extend」mode
「Duplicate」mode
② Alt+Tab Rapidly switch to different windows
macOS Shortcut Keys for Dual Monitor
① command ⌘ + tab：Rapidly switch to different opened applications.
② command ⌘ +W：Close a web page
③ command ⌘ +Q：Close an application
After reading this article, even if we don't have engineering background, we can quickly get the hang of using dual monitors. Paperwork, editing and others can be
done more conveniently and efficiently!
To learn more about high-efficiency work tips of dual monitor, please read the following article.
