Presentation Mode - Change

How to Change the Windows 7 Display Presentation Mode​

   Information

This will show you how to either display the Windows 7 desktop on the Computer only, Duplicate on both computer monitor and external display, Extend to all displays, or show only on a second screen or Projector.

   Note

The application file for this is located at:

C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe.

OPTION ONE

To Change Display Presentation Mode in GUI

1. Press the Windows Key + P.
A) Go to step 3.
OR

2. Open the Start Menu, then type displayswitch.exe in the search box and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3. Select the option that you want Windows 7 to be displayed on. (see screenshot below)


NOTE: If you wanted to cancel and close this without making or selecting an option, then you can just click on a empty area on your desktop to do so.

• Computer only - This shows your desktop only on your main display screen.
• Duplicate - This shows your same desktop on both your computer display screen(s) and a connected external projector.
• Extend - This extends your desktop from your computer display screen(s) and a connected external projector.
• Projector only - This shows your desktop only on an external projector.

OPTION TWO

To Change Display Presentation Mode in Command Prompt

1. Open a command prompt.



2. In the command prompt, copy and paste the command in bold below for what you would like to do, and press Enter.

• DisplaySwitch.exe /internal
  • (Computer only) This shows your desktop only on your main display screen.
• DisplaySwitch.exe /clone
  • (Duplicate) This shows your same desktop on both your computer display screen(s) and a connected external display or projector.
• DisplaySwitch.exe /extend
  • (Extend) This extends your desktop from your computer display screen(s) and a connected external display or projector.
• DisplaySwitch.exe /external
  • (Projector only) This shows your desktop only on an external display or projector.

3. When finished, you can close the command prompt.
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a Display Switch Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Turn Presentation Settings On or Off in Windows 7
• How to Create a "Presentation Settings" Shortcut in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Open and Use Windows 7 Mobility Center
• How to Change the Main Display in Windows 7
• How to Create a Connect to a Network Projector Shortcut in Windows 7

 

[Mark]

Another very nice feature. thanks John.

 

[navossoc]

My windows recognize my displays wrong.

My monitor is the "projector" (2) and my tv is my "monitor" (1), wtf? ^^
Anyone knows a way to change it?

I have tried swap the cables, swap the hdmi entrance, nothing works.

Currently using a ATI graphic card, so don't have the "display manager", driver beta, bla bla bla...

[]'s

 

[Brink]

Hello Navossoc,

Are you using the 9.4 ATI driver version for Windows 7? I have NVIDIA instead for graphics, but you should have a setting in the Catalyst Center to change the monitor identity somewhere I would think.

 

[darkassain]

right click the desktop and then click screen resolution...
then on the your main display (the one you say is secondary...)
tick this...

and that should make it your main display...

 

[Brink]

That could make a handy tutorial.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/10388-display-change-main-display.html

Thank you Mike.

 

[navossoc]

Thanks for the answer guys.

Hello Navossoc,

Are you using the 9.4 ATI driver version for Windows 7? I have NVIDIA instead for graphics, but you should have a setting in the Catalyst Center to change the monitor identity somewhere I would think.

Yes, currently using 9.4...
This feature it's not avaliable at this time on ATI cards...

See capture3.png

Here:
AMD Game Forums - "Display manager" tab - missing

I see another user with the same problem.

right click the desktop and then click screen resolution...
then on the your main display (the one you say is secondary...)
tick this...
View attachment 11178
and that should make it your main display...

Yes, i already have made this a long time ago.
Btw when i press WIN+P, i have to select "projector" as my screen, understand my problem? ^^

Isn't a really problem, btw is annoying!

See capture.png and capture2.png.

I think he choose the tv because it has a higher resolution, i don't know...
Swap cables, etc, don't work

Any other ideas?

Thanks!
Ah Windows 7 build 7100

PS: I don't have that "link" connect to a projector, any ideias too? ^^ weird things happen with me hahahaa.

 

[catdog]

Has anyone solved navossoc's problem?

I have the exact same problem as navossoc. Can anyone help me please?

 

[Brink]

Hello Catdog,

Are you using the latest video driver?

ATI: 9.12 + 9.12 hotfix
NVIDIA: 195.81 beta

 

[catdog]

updated video drivers

yes i am

 

[Brink]

Catdog,

What happens when you use the tutorial to select Computer only?

Could you post a screenshot of your Screen Resolution window to see if it may help?

 

[sadhuka]

i'm having the same issue. the tv and computer monitors are swapped. windows 7 identifies my tv as the "computer only" and my monitor as "projector only". its not really a problem but its pretty annoying. does anyone know how to change the setting?

 

[sanriver12]

i also have this annoying problem, no solutions?

 

[Brink]

Ok guys,

See if this may help.

If you have a NIVIDIA graphics card or chip, then see if you can do this from the NVIDIA Control Panel (right click on desktop) below. I'm not sure what it would with ATI though.


If not, then try this:

• Unplug the TV cable from the back of the computer.
• Restart the computer with only the monitor connected and running.
• While the monitor is running, connect the TV to see if it will make it the second monitor and not the primary one.

 

[sanriver12]

@Brink
your suggestin works... until the pc is restarted, then the pc monitor goes back to being the secondary display.
I think the problem is windows lists the displays in alphabetical order, that's why Panasonic-tv is number one and Syncmaster monitor is two. very anoying when you use the winkey+p menu.
thanks for your help

 

[Brink]

Um, back to the drawing board.

 

[sadhuka]

it seems when theres a dual monitor setup with both digital and analog hookups, the identity # of the digital monitor is by default set to 1, regardless of which monitor is set as the primary. in windows 7 id#1 is labeled as the computer and id#2 as projector. for now there doesn't seem to be a way of changing the setting. digital is like a dominant gene over analog in the dna of windows 7.

if it's really bothering you the only solution would be to get a video card that supports 2 digital connections. the onboard geforce 8300 on my asus m3n78em motherboard has hdmi, dvi, and vga outputs, but doesn't support 2 digital connections at the same time. i threw in an old asus gts250dk that i'm not really able to use because after a couple days of use, reason unknown, it dies out. for the time that it did work however, i was able to correctly identify my monitors, and i have to say i enjoyed seeing the proper labels hehe.

 

[seomantor]

The display switch has the ability to actualy switch to a certain setting.

C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /external
C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /internal
C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /clone
C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /extend

Were in my case external is the screen wich is active during boot.
and internal the TV

@sadhuka
Changing videocards (geforce 8800GTS) is not realy an option!

 

[homamkeh]

i have used (win + p) to toggle between my dual monitor setup and my hd forever. now all of a sudden, the console for choosing the display config (disconnect, duplicate, extended, projector only) only shows for a split second then disappears. i have no idea how this happened. i tried restarting, disconnecting... ddnt work. any ideas?

 

[Brink]

Hello Homamkeh,

Does it work when opening the displayswitch.exe file? If so, you might see if creating a shortcut of it, then assigning your own keyboard shortcut to open this shortcut may work for you instead.

Hope this helps,
Shawn