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Inspiring
August 24, 2023
Answered

LrC refusing to use secondary display

  • August 24, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 689 views

I have been using a twin monitor LrC setup for many months. The primary monitor was used for all of the LrC modules and the secondary monitor for a Loupe view (which I could switch on and off using F11). I remember having considerable difficulty in setting this up. Online guidance didn't seem to work for me, but I eventually stumbled on a solution.

 

LrC has suddenly decided to ignore F11 and now never displays anything on the second monitor. I can't remember how I originally configured LrC to use two monitors on my Windows 10 PC. Some assistance would be much appreciated.   

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Correct answer Conrad_C

This might be an obvious thing you’ve already done, but since it wasn’t mentioned…Have you checked the Display tab in Preferences? Sometimes Lightroom Classic gets confused as to which display is supposed to be the Secondary Display, and it has to be reset in there.

2 replies

Conrad_C
Community Expert
Conrad_CCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
August 24, 2023

This might be an obvious thing you’ve already done, but since it wasn’t mentioned…Have you checked the Display tab in Preferences? Sometimes Lightroom Classic gets confused as to which display is supposed to be the Secondary Display, and it has to be reset in there.

Inspiring
August 25, 2023

Thanks, Conrad! You successfully identified the cause of my problem.

 

I occasionally use a big TV as a third screen, but the TV is not normally switched on when I'm working on my computer (even if it was, the TV is seldom switched to use the PC input). I've no idea why LrC switched to using the TV as its secondary monitor. Is there a relevant keyboard shortcut I might have hit by accident? 

Conrad_C
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 25, 2023

Going from my experiences, I think it has more to do with the TV not normally being connected to the computer.

 

I have a laptop, and at the desk, it is connected through a hub to two large displays, where I always use the other display as the Secondary Display in Lightroom Classic. Almost every day, I switch between using the laptop connected to the displays, and on its own using the internal laptop display only.

 

The Secondary Window feature can be flaky, especially when switching between different display configurations. Sometimes it forgets which display the Secondary Display is supposed to be on, opening on top of the main application window instead of the other display. This is a frequently reported problem here, and it often confuses people who don’t understand why they cannot make the side panels open, and they cannot see the module picker. It’s because they aren’t looking at the main application window, they don’t realize that the Secondary Display window has for some reason decided to open up on top of the main application window and they need to close it to get to the main application window controls they expect to see.

 

So a lot of us are hoping Adobe finds a way to make the Secondary Display feature more reliable, especially when more than one display configuration is regularly used.

KR Seals
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 24, 2023

Anytime LrC starts doing something strange, it's a good idea to reset the preferences. Use that link for directions on how to do it.

 

Ken Seals - Nikon Z 9, Z 8, 14mm-800mm. Computer Win 11 Pro, I7-14700K, 64GB, RTX3070TI. Travel machine: 2021 MacBook Pro M1 MAX 64GB. All Adobe apps.