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February 24, 2012
Answered

Dialog boxes pop up on wrong monitor

  • February 24, 2012
  • 8 replies
  • 70150 views

I have my workspace spread out over two monitors, with a third preview screen on a TV. My timeline and preview monitors are on my center screen with the main title bar, considered the "main" screen by OSX. However, any time a dialog box pops up, it appears on my leftmost monitor. It's a pain, since the majority of my work takes place on the center screen, to constantly have to move back and forth between monitors to address any dialog boxes that pop up to adjust clip speed, export settings, watch preview render progress, cancel auto-saves, etc. Is there any way to change the default position of these dialog boxes? Moving them over when they appear doesn't seem to change anything.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer spencers37468686

    I know this is an ancient thread, but this was the first google result, so here's a solution for future macosx users.

    This behavior is operating system dependent. How to fix:

    1. Click the apple icon.

    2. Click System Preferences

    3. Click display

    4. Click arrangement.

    On one of the monitors, you will see a white rectangle at the top, whatever monitor that is, that's where dialog boxes will appear when they pop up.

    5. Click and drag that white rectangle to the monitor you wish dialog boxes to appear.

    8 replies

    Participant
    September 16, 2021

    OH MY GOD THANK YOU @spencers37468686 ! This has been driving me nuts. The Mac system preferences solution worked like a charm. YESSSSSSS.

    Participant
    August 19, 2021

    From my experience what fixes it on Win 10 is checking this option for the monitor where you want diag boxes to pop up and also having the start menu dragged in the same monitor (the one with the search box as this will also make it the main monitor for some of the modals)

    EALS
    Inspiring
    February 11, 2021

    Here happens the same with all Adobe apps. It is very annoying. Ans thks funkbomb but your solution doesn't work for me. I need all dialogue boxes following the app and not poping up wjhere they want to.

    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    February 11, 2021

    If you have even one pixel of a window on X screen on Y screen, which you might not even be able to see, you can get this behavior.

     

    Neil

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
    Participant
    April 30, 2020

    Hi all - for those of you on OSX that haven't found a solution yet, I found one that works, that I saw on https://illustrator.uservoice.com - which is simply to toggle Window > Application Bar on and off again. Worked for me, might help you. 

    OSX Mojave / Adobe Illustrator 2020

    Participant
    January 17, 2020

    Could you please be more specific about which window it is that you need to move? There is not window called "Main Window." Based on your description of the file directory I guessed it would be the media browser window but that did not work. Each window has a specific name. Just look at the "Window" tab if you aren't sure.

    spencers37468686Correct answer
    Participant
    October 11, 2019

    I know this is an ancient thread, but this was the first google result, so here's a solution for future macosx users.

    This behavior is operating system dependent. How to fix:

    1. Click the apple icon.

    2. Click System Preferences

    3. Click display

    4. Click arrangement.

    On one of the monitors, you will see a white rectangle at the top, whatever monitor that is, that's where dialog boxes will appear when they pop up.

    5. Click and drag that white rectangle to the monitor you wish dialog boxes to appear.

    Known Participant
    October 16, 2019
    this didn't work for me. My preferences are probably screwed up.
    Skeletonhands
    Participant
    January 6, 2017

    I have this problem in WIN10. I use two monitors, one is a Wacom Cintiq, so I tend to draw a lot on the Cintiq then move PS to my main (large) monitor to make layer adjustments and color corrections. It doesn't matter which monitor my PS is actively running in, all my pop up windows go to the last monitor they were opened in. It is a real pain. I wish there was either a WIN or PS setting that commanded all windows to open in the active window rather than where it last was. I realize this wouldn't be ideal for most users that aren't swapping screens frequently, but the option would sure be nice for me.

    Participant
    October 30, 2017

    I have the same issue and I'm not switching between monitors frequently. My Windows 10 setup has my left monitor as my primary, but it happens to be identified as monitor 2. Premiere can't seem to grasp this, as it throws certain dialog windows onto the right monitor (1). This is particularly problematic since I have full-screen playback enabled on monitor one, so if I need to adjust Sequence Settings, the window comes up behind the video and I can't get to it, forcing me to dig into my preferences, turn off full-screen playback, adjust my settings, then turn it back on.

    As was mentioned by others, moving the dialog over to the primary monitor doesn't help. It always pops up on the other one. Premiere seems to be intent on opening things on monitor 1, regardless of what is set to the primary monitor by the operating system, at least when it comes to Windows. Physically switching the monitors around is a chore since I have them VESA-mounted on a single stand.

    I have similar issues with Photoshop so it seems to be a problem on Adobe's end. I don't have these issues in any other programs I use, such as Nuke and Silhouette.

    Participant
    February 24, 2012

    This happens with me with other programs to like photoshop etc...the only fix I think might work is to set your monitors to one monitor, bring up the dialog box again, save, then try working on the three monitors again.  Tell me if that works.

    February 24, 2012

    Thanks for the suggestion—it led me to the solution. It turns out the dialog boxes appear on whichever screen contains the "main" window box—that is, the window with the bar at the top that shows the directory path of the project you're working on. Rearranging my workspace so the window was on the main screen fixed the problem.

    Participant
    February 24, 2012

    cool...glad to help....im taking note if this issue arises again