A vertical monitor for code, documents and chat

A monitor turned on its side shows a whole page of code or a document without scrolling. Here is how to set it up and make the right windows land on it.

Turn the screen

Rotate the monitor on its stand, then tell Windows: Settings → System → Display, select the monitor, and set Display orientation to Portrait. In Stillward Display the same is one click on the Monitors page - it waits fifteen seconds for you to keep the change and goes back by itself if the picture looks wrong.

Layouts made for a tall screen

Side-by-side layouts make little sense on a tall screen. Split it top and bottom instead - halves, thirds, or one large spot with a small one under it. Draw it once, and the lines snap to halves and thirds.

Then put it to work in a preset: when your editor opens, the documentation goes to the top of the vertical monitor and the chat to the bottom, while the editor takes the main screen.

Good to know

A layout drawn for a landscape monitor can grow into one for a portrait one, so you do not start from scratch. The setup window shows each monitor the way it stands on your desk, tall ones included.

More guides

Move your chat and browser to the second monitor when a game starts Every evening the same drag: the game opens, and the chat, the guide and the music have to be pushed onto the other monitor by hand. Here is how to make them go there by themselves. Make a program always open on the monitor you want Your mail belongs on the left screen, the music on the top one, the editor in the middle. Here is how to make each program open exactly there, every time. Switch to your headphones automatically when a game starts Speakers for the evening, headphones for the game - and back again when it ends, without opening the sound settings twice a night. Switch between speakers and headset with one key A call is starting and the sound is still on the speakers. Here is how to move it to the headset with one key - and send a single app to other speakers when you need to. Stop the mouse slipping onto your second monitor in games You flick the camera, the cursor leaves the game, and a click lands on the desktop of the other screen. The game drops to the background mid-fight. Here is why, and how to keep the mouse where it belongs. Keep any window always on top - and make it transparent A video while you work, notes over a document, a guide over a game. One key keeps a window on top; another makes it see-through, so it never hides what is underneath. Turn off your other monitors while you play or watch a film A bright side monitor next to a dark film or a horror game is a distraction. Here is how to switch the others off for the evening and get everything back exactly as it was. Put every video call on the second monitor, automatically The call opens on top of your work, on the wrong screen, with the sound on the speakers. Here is how to make it land on the second monitor with the headset on, every time. Windows moved after sleep, undocking or a game? Save and restore your window layout You wake the PC, and every window is piled onto one monitor. You unplug the laptop and plug it back in, and the desk you arranged is gone. Here is why it happens and how to get your layout back in one press. One layout for the laptop, another for the dock At the desk you have two big monitors; on the sofa, one small screen. Here is how to make the windows switch between the two setups by themselves when you plug in or unplug. Is your 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitor stuck at 60 Hz? A new monitor, a driver update or a different cable, and the screen quietly drops to 60 Hz. Nothing warns you. Here is how to check in a minute, and what usually causes it. Borderless windowed for older games, without stretching them Borderless windowed makes alt-tab instant and lets your other monitors stay useful. Older games often do not offer it - and forcing it can stretch a 4:3 picture across a wide screen. Here is how to get it right. Split an ultrawide monitor into three windows - or more An ultrawide screen is two or three monitors without the bezels, as long as the windows know where to go. Here is how to divide it and fill it in one press. A streaming setup on two or three monitors that lays itself out The game on the main monitor; OBS, chat and alerts on the side one; music and voice chat wherever they fit. Set it up once, and every stream starts that way. Open all your work apps at once, each in its place Every morning: the editor, the mail, three browser tabs, the chat, the music - opened one by one and dragged into place. Here is how to make it one key. One monitor: a Work and a Play setup, one key each You do not need a second screen to want two different desks. Here is how to switch your windows, your sound and your desktop together, with one key. Hide everything except the window you are working in Twenty windows open, and you need just one of them for the next hour. Here is a focus mode that clears the screen with one key and puts it all back with the same key.