How to Set Up a Second Monitor for Working From Home

Setting up a second monitor for working from home takes about 20 minutes: connect the monitor to your laptop with the right cable, place it at eye level beside or above your laptop screen, then arrange the displays in your system settings so the mouse moves naturally between them.

Choose a monitor that fits your desk and your laptop

For most home working, a 24-inch monitor with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels is a good starting point. Check the ports on the monitor and on your laptop before you buy, because the cable you need depends on both ends.

Our article on how to choose a laptop for everyday use explains how screen size and resolution affect comfort, and the same ideas apply to a second monitor.

Connect it: cables and ports

Look at the ports on your laptop first. Most laptops have HDMI, USB-C, or both. HDMI is the most common connection for monitors, and a single HDMI cable carries both picture and sound. USB-C can carry picture, sound, and power through one cable on many newer laptops, which keeps the desk tidier, but not every USB-C port supports video, so check the laptop's specifications. If the monitor and laptop have different ports, you will need an adapter or a cable with a different plug at each end.

Plug the monitor into power, connect the cable, and switch the monitor on. The laptop should detect it within a few seconds. A common mistake we see is buying a long cable that drapes across the desk, when a short cable and a tidy run behind the desk would do. Measure the distance first, and buy the shortest cable that reaches comfortably. If your home internet is also slow, our article on fixing slow Wi-Fi may help, since video calls suffer more from a weak connection than from a small screen.

Arrange the displays in settings

Open the display settings on your laptop and you should see two rectangles, one for each screen. Drag them into the same arrangement as they sit on your desk, so the mouse moves from one screen to the other in the direction you expect. If the laptop sits on the left and the monitor on the right, put the laptop rectangle on the left.

Check the resolution in display settings. See our article on how to keep your laptop battery healthy for years if the laptop stays plugged in at a desk all day.

Place it well, and add a keyboard and mouse

• Height: the top of the monitor should be at or just below eye level, so you look slightly down, not up.

Our article on how to speed up a slow laptop in an afternoon can help if the laptop feels slow with two screens running.

A second monitor is one of the simplest upgrades for working from home, because it changes how you work all day, not just how fast the laptop runs. Set it at the right height, arrange the screens in settings, and give yourself a proper keyboard and mouse.