Guides
How to dim or turn off a second monitor you are not using
A bright side monitor showing nothing in particular pulls your eyes away during a game, a film or focused work. Turning it off with its power button makes Windows rearrange windows, and Win+P disables it altogether. There are gentler options: lower its backlight, fade it while you are working elsewhere, or cover it with black while it stays connected. This guide shows each option and when to use it.
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Know why the power button causes trouble
Many monitors disconnect from Windows when you switch them off, especially over DisplayPort. Windows then moves their windows to another screen, and when the monitor comes back the windows often stay where they were moved. Pressing Win+P and choosing PC screen only does the same for every extra screen. Both are fine when you want the screen gone, but not when you want a quick break from it. WindowLayout also lets you switch a monitor off on its Monitors page or with the Turn monitor under the mouse off / back on action. Windows then stops using the screen, just as with Win+P, so it suits a long break better than a short pause; press the action again to turn the screen back on.
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Lower the backlight over DDC/CI
In WindowLayout's Monitors page, monitors that support DDC/CI have a Brightness (DDC/CI) slider under Quick controls. Turning it down changes the real backlight, so the screen gets darker and uses less power while staying connected. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+PageDown lowers the brightness of the monitor under the mouse cursor by 10 percent at a time. If a monitor shows no slider, turn on DDC/CI in its own on-screen menu.
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Dim any screen with software dimming
For monitors without DDC/CI, such as many TVs, Software dimming on the Monitors page covers the screen with a dark, click-through layer of up to 90 percent. You can still see and use what is there, just much darker. The setting is stored per physical monitor and comes back after a restart or reconnect. The brightness hotkeys use software dimming automatically on monitors without DDC/CI.
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Fade every screen except the active one
On the Brightness page, turn on Focus fade and set its Strength. Every monitor except the one with the active window is dimmed, and the fade follows you when you switch to a window on another screen. Toggle it with Ctrl+Alt+F. Focus fade works well for writing, reading and coding sessions, where the side screens should stay available but quiet.
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Black out a monitor for games and films
Blackout this monitor on the Monitors page covers a screen completely with black while it stays on and connected, so no windows move. Black out other monitors, an action you can bind on the Hotkeys page, blacks out every screen except the one you are on, which is ideal before starting a game or film. To do it automatically, add a trigger such as An app gets focus with your game's program name and the action Black out other monitors.
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Bring everything back
Click Blackout this monitor again or run the action again to remove the black cover, and set Software dimming back to zero. Focus fade turns off with the same hotkey. If you switched off a monitor with its power button and windows moved, Restore windows after monitor changes, sleep and unlock in Window Profiles puts them back when it returns, or press a window profile's hotkey.
Frequently asked questions
Does software dimming save power?
Only a little on most LCD monitors, because the backlight stays at the same level. Lowering brightness over DDC/CI saves power; on OLED screens, dark pixels use less power either way.
Can I click on windows under a dimmed screen?
Yes. The dimming layer is click-through, so the screen works normally, just darker. A blacked-out screen is fully covered and meant for hiding the screen.
Will the blackout stay after I restart?
Blackout and dimming are remembered per monitor and restored when WindowLayout starts, so a screen you blacked out stays covered until you turn it off.