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How to make a program always open on a specific monitor

You start Outlook and it appears on the laptop screen. Spotify opens on the TV. The video call app ends up behind your main work. Windows has no setting that says “always open this app on monitor 2”, so each program decides for itself, and many simply pick the main display. This guide explains how Windows and apps choose a screen, the manual tricks that sometimes stick, and how WindowLayout sends every app to the monitor you pick, automatically.

Updated 6 steps

  1. Understand how apps choose a monitor

    When a program creates a window, it either asks Windows for a default position or uses a position it saved itself the last time it closed. Default positions land on the main display. Apps that remember their position, such as most browsers and Office, reopen where you last closed them, but only if that monitor is still there and the coordinates still make sense. If a monitor was asleep, renumbered or briefly disconnected when the app last closed, the saved spot is wrong and the app falls back to the main display.

  2. Try the built-in workaround first

    Open the app, move it to the monitor you want with Win+Shift+Left arrow or Win+Shift+Right arrow, resize it, and close it normally with the X button rather than from the taskbar or Task Manager. Many programs store their last position on close, so the next launch opens there. If the app is a shortcut on the desktop, you can also set Run to Normal window in the shortcut properties. This works for well-behaved apps, but it does nothing for programs that always center themselves on the main display.

  3. Let WindowLayout remember where each app was

    Install WindowLayout, open Window Profiles and, under Automation, switch on Remember app positions. From then on, when an app's window closes, WindowLayout notes which monitor it was on and where. The next time a window of that app opens, it is moved to the same spot on the same monitor, even if the app itself would have chosen the main display. Monitors are tracked by device identity and model, so the memory stays correct when Windows renumbers Display 1 and Display 2.

  4. Send an app to a monitor with a trigger

    For apps you always want on one screen, open Triggers and click Add trigger. Choose An app starts as the event and type the program name, for example teams.exe or spotify.exe. As the action, choose Move app to monitor and enter the monitor number shown by Identify (Ctrl+Alt+I flashes a number on each screen). Each time the app starts, its window is moved to that monitor and keeps its relative size and position. Use An app gets focus instead if the app is usually already running in the background.

  5. Place it in a zone or maximize it there

    Moving to the right monitor is often only half the job. Add a second trigger for the same app with the action Arrange in zones to fit it into the zone layout of that monitor, or with a window action such as Maximize, Right half or Left third. Zone layouts are picked per monitor in Windows & Zones. If you prefer to do it by hand, the Ctrl+Alt+Right hotkey moves the active window to the next monitor and Ctrl+Alt+Numpad keys snap it to halves and quarters.

  6. Exclude apps that position themselves

    Some programs manage their own windows, such as games, screen recorders or remote-control tools, and moving them causes flicker. Add their program name to Never reposition in Window Profiles. WindowLayout then leaves them alone in automatic restores and remembered positions. If an app runs as administrator, Windows does not let a normal program move it, so run WindowLayout and that app at the same privilege level or skip it.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make an app open on a monitor that is not connected yet?

A window can only be placed on a monitor that exists. If the monitor is missing, the app opens wherever it normally would. When the monitor connects later, a trigger on An app gets focus or a window profile restore will move it across.

Does this work for apps that open several windows?

Yes. Remember app positions works per app, and a Move app to monitor trigger acts on the window that started or got focus. For a fixed set of windows across all screens, save a window profile instead.

Will the app flash on the main monitor before it moves?

Sometimes, for a fraction of a second, because the app creates its window before WindowLayout can move it. Apps that remember their own position usually open in the right place straight away once they have been closed there.