Guides
How to move all windows to the main monitor at once
Sometimes you want every window on one screen: before unplugging a monitor, before a screen-share where only the main display is visible, or when windows have scattered to a TV that is switched off. Windows can move one window at a time, but it has no button to gather them all. This guide shows the built-in tricks, the one-key gather in WindowLayout, and how to send everything back where it was afterwards.
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Use the built-in tricks
For a single window, click it and press Win+Shift+Left or Win+Shift+Right until it reaches the main display. To gather everything, many people briefly switch to one screen with Win+P and choose PC screen only, then switch back to Extend. Windows moves every window to the remaining screen, but it also switches the other monitors off and on, which can reshuffle the arrangement, and windows rarely return to their monitors afterwards.
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Gather every window with one hotkey
Install WindowLayout and press Ctrl+Alt+G, the Gather all windows to primary action. Every visible window on another monitor moves to the main display. Each one keeps its relative position and size, scaled to fit the main screen's work area, and maximized windows stay maximized. Minimized windows are left alone. The other monitors stay on, so you can still see what you were doing there.
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Save the layout before gathering
Gathering is easy; putting everything back is the hard part. Before you press Ctrl+Alt+G, open Window Profiles and click Save current, or update an existing profile with Update from open windows. After the meeting or once the monitor is back, click Restore now or press the profile's Hotkey and every window returns to its own monitor. WindowLayout pauses automatic restore for a moment while it gathers, so a deliberate gather is not mistaken for a scramble.
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Gather from the menu or palette
If you do not remember the hotkey, open the command palette with Ctrl+Alt+Space and type gather. The Windows & Zones page also lists every open window with a Move to menu, which is useful when you want only some windows on the main display. To change the shortcut, open Hotkeys and click the box next to Gather all windows to primary.
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Gather automatically when a monitor leaves
Windows already moves windows off a monitor that disconnects. On Windows 11, Minimize windows when a monitor is disconnected, under Display, Multiple displays, minimizes them instead. In WindowLayout, a trigger on A monitor is disconnected can run Gather all windows to primary, and Restore windows after monitor changes, sleep and unlock under Automation puts everything back when the monitor returns.
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Clean up the main display afterwards
Ten windows on one screen can be a mess. Click Arrange windows now in Windows & Zones to place them into the zones of the main display's zone layout, or use Minimize other windows on this monitor to keep only the window you need for a screen-share. When you are done, restore your window profile and every window goes back to the monitor it came from, maximized windows included.
Frequently asked questions
Does gathering change the windows on the main display?
No. Windows already on the main display stay where they are. Only windows on other monitors are moved.
Can I gather to a monitor other than the main display?
The gather action targets the main display. To use another screen, make it the main display first, or move windows individually with Ctrl+Alt+Right and Left or the Move to menu.
Why did one window not move?
Windows does not let a normal program move a window that runs as administrator, and minimized windows are skipped. Restore the window first, or run both programs at the same privilege level.