How to Stop Icon Clutter When Using Multiple Windows Monitors

Switching between your laptop screen and an external monitor on Windows 11 often causes desktop icons to shift to different locations or even jump to the wrong display. The following methods will directly address the causes of messy desktop icons when using multiple Windows monitors.

Select the main screen to use on Windows

If your home screen settings change, icons may move to the secondary screen or move around randomly. Setting the home screen to use will fix this.

Step 1:

Right-click on the desktop and select Display settings .

Step 2:

Switch to the new interface, click System > Display . Then, you will see the connected screens numbered in order.

Scroll down to Multiple displays and select the main display you use, check Make this my main display . Click Apply and restart your computer to confirm the settings.

Select resolution and display ratio

Also in the Display interface, for each monitor check the Display resolution and Scale settings . Set both monitors to the same resolution and scale if possible, or at least make sure the primary monitor uses the values you want. Also click Apply to make changes.

Turn off auto-arrange and align to Grid

Right-click an empty area on the desktop and select View. Then, uncheck Auto arrange icons and uncheck Align icons to grid for manual control.

Update graphics driver

Outdated or corrupted graphics drivers can cause icons to move around erratically when changing displays. Updating to the latest drivers will ensure better compatibility with Windows 11's multiple display management feature.

1. How to update driver for NVIDIA graphics card

Jessica Tanner

Update 12 July 2025