Monday Productivity Pointers

- [Instructor] In this week's Monday productivity pointers I want to show you how to very quickly configure a second display in Windows and Mac. There are options to configure a second display in Windows settings, and system preferences on the Mac. But I want to show you a much quicker way to set up your second screen. First, of course, you should connect a second screen to your computer, then you can use the keyboard shortcut. On Windows, that keyboard shortcut is Windows + P, so hold the Windows key, tap the letter P, it will open up this panel where you can choose which screen configuration you want.

You can set it to only display content on your primary screen. If you're connected to a projector to get set up for a presentation, and you want to keep the projector screen blank for a moment, this is a great option. Duplicate will show the same image on both screens. If you want the presentation display to mirror your computer's main screen exactly, you should choose this. Extend shows two different images on the two screens, and this is good for a permanent desktop setup. You can have different application windows on each screen, and you can even drag windows from one screen to another.

This can also be really good for your PowerPoint presentation. PowerPoint is capable of displaying presenter notes on your computer's main screen, while showing the actual presentation on the second screen. Check out PowerPoint Tips Weekly to see a movie about how to set that up. And then there's the option for second screen only. That will disable the primary screen and only display content on the second screen. Some people like to connect their laptop to a larger screen, then set the laptop to the side, using the larger display on their desk.

So all of your main options are here, but you can actually switch between those settings with the same keyboard shortcut we used to open this panel. So I'm going to click outside of this to reset, now that panel is closed, and what I'm gonna do is hold the Windows key, tap P to open up that panel, I still have my finger down on the Windows key, and I can keep tapping P, each time I tap P, it highlights a different option, and when I let go, that's the option that will be activated. And of course, when you need to change your settings again, you can just use that same keyboard shortcut again.

I like that I can use this to get set up for a presentation, and I can even kill the second screen very quickly if I need to. Mac OS has something very similar. The keyboard shortcut is Command + F1 on the Mac. That will toggle between the mirror mode and the extend mode. On the Mac, you don't have the option to display on only one screen at a time, unless of course you disconnect the second screen. So these shortcuts are meant to give you quick access to the main configuration options. But for more options, including screen resolution and changing the position of the screens in relation to each other, you can still go to windows settings.

You can go to the Start menu, to the Settings button, then to System, and make sure Display is selected. Or if you're on a Mac, you can go to system preferences, then select the displays category. So if you scroll down on this page, you have a menu here, which gives you the same options that we just saw a moment ago, but of course that keyboard shortcut lets you go through them a lot quicker. Also, I want to point out, if you have this set up to extend the displays as I do, you can scroll back up to the top and there's an option to change the orientation of your screens.

So you can move these around and position them how you have them positioned on your desk, so that when you do drag a window from one screen to another, they drag properly. You can also click to select whichever screen you want to adjust, then scroll down and change the resolution for that screen. So if I select the other screen, scroll down, I have a different resolution setting for that screen. So you get more detailed controls here in settings or system preferences on the Mac, but most of the time, you can quickly switch modes using only that shortcut, just hold the Windows key and toggle through the options with the letter P.

And that does it for this week's Monday productivity pointers. We'll see you next time.