Remote Desktop Multiple Monitors Setup in Windows 10 & 11

The remote desktop connection feature in windows allows you to remotely connect to a computer and use it as if it is your local computer. It’s especially handy for remote work, system administration, and hybrid setups where you want to use dual monitors or multi-monitor setups over RDP.

This article guides you on how to use dual monitors with Remote Desktop connection on Windows 10, and also covers Remote Desktop multiple monitors in Windows 10 and Windows 11. As more users upgrade to Windows 11, we’ll also show you the updated process to use Remote Desktop dual monitors in Windows 11.

This can be useful for lots of reasons, but if you are a system administrator and would like to setup remote desktop dual monitors, it is very easy (Depending on the OS on the Host and Client PC).

Remote Desktop on Windows 11 (What’s Changed in 2025)

The process to enable Remote Desktop on Windows 11 computers is slightly different, especially due to UI updates. But don’t worry — if you’re trying to do a remote desktop dual monitor setup on Windows 11, this guide will work too.

• In Windows 11, you can still use the classic Remote Desktop Connection app (mstsc) or the Remote Desktop app from the Microsoft Store.
• The Settings app in Windows 11 now shows a clearer toggle for enabling multiple displays within RDP sessions.
• Windows Copilot (built-in AI) can even suggest screen snapping layouts across monitors.

Prerequisites for Multi-Monitor Connection Setup

One of the quickest ways to remote desktop with multiple monitors in Windows 11 or Windows 10 is to select the “Use all my monitors” option before you make a connection. For more advanced setup and customization, this guide goes in much more detail.

I use iPad as second monitor on windows wirelessly as my third monitor and can confirm this works on that setup as well.

Before you can remote desktop using multiple monitors on windows, there are a few things that come into play for you to be able to use dual monitors in RDP sessions on Windows 10. The same steps apply to Windows 11. Whether you’re using the classic Remote Desktop Connection (mstsc) or the newer Microsoft Remote Desktop app, enabling multi-monitor support works the same way in both versions.

You want to make sure that Windows is detecting your second screen, if it’s just black or gives you the prompt “didn’t detect another display”, you will have to troubleshoot that first. This issue is one of the most common causes of “RDP multiple monitors not working,” especially in Windows 11 after an update or driver install.

So, I am assuming that you have the following setup:

• You have a computer in a remote location that has two monitors connected to it.
• Have a dual monitor setup at home (or wherever you are trying to connect to the remote computer from).
• You are trying to remotely connect to the remote computer using the RDP client and use both of your monitors as you would on your local computer.
• If your scenario is different reach out to me in the comments.

You can watch the step by step tutorial on our YouTube channel – Remote desktop guide on YT.

1. Remote Desktop Multiple Monitors In Windows 10 and Windows 11

Once you are sure that the remote computer supports multiple monitors in an RDP connection, let’s see how it is done.

Using this method you will use two monitors for the remote desktop session. The remote session will automatically expand to both of your screens.

To start remote desktop with multiple monitors in windows 10, do the following:

1. Go to “Start” or press the Windows key on your keyboard.
2. Search for “RDS” or simply type in “Remote Desktop Connection”.
   
3. Hit the enter key and this will take you to the remote desktop connection application.
4. Enter the computer’s name or the IP address, but before you press the “Connect” button, click on the “Show Options” button.
5. Now a new window opens up with a bunch of different options like General, Display, Local Resources, Experience, Advanced.
6. Click on the “Display” tab and tick the “Use all my monitors for the remote session”.
7. Now if you connect to the pc and go full screen, this will use both of your computer’s monitors.
   

   

So, that’s how you can remote desktop dual monitor on Windows 10 or with all the monitors available.

If you are not able to remote desktop span 2 monitors with this trick, please check if you need to update your display drivers as that might be a conflict. I sometime remote desktop into ubuntu using my dual monitors and have to adjust a bit.

I mostly use the MSTSC shortcut from Windows’s Run. If you quickly want to fire up RDP application and are a keyboard shortcut ninja like me, do the following:

1. Hit Windows + R key on the keyboard. This brings up the run application
2. Type MSTSC and hit Enter. This brings up the Remoted Desktop Connection window.
3. From there you follow the same steps I mentioned earlier.

mstsc - Just opens the regular Remote Desktop Connection window with your last settings.

mstsc /multimon - Opens the same window but automatically enables multi-monitor support when you connect. No need to tick the box manually.

mstsc /span - Stretches your remote session across all monitors like one giant screen. Works, but scaling and taskbar placement can get weird.

1.1 Save Your Multi-Monitor RDP Profile

Want to avoid re-setting everything each time?

• Open Remote Desktop Connection
• Enter PC name or IP
• Click Show Options
• Go to Display tab → Check Use all my monitors
• Go to General tab → Click Save As…
• Name it something like dual-monitor-rdp.rdp and save it to Desktop

Now just double-click that file every time.

2. Using the Windows App (Prev. Microsoft Remote Desktop App)

If you’re using Windows 11, you may have come across the new Windows App, which has replaced the old “Microsoft Remote Desktop” app from the Microsoft Store.

🔒 Important:
This app is primarily designed for business or school use, and requires a Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) work or school account to log in.
If you’re just trying to connect to a regular home or office PC using an IP address, this app isn’t the right choice — stick with the classic mstsc method instead.

Who Should Use the Windows App?

Use this app only if:

• You’ve been assigned a Windows 365 Cloud PC or Azure Virtual Desktop
• Your organization uses Microsoft Entra ID / Azure Active Directory
• You’re part of a managed enterprise setup (e.g., school, work IT)

If that’s not you, skip this section — the classic method below is faster, simpler, and doesn’t require any special login.

How to Enable Dual Monitors in the Windows App

If you’re eligible and using the Windows App:

• Open the Windows App (downloaded from the Store)
• Sign in with your work or school account
• Click the three dots … next to your assigned PC or workspace
• Click Edit
• Scroll to Display Settings
• Toggle Use all monitors
• Click Save and connect

This will launch your Cloud PC or AVD workspace across all available monitors.

Summary

• For home/office RDP use? Use mstsc
• For managed Cloud PCs or enterprise logins? Use the Windows App
• If you’re not sure what to use — stick with mstsc (Remote Desktop Connection)

3. Remote Desktop Multiple Monitors In Windows 10: 3+ Monitors

What to do if you have more than two monitors and would like to manage your workspace differently? There are applications that might help you achieve this, but with the trick mentioned below, you might want to uninstall that clanky windows 10 app you’ve been using.

You can use this trick to alter your remote desktop dual monitor setup and choose which screen should span full screen with remote connection.

If you have a triple monitor setup and only want to use two monitors for remote desktop and the third one for your local system. That is easily achievable as well. If you would like to learn how to setup dual monitors in windows 10 locally, that process is a little different. I use this to remote desktop full screen one monitor while I use the other for accessing my local files etc.

You can also alter the setting if you have a dual monitor setup. I personally use my second monitor for the remote desktop connection and leave the main monitor for my local PC. You can use this to remote desktop only one screen and use the other locally.

Before we start to change the settings as we prefer, we need to know how your system detects these monitors.

1. Go to Start and type “RUN” or hit the “Windows” + “R” key together. This will bring up the Run application
2. Type in mstsc /l and hit enter
3. You will see a dialog box with all the monitors connected to the system represented by a number
   

   

   
   In the above screenshot, 0 is my main monitor, and 3 is my second monitor.
4. Right-click on the desktop and open display settings.

This part might be tricky if you have more than two monitors. We now will try to exactly match the numbers to which monitor they represent.

Lowest number on the RDP = Lowest number on the display settings.

Let me explain.

In the screenshot above 0 is 1, and 3 is 2.

Once this is sorted, we can begin arranging the remote desktop settings the way you prefer.

3.1 Remote Desktop Use 2 of 3 Monitors

If you have more than two monitors and setup remote desktop to use 2 of 3 monitors and the rest for local use, let’s see how it’s done.

Running multiple monitors on a system is quite a heavy task, and if your system feels a bit laggy you might want to look into upgrading the CPU or make sure there are no CPU intensive applications running in the background.

1. Open the notepad application. Open the start menu and type in “notepad”
2. File open > Select all file types > Open the remote desktop connection profile we saved in previous steps
3. This opens the file and you can see a bunch of text. Scroll to the top and type in the following command.

selectedmonitors:s:a,b,c

This should be added to the top of the file and not towards the bottom.

a,b,c – Depending on which monitors you would like to use for the remote desktop connection, replace these with the numbers for the monitors that we found using the mstsc /l command.

That is how to remote desktop multiple monitors in Windows 10 and select specific monitors that you would like to use for the Remote desktop connection.

This opens up a variety of ways you can use the Remote desktop client. especially if you have three or more monitors, you can use two for RDP and others for playing YouTube videos or choosing songs from Spotify.

4. Limitations – Remote Desktop Dual Monitors

Windows version on the remote client: The remote computer you are trying to connect and use multiple monitors on, should have the right version of windows that supports dual monitor setup on a remote session.

Yes, not all windows support this feature. There are ways to enable remote desktop in Windows 10 Home but I would not advise that for everyone. That’s for users that understand the risk that comes with enabling and using remote desktop on a machine that should not.

I have made a chart below that will help you decide if you are able to do so on the remote computer you are trying to connect.

4.1 Which version of windows supports remote desktop dual monitors

Windows Edition	Supports Multi-Monitor Host?
Windows 10 Home	❌ No (client only)
Windows 10 Pro	✅ Yes
Windows 11 Home	❌ No
Windows 11 Pro	✅ Yes
Windows Enterprise	✅ Yes
Azure Virtual Desktop	✅ Yes
Windows 365 Cloud PC	✅ Yes

If you’re on Home edition and still want dual-screen RDP, try AnyDesk or Chrome Remote Desktop — they work well but have fewer controls than RDP.

FAQs: Remote Desktop Dual Monitor & Multi-Monitor (2025)