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On Windows 10, when I move a window using Win+Right Arrow, I'd like to change the order in which it moves to each monitor. Right now I have a 2x2 arrangement of monitors and it always visits them in this order when moving to the right (right arrow key):

┌───┬───┐
│ 2 │ 4 │
├───┼───┤
│ 1*│ 3 │
└───┴───┘

(1* is my primary)

This happens regardless of how the monitors are numbered, or the order in which they are connected. I've tried Windows 10 - Change Display Numbers / Identity but renumbering my displays does not seem to affect the order in which the displays are visited. It seems to be a byproduct of the 2x2 layout. I've tried physically moving and re-cabling the monitors, and carefully deleting the registry entries and reconnecting them in various orders between reboots but those approaches don't affect the order. At the end of the day, once my monitors are arranged on the desktop according to the picture (regardless of how they are numbered) Windows always wants to make windows visit my monitors in the order: Bottom-Left, Top-Left, Bottom-Right, Top-Right. This is not the order that makes sense to me and not the order I want.

I'd like them to be visited in this order:

┌───┬───┐
│ 3 │ 4 │
├───┼───┤
│ 1*│ 2 │
└───┴───┘

This way, when I go "right" from 1, I expect it should move to "to the right" to monitor 2. And when I go "right" from 3, I expect it should go "to the right" to monitor 4.

Right now, when I press "right arrow", the window moves "up" (to the monitor that is arranged above it) even though there is a monitor to the right that makes more sense for it to go to, and that's hugely distracting and annoying for me.

How can I change the order in which monitors are visited to match my preference?

6
  • Do you mean Win-SHIFT-Arrow? If so I think that's impossible because it always moves it to the right when using the right key and moving up comes before moving right because if not it won't get there. But you can use Penteract Cursor Jumper (on the windows store) to send a window directly to a specific screen. (But that is a 3rd party app and I don't know if you're looking for that)
    – User42
    Apr 25, 2022 at 17:17
  • @User42 Well, I suppose technically I'm interested just in the order that it eventually moves to a new monitor whether you use the SHIFT key or repeatedly press just Win-Arrow is irrelevant. And what you say is not true about moving "to the right" because if you have two monitors stacked on top of each other (A) above (B) then there is nothing "to the right". And no, I'm not looking for the cursor jumper tool, I'm looking to 1) understand the algorithm for how it selects monitors, and 2) control the parameters of that algorithm to customize (or improve) the order.
    – Wyck
    Apr 25, 2022 at 17:25
  • I see. By "going to the right" I meant it will transverse all screens from left to right without skipping a screen. If it would move from bottom left to bottom right, it would be skipping the top-left screen. But I understand that you want to change the order the shortcut keys work. Sorry, I don't know how to do that. (And I don't think it's possible, but I've been wrong before)
    – User42
    Apr 25, 2022 at 17:32
  • This post solved the problem by adding a bit of space between the two upper squares. There are some negative aspects to this solution, but see if it's useful for you.
    – harrymc
    Sep 8, 2022 at 16:06
  • @harrymc, no I have not abandoned. I appreciate your comment. But I cannot add space in such a way as to get the order I want. It makes things misalign too.
    – Wyck
    Sep 12, 2022 at 19:15

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