With a basic understanding of your laptop’s system, you can use it as a secondary monitor. Using your laptop in this way can help you boost your productivity at work or improve your interaction when playing games.

Whatever your reason for wanting to set up a multi-monitor setup, there are several ways you can do it properly.

How to Use a Laptop as a Second Monitor

Multi-monitor systems are extremely common. You might have seen such a set up in your doctor’s office, for example. They may have used one screen for diagnoses and the other for notes.

There are numerous ways to create multi-monitor systems. You can either use a built-in Windows function or download a 3rd party software from the internet.

In this guide, we discuss how to use your laptop as a second monitor using five different ways. They are:

• Using Miracast on Windows Systems
• Using a Third-Party program like Space Desk
• Using Remote Connection
• Using a KVM Software
• Using Steam’s In-Home Streaming

The Miracast feature is a built-in application available in all the latest versions of the Microsoft Windows Operating System. To use it to connect your laptop as a monitor, you need to set it up first. Follow the following steps:

On Your Laptop

• Go to Start Menu and select the gear icon (Settings)
• Next, click on the System Icon
• From there, find the Projecting to this PC option on the left menu and click on it.
• There are two different options on the first drop-down menu. Change it to Available Everywhere. This permits other objects to project on your laptop.
• Configure other necessary settings to fit your preferences

Your laptop is now set up to be compatible with your primary monitor. Now, you need to set up the PC you're going to connect to your laptop.

On the Main PC

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• On your Task Bar, click on Notifications/Action enter icon 
• Then, click the Connect option on the bottom of the slide-out Notifications menu. Your PC will begin to search for an available device to which to connect.
• Select your laptop name once it appears on the screen
• Go back to your laptop and accept the request for connection.
• Next, Right-click on your PC’s desktop and select Display Settings
• On the Display menu, under Multiple Displays, choose the option “Extend desktop to this display”.
• Drag and drop the icons on your PC’s screen to rearrange all your displays appropriately

With these steps, you can now use your second monitor to view multiple windows and perform various actions at the same time.

Sometimes, Miracast may fail to work because of compatibility problems. The second method of how to use a laptop as a second monitor is to use a third-party tool like Space Desk. Running this software may require specific system requirements, such as Windows 10, 8.1, or 7.

Download the Space Desk Viewer program to your laptop and the Space Desk Drive program to your main PC.

Next, follow the following steps:

• Install the software on both systems and restart them

• Connect your laptop and main PC to the same Wi-Fi or LAN network

• Launch the application on your laptop. It should now be able to detect your PC automatically

• Click connect on your PC’s name

Once you complete these steps, your laptop is connected to your main PC.

A third option is to remotely connect to your PC from your laptop. It is ideal for people who wish to access their main PC through their laptops. To achieve this, you can use a third-party application like TeamViewer.

Note, however, that apart from letting you use your laptop as a monitor, this method gives you complete control over your PC.

To Remotely Connect Your Laptop to Your Desktop PC:

• Download the TeamViewer program to both your laptop and your PC

• Install it on both systems and note the TeamViewer ID for your PC

• Launch TeamViewer on your laptop

• Type the ID into the Partner ID on your laptop and click Connect

• You will be prompted to enter your PC’s password it, do it and click Log On

You can now access your desktop displays from your laptop.

Lastly, you can also use KVM software to turn your laptop into a second monitor. The software, which is a replacement of the KVM switch, forms a bridge between your PC and laptop through the local network.

There are several KVM software programs available for installation. They include Input Director, Mouse Without Borders, ShareMouse, and Synergy, which requires a paid license.

Download a program then:

• Run the Master installer on your PC, and the Slave installer on your laptop

• Configure the location of your laptop to your primary monitor through your laptop's network IP address, or the hostname provided

Your laptop is now a second monitor for your desktop.

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Using Steam’s In-Home Streaming is gaming specific. You can use it to play games from your PC on your laptop. This method allows you amazing flexibility as you can project the displays and controls from any location in your house or office.

To set it up:

• Open Steam on your laptop and PC, then log in with the same account

• Click on the game you wish to play on your laptop

• Select the ‘Stream from’ option the drop-down menu arrow next to Play

• Click Stream

Your laptop is now a secondary monitor directly streaming your game from your PC.

Learning how to use a laptop as a second monitor has tons of benefits and is easy to achieve. Before opting for any of the above methods, make sure your PC and laptop are compatible and allow quality secondary display.

Also, check your system requirements and adjust settings that may prevent connection.