One of the benefits of having a dual monitor setup is you can customize each monitor’s wallpaper to display different images. By default, your Windows PC or Mac will display the same image across all of your screens, but changing this can be done in a few simple steps.

What to Know

  • On Windows: Settings > Personalization > Background and right-click images under Choose Your Picture to assign to different monitors.On Mac: System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver and choose the wallpaper in the corresponding window.

Set up Dual Monitor Wallpaper on Windows 10

Setting unique backgrounds on your monitors isn’t as intuitive as it should be on Windows 10, but it’s pretty straightforward once you know where to look.

  • Open Settings from the Windows taskbar.
  • Click Personalization. Alternatively, right-click on your desktop and select Personalization from the drop-down menu.
  • Select Background.
  • Under Choose Your Picture, right-click an image and select which monitor you’d like it to display on. In this example, we’ll choose Set for monitor 1.
  • Your primary monitor is labeled Monitor 1, so select this option if you want a particular wallpaper for your main display. If you have more than one additional monitor, you may have to play around with the settings to get images to display on the correct monitor.

Choose a Fit

We recommend you select images with the same resolution for your monitors to avoid distortions. However, you can customize how your wallpapers display by using the Choose a Fit drop-down menu.

Open Settings from the Windows taskbar.

Click Personalization. Alternatively, right-click on your desktop and select Personalization from the drop-down menu.

Select Background.

Under Choose Your Picture, right-click an image and select which monitor you’d like it to display on. In this example, we’ll choose Set for monitor 1.

Your primary monitor is labeled Monitor 1, so select this option if you want a particular wallpaper for your main display. If you have more than one additional monitor, you may have to play around with the settings to get images to display on the correct monitor.

  • Fit: Enlarges or shrinks your image vertically.Fill fit: Enlarges or shrinks your image horizontally. This option will likely stretch smaller images.Center fit: Centers your wallpaper on the screen. If the image is smaller than your screen resolution, it will display with a border.Stretch fit: Stretches the image to fill your screen but may distort it.Tile: Displays your image in multiple tiles across your screen. Best used for small pictures.Span: Displays one image across all of your monitors. Best used for panoramic images with large resolutions.

Set up Dual Monitor Wallpaper on Mac

If you run a multiple-monitor setup on your Mac, follow these steps to set up different wallpapers:

  • Click the Apple Menu in the upper-left corner of the screen and select System Preferences.
  • Click Desktop & Screen Saver.
  • macOS automatically detects how many monitors you have set up and will open a control window for each one.
  • Set your primary monitor’s wallpaper under the Desktop & Screen Saver window.
  • To change the wallpaper on your other monitors, click the Secondary Desktop window and select a desktop background. Repeat this step for additional monitors.
  • Click back to the Desktop & Screen Saver window and close it to save changes.

Click the Apple Menu in the upper-left corner of the screen and select System Preferences.

Click Desktop & Screen Saver.

macOS automatically detects how many monitors you have set up and will open a control window for each one.

Set your primary monitor’s wallpaper under the Desktop & Screen Saver window.

To change the wallpaper on your other monitors, click the Secondary Desktop window and select a desktop background. Repeat this step for additional monitors.

Click back to the Desktop & Screen Saver window and close it to save changes.

Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day