By: Joe Vassalotti, Systems Engineer
It’s very convenient to have your virtual desktop spread across all monitors, if you have multiple monitors connected, but there are times that you would like to have a view of your local desktop at the same time.
Perhaps you are joining an online meeting or needing to connect to a third-party server for work -- in situations like these, it is easier to move the virtual desktop off one of the monitors rather than minimizing and maximizing back and forth to see the virtual desktop and local desktop.
While in the virtual desktop, you can click the top toolbar of your screen to see the display options. If you are already in full screen mode but not spread across two monitors, for example, you will see and want to select the Window option. You can then move the virtual desktop window to touch both monitors and then select the Full Screen option from the toolbar. This will then display the virtual desktop across both monitors.
If you are using more than two monitors, you will likely need to drag your mouse to the corner/side of the virtual desktop until you see your curser change to a double-sided arrow. Once you see that, drag the virtual desktop to touch any of the monitors for the desktop to launch on the desired monitors.
And then if you find yourself needing to reference a program or needing to access something outside of the virtual desktop, you’ll want to click the toolbar tab again, select Window and then drag the virtual desktop to touch only the screen(s) that you would like it be appear on. This option makes it simpler to see your work inside the virtual desktop at the same time as accessing what is needed on your local desktop.
After making the virtual desktop adjustments, you may notice that Outlook, for example, is launching full screen across the multiple monitors rather than on one of the monitors. This can be easily corrected by disconnecting your session – also available from the toolbar in the virtual desktop – and then reconnecting your virtual desktop session.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if you are using a laptop at your office and have multiple monitors set up, but take the laptop home and use less monitors while working in the virtual desktop, you’ll likely find yourself needing to do these steps when reconnecting to the work configuration.