Xfce Forum

jerry1970

Member

Registered: 2017-06-27

Posts: 24

what does primary display mean?

When attaching an external display, I have my laptop as the primary display. The layout is that my external display is above the laptop.

Even when I have the laptop as primary display, the login dialog and all previously opened programs open up on the external display. This is not a big deal, but it made me wonder what the "Primary Display" setting is used for.

Cheers,
Jerry

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,485

Re: what does primary display mean?

I think its important to note that the "login dialog" is not a component of Xfce in that Xfce does not ship one. In which case, depending on the display manager (login dialog) that you are using, you would need to investigate the issue with those developers.

However, the "all previously opened programs open up on the external display" sounds like it might be an Xfce issue. Were they on the external display when you last shut down and saved your session?

As for the purpose of "Primary Display" in Xfce, from https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-settings/display:

Primary Display

Check this option to provide a hint to panels, docks and the desktop that the selected display is the primary display.

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