How to connect 4 monitors to a laptop on windows? (4 Steps)

There are many reasons people want to connect four monitors to a laptop. The most common cause is that they want to work with more screens and have more space on the screen. The most practical way is to use an external monitor and connect it through HDMI or DisplayPort. This article will show you how to connect four monitors to a laptop on windows.

How to connect 4 monitors to a laptop on windows

How to connect 4 monitors to a laptop on windows?

Multiple monitors are highly helpful for multitasking. Since many tech geeks require two or more monitors to perform various tasks at the same time, it is very important to know how to connect them.

Many techies use a laptop and it is easy to connect one external monitor to it. Usually, laptops have one or two display interfaces that can be used to connect one or two external monitors. But if you want to connect more, then you need a USB display adapter that enables you to transfer the video signals with a USB connection and an HDMI or DVI interface. With the help of this adapter and some video cables like HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI, or VGA, you will be able to add 4 monitors easily.

Here is a complete guide that helps you to create a multiple monitor setup with your laptop and enjoy a thorough multitasking experience with it.

Connecting 4 monitors to a laptop is made easy with technologies like DisplayLink which enables you to simply use your laptop’s USB interface and another display cable. Let us get into the procedure right away.

Multimonitor Setup in a Laptop

First, let us set up one or two monitors with the laptop and get to know how to increase the additional number of monitors. It is up to 4 Monitors or as many as you can.

Step 1: First, Setting up one or two external monitors

The laptop you have will definitely have one port to connect an external display which can be an HDMI or VGA or DVI or DisplayPort. Some workstations and gaming laptops will have more than one of these ports for two external monitors.

If you have a gaming laptop, you can have a better performance as well as there will be multiple ports for connectivity. But it is not a condition and you may have any kind of laptop to set up multiple monitors.

So, along with your laptop screen, you can easily connect one monitor with the additional display interface. This monitor will rely on the GPU of the laptop and provide you with high-quality video on your external monitor.

But for the other monitors, you may or may not have another display port. If you have an additional VGA or DVI port, you can just simply connect another monitor with it using an appropriate cable. This monitor will also rely on your laptop’s GPU.

If you don’t have any other display port, then you have to depend on the USB port of your laptop. While USB ports of the laptop are designed only for data transfer, media streaming cannot be supported by them.

Here is where the use of external USB display adapters comes into play. With these adapters, you can add two more monitors to your laptop which don’t rely on the GPU and make use of the adapters to transfer video signals.

Step 2: Setting up additional monitors with USB Display Adapter

The DisplayLink technology from Synaptics allows you to expand your graphics and visual workspace to multiple monitors or TVs.

There are several USB video adapters that connect with your PC through a USB cable and have one kind of display port.

You just have to buy one or two of these USB display adapters and connect them to the USB port of your laptop.

Check what type of display interface is available with your external monitor. For example, if your additional monitor has an HDMI port, then buy a USB display adapter that has an HDMI port in it.

So, after connecting the adapter to the USB port, you can simply take an HDMI cable and connect the monitor to the adapter.

The adapter will extend the video signal to your other monitor along with the additional monitors already set up with your laptop.

Similarly, you can add the fourth monitor using another USB port and USB display adapter. If you have a thunderbolt 3 or USB-C, they can also be used to connect external monitors. But only modern laptops and Macs have that provision.

Step 3: Setting up monitors using Docks

Apart from the USB adapter hack, you can also try using a workstation dock which enables you to add several displays.

Some workstation laptops from Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, etc. can be set up with multiple monitors using a docking system.

A docking station will allow you to set up two monitors easily along with the existing display ports on your laptop.

In this way also you can set up four monitors. But docking stations rely on the laptop’s GPU. Therefore, you should have a powerful workstation or a high-end gaming laptop to use this system.

Step 4: Setting up the Software for Multiple Monitors

Every laptop running Windows OS will handle and support multiple monitors connected to one laptop.

Press the Windows key and P key on your keyboard to open the Project menu from the settings. Here you will have an option called Extend.

This Extend option will keep the laptop display and simultaneously project the window to other monitors that are connected.

So, select the extend option and you will find the desktop window on all your monitors. Now you will be able to open multiple tabs and keep them on separate monitors for your multitasking purposes.

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How many monitors a laptop can handle?

The number of monitors a laptop can handle depends on the graphics card specification and how you are going to use the external monitors.

If you are performing a graphics-intensive task, then even a powerful laptop with a high-end graphics card can handle two external monitors with the help of the GPU.

As for using the DisplayLink technology, you need to buy high-end adapters that support 2K or 4K resolutions to get good graphics on your external displays too.

So, any laptop can handle up to two monitors without any issues. But if you are increasing the additional monitors, then it is better to have a workstation or a gaming laptop to get high performance.

Benefits of connecting 4 or more monitors to a laptop?

There are a lot of benefits in connecting multiple monitors to your laptop, especially for programmers, software developers, software testers, etc.

Usually, these people do a lot of multitasking and without a doubt, they at least require two monitors. But with more than two monitors, they will be able to allocate each monitor with a certain tab and easily organize their work without any hassle.

The major advantage of this setup is that you can organize your workflow more systematically and you will not miss out on any detail in your work.

Apart from tech geeks, people who work with stock markets will also be highly benefitted from this kind of setup. They can sort out various graphs and models onto the different monitors which will help them to analyze the market easily.

Anyone with heavy multitasking jobs will highly benefit from a multimonitor setup, especially with three or more monitors. Since these kinds of tasks are not graphic intensive, you will not have any kind of performance issues too.

Conclusion

Using this comprehensive guide, you will be able to easily set up 4 monitors with your laptop and enjoy a seamless multitasking experience. With a high-performing laptop and a display adapter, you will be able to perform graphic-intensive tasks too. So, start setting up your laptop right away.

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