Guides
Restore window positions after a monitor disconnects or you undock
Laptop users with a docking station know the routine: unplug for a meeting, come back, dock again, and every window is crammed onto the laptop screen. The same happens when a monitor cable is loose, a KVM switch flips, or a TV on HDMI is turned off. Windows does try to help, but the result depends on your Windows version and on how the monitors reconnect. Here is how the built-in behavior works and how to make windows return to the right screens every time with DisplayForge.
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See what Windows does when a monitor disappears
When a monitor is removed, Windows moves its windows to a remaining screen. Windows 11 adds two switches under Settings, System, Display, Multiple displays: “Remember window locations based on monitor connection”, which tries to move windows back when the monitor returns, and “Minimize windows when a monitor is disconnected”, which minimizes them instead of moving them. On Windows 10 there are no such switches. Even on Windows 11 the result can be unreliable when monitors come back in a different order, when the dock assigns new Display numbers, or when windows were maximized.
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Save a profile for your docked setup
With the dock connected, arrange your windows across all monitors, open Window Profiles in DisplayForge and click Save current, for example as Docked. Then open Profile options and turn on Bind to this monitor setup and Apply automatically when this setup connects. DisplayForge records each monitor by its device path and EDID model, so it recognizes your screens even when Windows renumbers them. When you dock again, it waits a couple of seconds for the monitor setup to settle and then restores the Docked profile on its own.
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Add a second profile for the laptop alone
Undock, arrange the windows the way you like them on the laptop screen and save another profile, for example Laptop, with the same two options turned on. Now each setup has its own layout: undocking applies the Laptop profile, docking applies the Docked profile. If you prefer not to manage profiles, the automation switch Restore windows after monitor changes, sleep and unlock keeps a snapshot for every monitor setup and restores the right one when that setup reappears.
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Decide where windows from a missing monitor go
Sometimes only some of your monitors come back, for example at a hot desk with one screen instead of two. In Profile options, If a monitor is missing lets you choose Nearest monitor, Main display or a specific monitor. Windows that belonged to the absent screen are scaled onto that display instead of being dropped in a random place. Before you rely on it, click Preview restore: the map shows which windows will move, which are already in place and which apps are not running.
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Automate more with triggers
Open Triggers to go further. With the trigger A monitor is connected you can choose Restore window profile, Apply display profile to set resolution, refresh rate and the main monitor, or set brightness. A matching trigger for A monitor is disconnected can tidy up when you leave. Display profiles and window profiles work well together: the display profile fixes the arrangement of the screens, then the window profile puts every window on them.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Windows renumber my monitors after I reconnect?
Display numbers depend on the order in which the graphics driver detects the screens, and that order can change after undocking, sleep or a driver restart. DisplayForge stores monitors by device identity and model, so renumbering does not break your profiles.
Does it still work if I plug the dock into a different port?
In most cases, yes. If the device path changes, DisplayForge matches monitors by EDID model and resolution, then by position. Identical monitors are told apart by where they sit in the arrangement.
I use different docks at home and at the office. Is that a problem?
No. Save one profile per desk and bind each one to its monitor setup. DisplayForge applies whichever profile matches the screens that are connected.