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    <title><![CDATA[Annoying external monitor issues]]></title>
    <link>https://linlog.skepticats.com/entries/2026/07/annoying-external-monitor-issues.php</link>
    <description><![CDATA[<p>My work laptop has this annoying issue where sometimes the external monitors don't disconnect when I unplug them.&nbsp; I have two external monitors that I connect to it via a USB-C hub.&nbsp; It works pretty well most of the time, but every now and then it will lose the external monitors.&nbsp; This comes in two flavors:</p>
<ol>
<li>The hub is plugged in, but the monitors disconnect.</li>
<li>I've unplugged the hub, but Windows still thinks the monitors are connected.</li>
</ol>
<p>Case 1 is simple enough to deal with - just unplug the hub, wait a few seconds until I hear the notification for the device being unplugged, and then plug it back in.</p>
<p>The second case is kind of annoying.&nbsp; Because Windows still thinks the monitors are attached, it doesn't reposition any windows.&nbsp; That means I'll be using just my laptop screen, but most of my work is sitting off-screen on non-existent monitors.&nbsp; I've tried explicitly disconnecting the monitors through the display settings, but it doesn't work - literally nothing changes and Windows still thinks they're connected.</p>
<p>The only solution I've found for this is manually moving the windows.&nbsp; In the old days, you could just right-click the task bar icon and get a menu with the "move" item in it.&nbsp; But that's gone now.&nbsp; Instead, you have to select the window in the task bar to make it active, then press "Alt+Space, M" to move the window and then use the arrow keys and mouse to get it on the screen.&nbsp; <em>Unless it's maximized</em>, in which case "move" isn't available.&nbsp; For that case, you have to do "Alt+Space, R" to restore it and <em>then</em> press "Alt+Space, M" to move it.</p>
<p>That last part I didn't actually realize until just now, when this happened and I was trying to figure out why the "move" trick only worked for some of the windows.&nbsp; Sigh....</p>]]></description>
    <lastBuildDate>2026-07-16T23:20:50+00:00</lastBuildDate>
    <managingEditor>pageer@skepticats.com (Peter Geer)</managingEditor>
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