Are you also having the same thoughts that I had when I wanted to play games but didn’t have a screen to do so? I thought about how I could use my laptop to play my Xbox, and when I searched about it, the answer was yes.
It was all about curiosity, and when I found this out, it seriously changed my gaming life. Now I can easily use my ps4 on my laptop without any issues. You can also use your computer as a primary monitor by attaching the game directly to the laptop.
After my successful encounter with this, I decided to share this valuable information with all of you.
Stay tuned to know about the answer to whether can you use a laptop as a monitor, applications, and ways you can easily use your laptop as a monitor.
So, let’s get started.
How to Use a Laptop as a Secondary Monitor
To utilize your laptop as a monitor for your pc or any other device, you need to perform some actions.
In this guide, we have written all the instructions or ways to use your laptop as a second monitor.
You can efficiently use the following five ways to use your laptop as a second monitor to either enhance your view or in case your computer cannot handle the burden alone.
1. Steam’s In-House Stream
The laptops are used as secondary monitors mostly by gamers because all laptops are not compatible with games. Some games can ruin laptops, such as The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Dying Light, etc.
You can play such games by using your laptop as a second monitor. By using Steam’s In-House Streaming Feature, you can easily do it. To try this feature, you will have to follow the following steps.
- Firstly, Open Steam on your desktop and your laptop.
- Log in on both devices using the same account. If you don’t have an account, you can go to their website and sign up to create a new account.
- From your laptop, click on the game available in the library that you want to play.
- Instead of hitting Play, hit the dropdown menu arrow next to Play and select “Stream from…”
- Then hit ‘Stream.’
Enjoy your game!
2. Space Desk
Space Desk provides an opportunity for all windows devices to share display screens. If you want to use your windows laptop as a secondary monitor, you need to do as described below:
- Download Space Desk Program on both devices. These devices can be your mobile phone or pc along with the necessary laptop.
- Log in to Space Desk using the device you want to use as the primary monitor. In this case, you will log into your Space Desk account.
- If you don’t have an account, sign up through the website and provide all the necessary information. Once you are done, visit the Space Desk and open the Download section.
- Download one of the two available Space Desk driver software depending on your device.
- Open your laptop to be used as a secondary monitor, perform the same action and download Space Desk viewer software.
- Open Space Desk Viewer Software, go to Files and open Connect.
- The software can scan your network and can easily find your primary device. Once you select the name of your primary device from the list, click Connect.
- Go to View and click on Fullscreen.
- Now both devices share the same screen, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc.
3. Windows 10
You can share the screen of your pc on any laptop having a windows 10 operating system. If you want to use your computer (windows 10) as a secondary monitor, read and act on the following points:
- Use a display cable to hook up your laptop to a monitor. You can use an HDMI to connect both devices. You cannot connect an HDMI cable to your mobile phone.
- Now, open Settings on your laptop and then click Display. Also, You can right-click on your desktop and click Display Settings.
- Once your laptop is connected to your monitor successfully, you should see two or more numbered screens under the Select and Rearrange Displays section.
- If not, click Detect to force Windows to search for another display.
- To ensure which screen is which, click Identify, and a number will appear to signify each display.
- You can also reset your displays to suit your preference. Make sure to click Apply once you’re done.
- Scroll down to Multiple displays and click the dropdown.
- Now you can see an option among many options Extend These Displays.
- Select it to expand your display across various screens, then tick which screen you want to make as your primary display.
4. Miracast
Miracast also helps if you want to connect your laptop to a pc for sharing screens and other functions. It is a great and one of the most popular ways people share their phone’s screen on the tv or the laptop.
- To use your laptop’s secondary screen by using miracast, follow the steps discussed below.
- Press on the start menu and go to settings (the gear icon). Now, press on the System Icon.
- Then click on the Projecting to This PC option in the menu to the left.
- Make sure to change the first dropdown menu to Available (you have two different options).
- Configure the other settings according to your desires.
- When finished, go to the main PC that you want to use as a primary monitor.
- To use your laptop as a primary screen by using miracast, follow the steps discussed below.
- Click on the Notifications or Action center icon in the right lower corner of the taskbar. Then click connect.
- Then, select the “laptop you want to connect to appears”.
- Now, Go back to your laptop and accept the connection.
- Now on your main PC, right-click on your desktop and select Display Settings.
- From the Display menu, make sure that you have chosen to Extend Desktop to This Display under the Multiple Displays sections.
- Finally, rearrange your desktop and laptop displays by dragging and dropping the display icons at the top of the Display Settings screen.
5. TeamViewer
If you want to connect your laptop to your phone or any other device remotely, you can use the TeamViewer app.
Thousands of people widely use it to view all the activities on their laptop screens on their phones.
You can remotely control all the features of the laptop, including the keyboard and mouse. You will be using your pc to have complete control over the monitor.
It is less like using the laptop as a monitor, but you can add it to the list.
- Go to the TeamViewer website and download TeamViewer on both your laptop and your desktop. The TeamViewer is a free application, so you won’t have to worry about paying any fees to use it.
- After downloading TeamViewer, install it on both of your systems. Now create an id on one of the devices. In this case, you will create an id on your desktop.
- On your laptop, type in your desktop computer’s ID in the Partner ID space and click Connect.
- Now, it will ask you for your desktop’s password, enter it, and hit Log in.
- Now you’ll be able to control your desktop from your laptop.
It is a highly efficient way and one of the most successful and suitable. You can control your laptop completely from your other device now. You can even use the laptop’s camera to see what’s happening in the surrounding.
Can you use a laptop as a monitor for ps4?
Yes, you can. It is not difficult to plug and play games using your laptop as the primary screen for your Ps4. You might have to do some additional settings, but you will surely be able to play your ps4 on the laptop.
Can you use a laptop as a monitor for Xbox one?
As discussed earlier, you can use your laptop as a monitor for your ps4; then, indeed, you can use it for Xbox one and many other gaming consoles.
To use your laptop as a monitor, you will require an HDMI cable connected to both your gaming console or the pc and on the laptop.
It will duplicate the screen and will do everything you are doing on the other screen or the console.
Conclusion
Now you know how you can easily use your laptop as a primary or secondary screen, so why wait? Go and test these out and see which one works best for you.
I have done my job here.
And I hope you have got a complete idea about the ways. If you still feel stuck at any point about, can you use a laptop as a monitor, feel free to comment, and I will personally answer all your queries?
