Windows moving windows when monitor goes to sleep

[m_c]

This has been an ongoing issue ever since I got a new second monitor.
Whenever the monitor loses it's signal, Windows (10 Pro) moves all the open windows that were on that screen, to the other screen, which is a bit of annoyance as it then means I need to drag all the windows back to the second screen.

I suspect the issue is that the new monitor completely drops the connection when it starts searching for other inputs, so the PC thinks the monitor has been disconnected.

Is there anyway to force Windows to keep the windows on the second screen?

 

[Mujja]

Is this an external monitor connected to a laptop or two monitors connected to a desktop?

Try making the second monitor primary so it wakes up first, if using two external displays.

May need to look in to a 3rd party app with better controls for window behaviour.

Windows 11 23H2 has these settings

 

[Orcvader]

Unfortunately it's due to a Displayport feature that causes things to move around when the monitors sleep, and Windows doesn't save the arrangement. There was a fix that was supposed to arrive for W10, but when it was eventually going to get released, W11 was announced so the fix was pushed into that instead: https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/28/...-apps-rearranging-sleep-resume-fix-directx-12

 

[m_c]

This is on my main desktop, with a twin monitor setup.

So as that Verge article mentions it being a DisplayPort issue, I think the second monitor is currently connected with the DisplayPort (to hdmi).
I may have to go and swap so I'm using the DVI and HDMI connectors, to see if that makes any difference.

This desktop also very occasionally randomly suffers from one monitor failing to work, which is usually cured by swapping to a different graphics card port, and I have never figured out what causes it, but it usually fixes itself after a few days. I do keep considering upgrading the graphics card (currently on a 1660 Super), but I don't really push the graphics that hard to really justify an upgrade just now :/

 

[PaulM]

This has always happened to me with DP monitors, I've tried a ton of native suggestions to fix it (i.e. monitor profiles, nvidia profiles, regedit modifications) but never found a way to make it work.

In the end I resorted to using 3rd party software to save/restore layout when it detects monitor disconnect/reconnect. Both MonitorKeep (https://github.com/hunkydoryrepair/MonitorKeeper) and DisplayFusion mostly work.

 

[d_brennen]

It's really annoying, especially with 3 screens