How do I keep my external monitor as a primary and only on the login screen through GUI? There’s no way a modern OS can’t be set to a set of display settings for the login screen without coding or terminal commands.
Please add detail and context to your topic post to allow others a better understanding of your issue.
As it stands, it’s difficult to know what your actual problem is.
Regards.
Highly Recommended
Required Reading
Technical Resources
2 Likes
xfce:xfce4-settings:display [Xfce Docs]
Primary Display
Check this option to provide a hint to panels, docks and the desktop that the selected display is the primary display.
2 Likes
In the login screen, the OS doesn’t seem to remember that I turned off my laptop screen and have an external monitor. it defaults to the laptop monitor. it changes back to my settings when I log in but i can’t see what I’m doing when logging in if the laptop screen is closed.
Thank you for the clarity.
Did activating the Primary Display button/switch for your external monitor (as indicated by @nikgnomic) solve your issue?
If so, please mark their post as the Solution to this Support topic.
Regards.
check display number of external monitor
xrandr --listmonitors
laptop display is probably 0 and external monitor 1
Edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf and add the active-monitor parameter
active-monitor=1
1 Like
Making it my primary doesn’t help
How do I do this without code or terminal?
Some times there is no GUI.
Search the package manager for randr utilities. Be sure to eliminate custom packages by selecting the Repositories tab in the Add & Remove Software application
One of them may provide the point-and-click interface you seek.
I know a Linux command that could be copied from here and pasted into terminal to set the active-monitor, but I would not post it until the monitor number is verified
If It is possible to set the active-monitor in a GUI it would be in LightDM GTK+ Greeter settings but I do not have a multi-monitor system and I have not seen any information posted online about using a GUI
Firstly, “code” or “coding” isn’t required of any Linux user.
However, use of a terminal often is.
Indeed, it’s a fundamental requirement of a Linux user, though the trend with some distributions is to dumb things down; reducing some functionality to a series of clicks reminiscent of a Windows or MacOS environment.
Perhaps if you could explain how it is that you are apparently incapable of using a terminal application and keyboard, we might better understand your need.
This might seem an over simplification, but perhaps you could switch the roles of each screen (the laptop as primary, external as secondary) – or, better yet – open the laptop screen before you boot.
In the meantime, please provide system information as described (below) to help us identify other factors possibly contributing to your issue.
This will require the use of a terminal.
Regards.
System Information
While information from *-fetch type apps might be fine for someone wishing to buy your computer, for Support purposes it’s better to ask your system directly; 
Output of the inxi command with appropriate parameters will achieve this (naturally, formatted according to forum guidelines) and will generally be more useful for those wishing to help:
inxi --filter --verbosity=8
or the short form:
inxi -zv8
- inxi man pages (Arch Manual)
Be prepared to provide output from other commands whenever asked. It’s equally important to provide as much actionable information as possible in your first post, rather than simply indicating there is a problem.
1 Like
With GUI it is not possible with lightdm (login screen of xfce edition). If you don’t want to use the terminal or edit text files, then switch the monitors, but I guess that wouldn’t be feasible with a laptop screen…
Note that lightdm and xfce are 2 different programs with 2 different settings. Customizing lightdm needs editing the text file: /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf. More precise: you need to add a “display-setup-script” which usually contains the xrandr command.