• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
How2forU

How2forU

easy answers for you and me

  • Laptop & PC
  • Smartphone & Tablet
  • Office
  • Apps & Software
  • Glossary
  • Blog
  • Hobby
Home » How to connect a laptop to a monitor

How to connect a laptop to a monitor

12/08/2020 by Graham Bell

Windows and Mac users can connect laptop to monitor such as an LCD monitor, projector, or TV. The external display can extend the viewing area, offering you more room for applications, or mirror your laptop screen.

How to connect a laptop to a monitor: 5 simple steps

Time needed: 2 minutes.

You can connect your laptop to your monitor in five simple steps

  1. Check for compatibility

    Make sure your external monitor and your laptop are compatible. Check the manual to make sure you are using the correct cable.

  2. Turn off your laptop

    It isn’t required, but we recommend turning off the laptop ahead of attempting the connection. Even though new generation laptops are less probable to have a loss of data or a hard disk crash, you should always be careful.

  3. Plug in the cable

    Plug the cable into your laptop and monitor and ensure it fits correctly.

  4. Turn on the laptop

    Switch the laptop back on. There is a notification button on the keyboard featuring a monitor icon on certain laptop types. Press it to shift to the exterior monitor. The button typically belongs to the F# key, or at times it might even be your Fn key.

  5. Connection successful

    On various laptops, the external monitor should be found automatically, and you do not have to switch on anything.

Ways to connect monitor without HDMI

If your laptop does not have an HDMI or DisplayPort you can use USB- or VGA-Adapters or Chromecast.

Your Laptop has HDMI, USB and a VGA Ports.
There are various options how to connect your laptop to the monitor (c) Pixabay/Public Domain Pictures

USB Adapters

USB graphics adapters permit you to add an extra monitor to your Mac or PC effortlessly. You can employ your current video display unit, connect it to the USB graphics adapter, after installing DisplayLink software and insert it into whichever USB port. Up to six extra monitors can be added to your PC or four more monitors to the Mac, Ubuntu, or Chromebook installation – you only require a single USB graphics adapter for every monitor you wish to include.

VGA

For VGA only monitors, you can employ an HDMI-to-VGA adapter. Remember that VGA doesn’t support audio. Thus you need to find another method to get out the sound. Your TV may have an analogue audio input linked with one of your HDMI ports. If that’s the case, you can utilize a 3.5mm male-to-male audio cord to connect the laptop’s sound system to the TV’s speakers.

You will have to employ other speakers if it does not. If you got a separate receiver inside the room, connect the audio of your laptop to that. Or else, consider purchasing some computer speakers.

Chromecast Screen Casting

Google’s low-priced Chromecast provides an easy means to have your computer’s display onto the monitor devoid of any cords. Whereas Chromecast is usually employed to “cast” content from an exact app or web page to a monitor, you can as well cast a precise browser tab. Not just that, still, the Chromecast browser extension as well permits you cast the computer’s full desktop to your Chromecast, plus thus view it on your monitor/TV.

A couple of factors determine how great this method functions depending on: how strong the Wi-Fi signal you receive, how dependable that Wi-Fi signal is and how dominant the PC is. Casting the screen over Wi-Fi will work as flawlessly as an HDMI cable; however, it is perhaps amongst the most hassle-free method to do wireless mirroring from whichever proximate desktop computer or laptop.

Written by Graham Bell

You might be also interested in:

Related Posts:

  • Laptop vs desktop: An overview of their prosLaptop vs desktop: An overview of their pros
  • How to connect a wireless printer to your computerHow to connect a wireless printer to your computer

Filed Under: Laptop & PC Tagged With: Google, monitor

Tags

4G 5G Alexa Android app Apple backup Covid-19 DIY documents e-mail Excel Gmail Google Halloween health Instagram iOS iPad iPhone Mac messages messenger Microsoft Office monitor music Netflix network Outlook passwords PDF Samsung screenshot shortcuts Signal Smart Home smartphone Snipping Tool social media Spotify video call WhatsApp WiFi Windows10 Word

Primary Sidebar

Browse our How Tos

Browse by category

  • Apps & Software
  • Smartphone & Tablet
  • Laptop & PC
  • Hobby
  • Office
  • Glossary
Hand holing a phone showing a city skyline next to a text box reading "Signal: How to start a video call"

Signal: How to start a video call

01/21/2021 By How2forU

You can start a video call with Signal in just a few steps. Group video calls are also supported. We will show you how to use both features.

Light Background showing a smartphone and a text box reading "How to block caller ID"

How to block caller ID

01/19/2021 By Isabell Gaede

By blocking your caller ID you hide your own phone number when making calls. We show you how to do it on Android and iPhone.

How to install font to Mac

How to install font to mac

01/07/2021 By Anita Sommer

Do you want to install new fonts and typefaces to your Mac? We’ll show you how it works and how you can manage your fonts.

Hula Hoop How to exercise

Hula Hoop: How to exercise – Benefits & Tricks for Beginners

01/20/2021 By Anita Sommer

The hula hoop is a trendsetter when it comes to fitness exercises. Turn up the music and get ready to burn some calories.

templates word

How to create templates in Word

01/16/2021 By Sandra Sporer

Creating a custom template in Microsoft Word allows you to use the same document layout without having to recreate it by hand each time.

Internet-Verbindung

What is 4G and 4G+? Simply explained

01/12/2021 By Nadine Noppinger

In the status bar of your smartphone or tablet you will find the characters 4G and 4G+. We will explain to you which details are hidden behind the abbreviations.

Categories

  • 💡 Laptop & PC
  • 💡 Smartphone & Tablet
  • 💡 Office
  • 💡 Apps & Software
  • 💡 Glossary
  • 💡 Hobby

Smartphone & Tablet

How to change app icons on Android & iOS14💡 iPhone: How to recover deleted text messages💡How to share your iPhone calendar💡Sidecar: How to turn an iPad into a secondary Mac display 💡Huawei: How to take a Screenshot 💡 Samsung Galaxy S8: How to take a screenshot 💡 How to find your IMEI number 💡 iPad: How to take a screenshot

Laptop & PC

How to check your CPU temperature 💡 Is there a snipping tool for Mac? 💡 How to take a screenshot on your MacBook 💡 How to connect laptop to monitor

Office

How to fix slow running Windows 10 💡 How to use emojis in Microsoft Outlook 💡 How to password protect a folder in Windows 10 💡Excel: How to change the background color based on the cell value 💡 How to disable startup programs in Windows 10 💡 Word: How to start page numbering on page 3 💡 How to take screenshots on Windows 10

Apps & Software

How to start a video call on viber 💡 Funny questions you can ask Alexa💡Alexa glows green 💡 How to recover deleted WhatsApp messages 💡 Alexa glows yellow 💡 How to delete your Snapchat account 💡 How to merge several PDF files 💡 How to edit PDF files 💡 How to create a Gmail account 💡 Spotify Family: How to share an account 💡 Spotify costs: Free Account vs. Premium

Hobby

How to make homemade hand sanitizer 💡 What to eat after a colonoscopy 💡 How to keep chickens 

Glossary

What is 5G? 💡 What is 4G and 4G+? 💡 What’s Bixby? 💡 What is a VPN connection? 💡 What is the WPS button and where can I find it? 💡 “Thug life”: What does that mean? 💡What is a hashtag? 💡 What is SSID?

Footer

Pages

  • Blog
  • How2forU
  • Imprint
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in