Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Issues with hdmi to TV

May 2, 2019 3:05PM PDT

I thought this was going to be easy. Connect HDMI cable to PC, turn off ‘both’ TV and PC, connect other end of HDMI to TV, turn on TV and ‘then’ PC.

Long story short, desktop icons appear on TV “NOT” on desktop PC. Because of this, can’t set up ‘second’ monitor. The only thing that shows up on my PC is the ‘taskbar’ and the mouse pointer. When “TV” source is set to hdmi, I do get the ‘desktop’ with all the ‘icons’ "ON" the TV. The few things I can click on my “PC”, do show up on my TV but I can’t make ‘changes’. When the hdmi is disconnected from the TV, all my icons return to my desktop PC. If you try and go to display to setup a second monitor, well its ‘not’ listed because you aren’t connected.

Dell desktop PC, running Windows 10, all updates. No other issues with PC. Recently ran my 'anti' stuff, as usual no problems found.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Did you try Duplicating the display?
May 2, 2019 3:38PM PDT

You should try the Windows+P key when the monitor and TV are connected and the TV set to the HDMI port from the PC then select Duplicate to start with. You can refine this later.

- Collapse -
Working Now?
May 2, 2019 7:19PM PDT

When I reconnected everything, for maybe the 3rd or 4th time, the 'icons' were now visible on my 'desktop', for the 'first' time, before I did anything else. Strange. Anyway, yes, I 'then' did the Windows+P thing and then clicked on 'duplicate'. The only problem then was "no sound" on the TV, which I resolved via Control Panel. Of course, apparently when you switch back to just using your "PC" you have to go back to changing the "sound" back to the PC. But I can do that. No problem.

So, all's good now. Thanks for your help.