Desktop icons won't move to second monitor

Happens peridocally. I keep my application bar on my second monitor, to the right of my main one. I also keep a lot of desktop folders and files on that desktop. Once and a while, I wake the machine up from sleep, with both monitors active and working, only to find that all the icons on the second monitor have disappeared from it and realigned themselve to the right edge of my main monitor.  The application bar remains on the second. The icons will not move back.
Any idea why this is happening? I think the only way to fix it is a restart unless someone knows a better way.
2.66 quad core

Did you check your Displays preferences, Arrangement?  That is where you define the relationship of the two screens and the main monitor (defined by which monitor you dragged the litte white menu bar to).
At the moment it is not clear to me why sleep would make your system forget the arraignment setting.  One way it can happen though is if a monitor disconnects (or the system thinks it disconnects).  You can reproduce te effect yourself by unplugging one of the monitor's video connections while both are on.
You said one of the monitors had disappeared so a disconnect may be indeed what is happening.  Perhaps that monitor is slowly failing (power supply, whatever).  Try running with just the problem one for a while to see what happens.

Similar Messages

  • Desktop icons off screen when removing second monitor

    Hi there, well I have found a few bugs so far using Leopard so thought I should see if anyone else is getting them:
    @ I use a second monitor, and if I remove the monitor, although the rest of the OS resizes to just the laptop, the desktop icons are nowhere to be seen.
    @ My USB mouse doesn't work any more.
    @ Although I prefer the way the connected servers now work, there is a problem in Finder, where I have to restart Finder to be able to see some connections.
    Apart from that I am pretty happy with the speed improvements and there are less bugs for me than I had read about (although obviously as production software you would expect minimum bugs!).
    Message was edited by: Wiseguy Digital

    I have the exact same problem, MacBook Pro 15" 2.33 GHz and the same type of Apple display. I use the display at the office, disconnect, bring my PB home, and when I wake it up the PB acts like the display is till connected - no desktop icons visible (although strangely, it shows the Dock and the Finder Menu) until after I restart.
    Clicking "detect displays" doesn't work, neither does clicking the highlighted configuration.
    My daughter also has a problem with her MacBook and her Apple Cinema display, which has to be set as mirrored or it won't display anything, it somehow isn't detected the way it used to be. Why I mentioned this is because I never had this problem before, and neither did my daughter. It started quite recently, so I guess it is related to a system software update.
    Message was edited by: John Simon Beverly

  • Keynote 6.0 won't show on second monitor

    I have update to Mavericks and Keynote 6.0.  I'm on a 15 inch Early 2011 MacBook Pro, and connected to a LG Display via VGA through the Apple VGA adapter.  When I try to play a slideshow, it only shows on the Mac Book Pro with the Presenter display behind it.  I tried clicking the switch monitors thing, but that does nothing except get rid of the Presenter display behind the show.  I hit the 'x' key to get the presenter display back.  I looked in preferences and other places, but I do not see a seting to show the show oon the other monitor.  The Apple help files are no help at all.  The weird thing that happens, is that I can drag the keynote app to the second monitor and hit "play" and it will work with the presenter display on the second monitor and the show on the MacBBook Pro.   Hitting 'x' gives the desired result, but when connecting to our projection system, or monitor, we do not want the app on the second monitor.  For what it's wooth, Power Point does work (Office 2011) as desired.  My question is; How do I fix Keynote to work properly?

    I was teaching my first class post-Mavericks upgrade and was having a fit finding out, in front of my class of 33 graduate students, that my projection set-up wasn't working. I had read something about getting rid of the menu bar on a secondary display in Mavericks and decided to try it. Since then, I've also read that assigning Keynote to all desktops, with the "Displays have separate spaces" box checked, might also do the trick, but I won't have a chance to test this until Monday afternoon. Glad you got it working!

  • Desktop icons won't display on Desktop

    I recently installed a couple of what seemed to be interesting menubar items (MenuStrip and Isolator). Shortly after (not concurrent with) I lost the icons that show up on the Desktop of files in the Desktop folder. The files are all intact - nothing lost, they just don't show up on the Desktop.
    I've removed these two applications using AppZapper, run the new DiskWarrior 4.1.1, repaired the permissions, run repair disk from Disk Utility, reinstalled Leopard from the DVD, and now I'm at a loss on how to bring back those icons.
    I'm running OS X 10.5.5 on an Intel Mac Mini. I use a Newer MiniStack as my boot drive. If I boot from the internal drive (which is virtually virgin from the day of purchase), the Desktop icons from that user are displayed as they should be.
    Is there someway to "rebuild" the Desktop or otherwise bring things back to normal?
    Thanks in advance,
    -Tod

    Added info:
    I also recently tried using Path Finder 5. It also has been "shredded."
    I was just poking around my Desktop and found that clicking on the Desktop itself while another app (say like Safari) is frontmost, clicking won't bring the Finder to the front. Sounds like something left over from Path Finder, though I deleted all its prefs using AppZapper.
    -T

  • Duplicate mouse cursor appears (but doesn't move) on second monitor

    I have a Mac Pro with the ATI XT1900 video card and 2 Dell 2407WFP LCD monitors attached via DVI.
    When I'm using an application, such as a web browser, and the cursor changes state (like the black arrow with spinning wheel in corner) a duplicate of this cursor state appears on my second monitor, on the left-hand side of the screen.
    This cursor DOES NOT MOVE, but does animate, and will not disappear unless I move my "live" cursor over to the second monitor, which I imagine causes OS X to "refresh" the position of the cursor. It realizes the duplicate shouldn't be there and it vanishes. The second cursor seems to appear only when the primary live cursor changes state, as in the black arrow becoming a black arrow with spinning wheel in the corner, etc.
    This is not a duplicate cursor due to having Displays set up to mirror one another. The second cursor doesn't move.
    This has happened in more than one software application, so it appears to be some sort of display driver error at the system level.
    Anyone else experience this or have a way to fix it? There have been several Apple Updates to OS X since this problem first started happening (on day 1 with the Mac Pro) and it has not been resolved.
    -R

    Try resetting SMC on the macbook air: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1411
    Good luck!

  • When I click the MFF desktop icon Firefox takes exactly 30 seconds to load, is that right?

    ''Duplicate post, continue here -'' [/questions/752057]
    I have just installed Firefox and it takes 30s from clicking the desktop icon to loading the home page. Tabs only take about 2s, is this right?
    IE loads in 2-3 s.

    The answers you have got above are correct.
    However, if your FF otherwise feels snappy when browsing - and a second restart (aka. warm start) of FF is much faster than the first - then you could try my suggestions here: https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/762446#answer-119951
    The slow load time on a cold start is an old "classic" problem for FF.
    Mozilla may work on a solution or not, but meanwhile I'm happy with this work around.

  • PB Screen Dead? Won't Boot, But Second Monitor Will

    My 7-year-old G4 17" Powerbook won't boot via it's onboard LCD display...but a second monitor will. I'm assuming the monitor should be replaced, or perhaps a video card?
    What's typically the problem associated with these symptoms?
    Thanks for any help.
    Terry D

    Step one is to boot the computer and shine a light through the "Apple" window on the back of the display and see if you see anything happening on the display.  This may be a little tricky, but the best time to do this is during the boot process when usually things happen in the center of the screen.  (I am assuming that you have already tried the brightness control, as I have had problems with the TiBooks going to minimum brightness on boot for some reason as yet unknown to me, though I can still at least see some detail on the screen.)
    Now, if the display is actually changing when you are providing an artificial backlight, then you are maybe in luck a little bit, since it is likely that the so-called Inverter Board has crapped out.  These can be replaced with varying degrees of difficulty from almost trivial to a little involved.  Find your machine here on the iFixit site for more information and a guide to changing the board.
    The other possibility is that the fluorescent panel panel has itself died, which would require a much more involved repair and probably would not be worth it.

  • Wacom PTK-540WL Cursor Won't Move to 2nd Monitor in PS CS5

    I just installed a Wacom PTK-540WL on my Win/Vista machine. I have dual monitors. In PS CS5 the pen moves the cursor around fine on the primary monitor. However, I can't get the cursor to move to the second monitor. I can move the cursor to the second monitor fine in any other application. Any ideas on why PS CS5 would react this way? Thanks!

    Open the Wacom Applet in the control panel and look at how the tablet is mapped.

  • Desktop icons won't drag to trash

    I'm running 10.3.9 on a G$ MDD with dual processors ... desktop icons are locked in place and can't be dragged to trash. I can trash them using the contextual menu, dragging the icon will not work. It works inially after reboot, but after a few launching an application the icons are locked in place.
    Perhaps a permissions issue ?? Any ideas or suggestions ... has anyone had a similar situation occur? thanks in advance for any insight or help.

    Can’t open, move. or trash file or folder
    1. Select the file or folder in the Finder and from the File menu, choose Get Info .
    2. In the Info window, click the Ownership & Permissions disclosure triangle to reveal its information.
    3. To fully access this item, make sure that Read & Write is chosen from the You can pop-up menu. If it isn't, you will need to be logged in as an administrator to change your access; skip to step 6. If you used to be able to access the item but now can't, continue to the next step.
    4. Click the General disclosure triangle and make sure that the file or folder isn't locked. If the Locked checkbox is selected, deselect it and then try accessing the file or folder as planned.
    5. If that doesn't work, fix Disk Permissions; open Disk Utility, select your computer's hard disk volume, click the First Aid tab, and click Repair Disk Permissions.
    6. If this is the first time you're accessing the item and you are an administrator, click the lock icon in the Details section of the Info window. From the Owner pop-up menu, choose your user name (type your password when prompted), then choose Read & Write from the Access pop-up menu directly below it. If you're changing access to a folder, click the "Apply to enclosed items" button to change permissions for all enclosed items.
    Can't select and drag items.
    •I solved the problem by booting in the safe mode, then restarting.
    • This solution also works if you can't select and drag items.
    george

  • Dock moves to second monitor

    I have a MacBook Pro with a second monitor. On occasion the Dock unexpectidly moves from the bottom of the laptop screen to the bottom of the second screen. It has been doing this since I upgraded to Mavericks. I have figured out when this happens and I can reproduce it at will.
    If I take my mouse and move it to the top of the second monitor and move it straight down to the bottom the Dock will move. I then have to move it back. It does not happen when I use the trackpad and it does not happen when I do it on the laptop screen.
    Any suggestions?

    CF,
    This did seem to work. It did also remove the Menu Bar from the second display.
    However, when the setting is turned on I can ove the doc by swiping down with the mouse only. Using the trackpad does not do it. And once the dock is on the second monitor, it can't be moved back to the laptop display by swiping down.
    So it would seem to me that the feature was poorly implemented and still remains a issue for Apple in my opinion.

  • Quicktime Desktop Icon won't open

    I click on the QT icon on my desktop and it won't open the program, but if I click on a QT file, the program opens with no problem.
    I just uninstalled QT and then reinstalled it, and I keep getting the same problem. Any help on this? Thanks.

    Does the program open if you go "Start > All Programs > QuickTime > QuickTime Player"?
    (Trying to get a feel for the full scope of the problem.)

  • Desktop icon won't go away!

    hello, i've been using mac for about 3 years now, and i've never had this problem. i downloaded a RAR file, and was expecting to extract it with my unRarX
    unarchiver. when i went to drag it in, it snapped back to its place on my desktop. i then tried moving it around on the desktop, and it just snapped back. all my other icons move around freely when i drag them, it is just this one file. i have never had problems witl RAR files before, and worst of all when i went to put it in the trash, it showed this message...
    The item “Rose_sims3_acc43.rar” can’t be moved to the Trash because it can’t be deleted.
    How do i get rid of it? Please!

    Greetings,
    You are currently posting in the iWork for iOS forum.  Posting in the Macbook Pro forum might be a better venue for your question.
    SafeBoot your computer: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455
    While in SafeBoot drag the file in question to the trash and see if it will go.  If so, empty the trash and restart the computer normally.
    If that does not resolve the issue let us know.
    Cheers.

  • Dual mointors, move too second monitor [solved]

    Hi
    I have a dual monitor setup on my laptop with different resolutions and aspect
    1. LCD widescreen
    2. projector not widescreen
    I'd like to run mythfrontend on the projector screen
    It starts up on the LCD screen
    How can I transfer it too the second screen or start it on the second screen?
    I am using KDE4
    Any keyboard shortcut?
    It works as expected.
    If I use mplayer and manually drag the window to the projector screen then hit fullscreen it displays correctly even with the different aspect ratio
    Is there a was to start an app on the second screen?
    Havnt worked it out yet but there is an option to run mythfrontend on the second screen
    Last edited by chrisb (2010-04-02 22:10:42)

    In mythfrontend, go to Setup > Appearance and on the second page of options there is the option 'Display on screen:' change this value to force it onto your other screen
    Last edited by fastfret79 (2010-04-02 12:16:23)

  • Help - Playlists out of view of ipod Icon won't move up to the ipod Icon

    Hello,
    I'm kind of new to the ipod world. I've been doing ok for the most part. I used to have no problems moving my playlists on the left hand side up to the ipod Icon. However, if you can't see the ipod icon my playlist wont' move to it -- only to the top of the screenlist.
    For instance a playlist mark Aerosmith would easily move to the icon.
    A playlist marked Talking Heads would only scroll to the top of the visible screen and just stop or freeze -- it wouldn't go past the playlists that start with A and end with T
    Can anyone please offer any help?
    Thank you

    If you tried all the suggestions of:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3694
    You likely have a hardware problem since the article says a possible cause of the 1611 error is a hardware problem.  I would make an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store.

  • App icons won't move to a different page

    After the icons are wiggling I try to move them to another page but the icon just slides back to where it was? I have no problem doing this on my iPhone, only y iPad? Any ideas?

    I’m having a similar problem. I can drag icons to the right, moving them to pages 2, 3+, but I can’t any to a page to the left.
    I just downloaded an app and wanted to move a couple of icons to page 2 to make room for the new icon . Now I can’t move any of them to page 1 and have some icons on page 3 now too!
    Is this a new problem with the latest software. I think I was able to move icons up or down pages before.

Maybe you are looking for