Three Monitor Setup - Any way to have two duplicated and one extended?

General Help
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Hi! I'm a total Linux and Zorin noob, and I just switched to it yesterday on a Dell PC from Windows.

I have two normal monitors, side by side, and one drawing tablet. I want my drawing tablet and my right monitor to stay duplicated, while my left one is extended but I can only seem to mirror all three. Is there anyway to keep one monitor extended but duplicate the other two?

Please keep in mind I am a very small brain, smooth brain individual and if any terminal or console commands are needed I'm gonna need you to hold my hand and explain it like I'm a newborn baby. That's basically what I am when it comes to this stuff. Thanks in advance for any help and advice!!! Loving Zorin so far, just hope this little customisation preference works out.

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Only work on Xorg not Wayland

Solution find with help and read from

Identify your monitors first:

xrandr

This shows your connected outputs (e.g., HDMI-1 , DisplayPort-1 , HDMI-2 ).

Clone two monitors and extend the third:

xrandr --output HDMI-1 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0 \
       --output DisplayPort-1 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0 \
       --output HDMI-2 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 1920x0

In this example:

  • HDMI-1 and DisplayPort-1 are cloned (both at position 0x0 )
  • HDMI-2 is extended to the right (position 1920x0 )

Position Format: The --pos values are in pixels. For extending horizontally, add the width of the first monitor to the x-coordinate of the next monitor. For vertical stacking, modify the y-coordinate instead.

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With arandr (it is a GUI for xrandr) you can save the settings

The commands set in xrandr are reset after reboot. You need a script or custom launcher for autostart to make the settings permanent - or the app arandr can do this for you.

Arrange the monitors you want to mirror in the layout of arandr so that they overlap one another so that it looks like a single rectangle, and place the monitor you want to extend to the left or right side next to them (or above or below).

Note: These programs (xrandr and arandr) only work in Xorg, not Wayland. You can switch to Xorg when you logout and at login click on your username. Then a cog wheal appears at the bottom right corner where you can switch between Xorg and Wayland.

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Thank you, I didn't know this tool :wink:
I'm too much focus on Terminal :smiley:

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HAHA! So great to hear I'm not the only one! I'm with you on Noobie attributes and small brain! I'm totally dependant on people smarter than I am when it comes to Linux, Zorin (and networking...)and updating. I'm hanging in there, too - keep it up!