How to Use Widgets on Multiple Monitors

Widgets Across Multiple Monitors

Multiple monitors give you more room to keep information visible while reserving your primary screen for active work. Simple Widgets works seamlessly across all your displays.

Monitor Strategies

Dedicated Dashboard Monitor

Turn an entire monitor into a widget dashboard:

• Use a secondary or vertical monitor
• Fill it with your most important widgets
• Keep your primary monitor clean for focused work

Edge Widgets on Every Monitor

Place widgets along the edges of each display:

• Top or bottom strips for tickers and status bars
• Side panels for chat, email, or task lists
• Corners for small widgets like clocks and weather

Role-Based Monitors

Assign each monitor a purpose:

• Monitor 1: Active work (coding, writing, designing)
• Monitor 2: Communication widgets (chat, email, calendar)
• Monitor 3: Monitoring widgets (dashboards, news, prices)

Sizing Widgets for Multiple Monitors

Small Widgets (Information Density)

Use small widgets when you have many things to track. Good for:

• Price tickers
• Unread counts
• Clocks and timers
• Weather

Large Widgets (Readability)

Use larger widgets when detail matters. Good for:

• Charts and graphs
• Full email previews
• Calendar week views
• Chat message feeds

Matching Widget Size to Monitor Resolution

Higher resolution monitors can fit more widgets at readable sizes. On a 4K display, you can comfortably fit 8–12 widgets. On a 1080p display, 4–6 widgets is the practical limit.

Setting Up Your Multi-Monitor Layout

1. Plan your layout — Sketch which widgets go on which monitor
2. Create your widgets — Build each one using Simple Widgets
3. Drag across monitors — Move widgets to their assigned display
4. Resize to fit — Adjust each widget for the available space
5. Set refresh rates — Stagger refreshes so they don’t all update at once
6. Save your layout — Keep your configuration for easy restoration

Common Multi-Monitor Setups

Developer: Code on primary, terminal + docs on secondary, communication widgets on third

Trader: Trading platform on primary, charts on secondary, news + prices on third

Remote Worker: Active work on primary, calendar + chat + email on secondary

Student: Study materials on primary, schedule + timer + research on secondary