Member Avatar for molarman

I just set up a new PC and have dual monitors using extended desktop. Works really well, but one strange thing is happening that I was hoping someone here might be able to explain.

When I move the cursor from one monitor to the next, the cursor shifts up or down (depending upon whether the cursor is being moved from the left monitor to the right monitor or vice versa) by 3" or so rather than stay at the same (vertical) level. Not a major problem, but a bit annoying.

Any suggestions?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by gemini4

Dani AI

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Short explanation and practical fixes

The pointer "jump" is almost always a coordinate-mapping issue: Windows treats each monitor as a rectangle in one big desktop. If those rectangles are not vertically aligned in the OS or if the two displays use different pixel densities or per‑monitor scaling, the cursor will move to the nearest crossing point and appear to shift up or down. That explains why the behavior can happen even when both displays report the same numeric resolution. The symptom described by fits this; likely has the rectangles lined up, which is why the same problem wasn't seen, and 's attention to display/driver settings is a useful lead.

Immediate steps to fix

  • Open the OS display arrangement and drag the monitor icons so their top (or bottom) edges line up.
    • Windows 10/11: Settings → System → Display → "Rearrange your displays" (use Identify).
    • Older Windows (XP era): Desktop → Properties → Settings tab → drag the monitor boxes to align.
  • Check scale/DPI for each display and set both to the same percentage where possible. Different DPI values make the same pixel row sit at different physical heights.
  • Ensure both monitors use the same orientation and similar refresh rates in Advanced/adapter settings. Confirm the GPU control panel (NVIDIA/AMD/Intel) is in "Extend" mode, not a spanning/clone mode that might change coordinate mapping.

Extra diagnostics and quick checklist

  • Swap the cables or ports and repeat the test to rule out a multi-head card quirk.
  • Try a plain mouse driver (remove any third‑party mouse utility) to exclude pointer software.
  • If the OS arrangement looks correct but the jump persists, update the graphics driver and check the vendor control panel for per‑monitor offsets.

Checklist: align monitor rectangles → match scale/DPI → match refresh/orientation → test with default mouse → update GPU driver if necessary. These steps resolve this alignment jump in most setups.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for gemini4

Do the monitors have the same exact resolution?

Member Avatar for rasputinj

I am running dual monitors with extended desktop and I did not notice the same issue on my system.

Member Avatar for molarman

Do the monitors have the same exact resolution?

One of the first things I checked. Yes, the resolution on both monitors is the same.

Member Avatar for gemini4

As long as the resolution is the same and the monitors are the exact same size it has to be a glich in the software. One thing I could think of is to install updated video drivers.

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