OVERVIEW
Target audience: McGill faculty, staff, and students projecting content from a laptop in a classroom
Some laptops' built-in monitors deactivate when you connect to a second display device, such as a data projector. Follow the instructions below to set up your laptop and re-activate the monitor or external monitor port for use with a data projector.
Using a Mac? See Projecting content from a Mac laptop.
In this article:
Before you begin:
Below are general instructions for projecting content from your laptop to a screen. Use the Classroom AV Instructions widget on the IT Support site to find instructions for the specific classroom you will be using.
NOTE: Outputs ports and adaptors
Some AV equipment in classrooms only has a VGA connection. If your laptop does not have a VGA port, ask your department about acquiring the appropriate adaptor. IT Services no longer provides these adaptors.
Most laptops have USB-C ports that allow you to use adapters that can output HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort, or other types of connections from that single USB port.
Most laptops also have HDMI ports, which allow you to connect natively to an HDMI input in most classrooms.
Projecting to a classroom screen
- Make sure your laptop is turned off.
- Ensure all AV cables (HDMI or VGA, Audio and Network) are connected to your laptop.
- Press the LAPTOP button on the AV control panel. The data projector may take a minute to warm up.
- Turn on your laptop and go to the next section.
Select the display mode on your laptop (Windows 10 and 11)
Press the Windows key + P (If the Windows key is not present on your keyboard, press Option ⌥ /Start.) to activate the display option menu. The following display options are available when you connect to the projector: PC screen only, Duplicate, Extend, Second screen only *.
- PC Screen only: No output is displayed on any of the ports; only the integrated screen will display content.
- Duplicate will display the same content on both the integrated screen and the projector.
- Extend will display different content on the internal screen and the projector/screen, allowing you to keep some content on your laptop/computer screen that is not seen on the room's projector/screen. You will need to move content from one screen to the other to display it to your audience.
- External screen only: This option disables the internal screen and only sends your content to the projector/room screen.
*The menu will look slightly different in Windows 11, but the options are the same.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:
- For keyboard commands specific to certain laptop models, refer to the Laptop External Monitor Activation Chart.
- Projecting content from a Mac laptop
- Classroom Audiovisual Service
- Audiovisual Equipment Loans