I often switch monitor setups (home and work).
At work I use a dual monitor setup while at home I am working with one ultra wide display.
At my work setup I cloned a dock and bound it to the second monitor.
(In the same place like on the first monitor...)
Now when I switch back to my home setup with only one display,
the dock from the second monitor appears as a "ghost" on the first monitor.
(Just behind the dock that has always been tied to the first monitor.)

Main question here:
Is there a way to make the "second-monitor-dock" not showing up
when there is no second monitor - automagically ?

I know I can always disable the "second-monitor-dock" via preferences,
but this is kind of a hassle because I have to enable/disable it
every time I switch my workplace...

Suggestion:
I think there should be a kind of toggle-button (instead of the enable-button).
Like 1)enable 2)disable if monitor not available 3)disable at all

Another option would be a second checkbox (next to the enable checkbox):
Show dock on all (available) monitors
(Omitting dock cloning ...)

Thank you for any clues to handle this issue!

Chris

YES! That is exactly what the multi-monitor profiles are for.

First make sure you are running the latest version (v25.7), then make sure then 'Disable multi-monitor profiles' is NOT checked in the General tab of Preferences.

Multi-monitor profiles are automatic and work transparently. They will remember the position of screen objects (shelves, docks, desktop modules, etc) based on screen resolution and multi-monitor configuration. In the case of the desktop modules, since their shape/size varies according to theme, their position is also remembered on a per-theme basis per each screen resolution/multi-monitor configuration. Multi-monitor profiles will also remember which docks/shelves/etc were enabled and which were disabled in a particular configuration.

As you can see, all very complicated stuff behind the scenes, but the user won't know that because it works "auto-magically"

So what do you need to do? Simple. In your single monitor configuration, disable (do NOT delete it, just disable it) the clone dock so only the original is visible. Now switch to your multi-monitor configuration, enable the clone dock if it isn't already and re-position it if necessary.

Now switch back to your single monitor configuration and the clone dock should no longer be visible. Likewise, when you switch back to your multi-monitor configuration the clone dock should now be visible again at the position you last left it.

The magic works by the profiles "saving" the positions, status, etc, of the screen objects in the previous screen resolution/multi monitor configuration just as you switch to a new one, and "remembering" those when you switch back.

Hi Jorge,

thank you for your detailed reply!



This is what I thought, so I left the setting for "Disable multi-monitor profiles" unchecked...

But when I follow your steps, the dock initially enabled on the second monitor,
is dragged to the first and only monitor when I switch to my single monitor setup.
And in return, when I disable the "misplaced" dock in my single monitor setup,
the dock stays disabled when I return to the dual monitor configuration...

So it seems as if the setting for "Disable multi-monitor support" (unchecked) is not honored.
My dual monitor setup consists of two Dell monitors (Model P2419H (2* 1920*1080))
and the single monitor is a Philips 346B1C(3440*1440).
I use Windows 11 (23H2, build 22631.5699) and the latest version of Winstep Xtreme (25.07.1753)
I also use an additional software for window management: Desksoft - WindowManager
This tool also relies on monitor profiles and this software identifies the monitor environment reliably...
(Switch between Home and Work profile).

I will make some more tests:
Check and Uncheck the "Disable multi-monitor support" and
setting up a third test-dock on the second monitor (from ground not as a clone)
I will rename the misplaced dock and give it a unique name (actually both docks are named CSC (like my initials))

Unfortunately I can not make the tests during the next two weeks,
so it might take a while until I can report the results here...

Thank you for your instant reply/help

Kind regards

Chris

Pity as I was actually looking forward to it, in case there really is a problem with the multi monitor profiles.

I would also ask you for the ini files inside

C:\Users\Public\Documents\WinStep\\Profiles

Hello Jorge,

here I am...back on the case and after a few switches between monitor setups...
And I can confirm the issue persists...
Even though "Disable multi-monitor profiles" is not enabled (not ticked),
the second dock for the second monitor reappears on the one and only monitor
when I switch from dual monitor setup to my single monitor at home...
I even ticked the "Disable multi-monitor profiles" option and reset it to unticked...
just in case the configuration is kind of messed up...

So...the issue persists....

I attach the ini-files from C:\Users\Public\Documents\Winstep\Profiles:

One remark:
Both setups use an usb-c connector for the display(s)...
The dual monitor setup via usb-docking station (Dell WD19)
The single monitor (MSI MAQ401QR) comes with an integrated usb-c docking station

Maybe the monitor IDs are not passed through correctly?!

Thank you for your help!

Kind regards

Chris

Monitor IDs do not matter, all the Winstep application cares about for multi-monitor profiles is number of monitors, screen resolution, monitor x,y position and monitor DPI.

So, I can see from the multi-monitor profiles that you have two possible configurations, one with a single 3440x1440 monitor at 125% DPI, and another with two 1920x1080 monitors at 100% DPI.

You have 4 docks (one or more of them might be a shelf or something else, cannot tell from the multi-monitor profiles) and two of them are always disabled as they are disabled in both profiles.

In the 3440x1440 profile only 1 dock should be visible since the other three are ALL disabled. So you should NOT be seeing the second dock when you switch to your single monitor at home.

In the 2x 1920x1080 profile there are two docks enabled, one positioned in the first monitor, the second in the second monitor. So you should see the second dock every time you switch to the two monitor configuration.

Something else I find strange is that desktop module position information is not being saved when transitioning from the multi-monitor setup to the single monitor setup, only the other way around.

So, do you still claim that when you switch configurations the dock either remains disabled (when switching to the 2 monitor profile) or remains enabled (when you switch to your single monitor profile)?

If so, does this happen EVERY time?

Anyway, made some changes to the code...

In my testings here the multi-monitor profiles are (now?) working as they should. Hopefully next release will fix it for you too.

Hi Jorge,
indeed every time I switch between the monitor setups
the second dock "Dock - CSC 2nd" is misbehaving...

Leaving the two monitor setup (with second dock enabled),
it also appears in the one monitor setup (on the first and only) monitor
in the background...
Switching the second dock off in this situation and changing to the
two monitor setup the second dock stays switched off (until I re-enable it).
Doing so and switching back to the one monitor setup the second dock is enabled
and (again) in the background of the one and only monitor...
From here on the description repeats...

I am very excited about the next version....
I hope the changes you made to the code will fix my problem...

Thank you very much for your support!

Kind regards

Chris