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I am using dual monitors on Linux Mint and I can't figure out how to get the bottom taskbar to appear on my left side monitor. Right now it only appears on the right monitor.

How can I move it to the left monitor or extend it so it goes across both monitors?

Jeff Schaller
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Kyle
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  • Please clarify what window manager is it so this question is useful for other Linux distros too – golimar Sep 25 '21 at 17:15

7 Answers7

30

To move it to a different monitor, right click on an empty area, select "Properties" and then uncheck the 'Expand' box. Now left click on the end one of the ends and drag it to a different monitor. Right click again on the end (making sure not to hit any other widget in the panel) and click on Expand again.

MikeK
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    This answer is most simple and user-friendly. – gaRex Mar 11 '14 at 12:24
  • It seems that the panel does not allow to be moved outside of the monitor on which it is located because it stops moving when hitting the edge and kinda sticks to it, however if you keep "pushing" it on to the other monitor, it will actually move. – Paweł Polewicz Mar 02 '15 at 11:30
  • Mint 18 Mate. Every so often my taskbar will 'move' to the other monitor on login, cant ever remember how to move it back. Thank you. – jc__ Sep 06 '17 at 14:30
12

The panel appears on the primary monitor. You have not said how you are setting your system up so I can't give you a very detailed answer. You will need to use xrandr to find out you current setup. In my case this is:

$ xrandr | grep -w connected
VGA-0 connected 1440x900+1600+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 408mm x 255mm
DP-3 connected 1600x900+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 344mm x 194mm

So, DP-3 is my laptop's screen and VGA-0 is my external VGA monitor. Since I want the panel to be on the VGA which is extending the desktop to the right of the laptop, I would run:

$ xrandr --output VGA-0 --mode 1440x900 --primary --right-of DP-3 \
   --output DP-3 --mode 1600x900

The --primary switch sets the VGA screen as the primary monitor and causes the panel to be displayed on it.

terdon
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    Actually, `xrandr --output VGA-0 --primary` should be sufficient. – MrD May 18 '15 at 15:48
  • @DL6ER that depends on the setup you want. I gave the full command so that the OP can tweak it as desired (setting resolution and which screen is on which side). – terdon May 18 '15 at 15:57
  • ♦ However, my experience shows that most user simply copy&paste solutions they found using google without reading the corresponding posts (carefully enough). I've seen it too many times that a copied answer (that was wrong in the context of the user) lead to new questions, since something unexpected happened. – MrD May 19 '15 at 09:35
3

For Mate, this worked for me: right click on the existing panel and click on "new panel" (it's near the middle). A new panel will appear (usually at the top). Now right click on the new panel and unclick expand. Move it the secondary monitory, and then select expand again.

Now right click on the new panel. Search for window list and add it. You may want to resize it, lock it and move it to your liking. You now have the open windows on each monitor on their respective panel.

Rui F Ribeiro
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Jaco Van Niekerk
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1

Right click on a blank area in the panel, hover over the "Panel" cascading menu expander and select "Panel Preferences..." Under "General" the "Output" option specifies the display you want the panel to be rendered on.

gessel
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0

As terdon said, the panel's on the primary monitor. To change this on Mint 18.1 MATE is a bit easier than terdon's answer: Preferences -> Displays, select the desired monitor, Set as Primary.

Kev
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0

All the answers didn't work for me. So I tried looking into the panel preferences and was able to move the taskbar to another monitor (whether is the primary or not)

Right click on the task bar > Panel Preferences > Uncheck the "Span monitors" option > Move the taskbar bar > Profit.

Juliano A. Felipe
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0

Solution 1. Open Settings->Display. Select the monitor you want to keep the panel. Press "Set as Primary" button, then "Apply" button.

Solution 2. Right click on the panel, select "move" menu item. All available locations become highlighted. Left press on any of highlighted areas to move the panel there.

I've tested both solutions on Linux Mint 19.3 (Cinnamon)

humkins
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