Add Project Display Context Menu in Windows 10

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How to Add the Project Display Context Menu in Windows 10

If you have multiple displays or an external projector, you might find it useful to add a special context menu to quickly switch mode for multiple displays in Windows 10.  It will use the built-in Project Display feature of Windows 10 which allows the user to have only the primary screen enabled, duplicate it on a second display, extend it across all displays, or use the second screen only.

The Project feature in Windows 10 offers the following modes:

  • PC screen only
    Only the primary display is enabled. All other connected displays will be inactive. Once you connect a wireless projector, this option changes its name to Disconnect.
  • Duplicate
    Duplicates the primary display on the second display.
  • Extend
    Your desktop will be extended across the all connected monitors.
  • Second screen only
    The primary display will be disabled. Use this option to switch to the external display only.

You can create a shortcut to activate any of these 4 settings. Similarly, you can create a context menu to integrate the Project Display feature directly with the desktop context menu. Here's how it can be done.

You must be signed in with an administrative account to be able to add the menu.

To Add the Project Display Context Menu in Windows 10,

  1. Download the following ZIP archive: Download ZIP archive.
  2. Extract its contents to any folder. You can place the files directly to the Desktop.
  3. Unblock the files.
  4. Double click on the Add Project Display To Desktop Context Menu.reg file to merge it.
  5. If you are using a dark theme in Windows 10, I suggest you to apply the Add Project Display Desktop Context Menu - For Dark Theme In Windows 10.reg file instead.
  6. To remove the entry from the context menu, use the provided file Remove Project Display From Desktop Context Menu.reg.

You are done!

How it works

The Registry files above modify the Registry branch

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\ProjectDisplay

Tip: See how to go to a Registry key with one click.

For the Project Display entries, the context menu calls the following commands:

  1. DisplaySwitch.exe /internal - The /internal argument is used to switch your PC to use the primary display only.
  2. DisplaySwitch.exe /external - Use this command to switch to the external display only.
  3. DisplaySwitch.exe /clone - Duplicates the primary display.
  4. DisplaySwitch.exe /extend - Expands your Desktop to the secondary display.

For the 'Connect to a wireless display command' the context menu entry executes the following ms-settings command:

ms-settings-connectabledevices:devicediscovery

See following article to learn how to add any Settings page to the context menu:

Add Settings Context Menu In Windows 10

That's it.

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

8 thoughts on “Add Project Display Context Menu in Windows 10”

  1. Same here, working if I enter the command on a command prompt but not working with the registry keys.
    My account is admin account.

  2. replace “%windir%\\System32\\DisplaySwitch.exe” with “C:\Windows\System32\\DisplaySwitch.exe”

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