Windows users that use multiple monitors or a secondary monitor for their laptops might have experienced an issue with the arrangement of apps when resuming a system from sleep. The windows on a second monitor either collapse to the main display or are automatically moved from where they were last left, making it a time-consuming affair to rearrange every time you return the PC from sleep.
Now, a fix is on the way for this issue as Microsoft has acknowledged the behavior and has confirmed that the problem has been addressed in Insider Preview builds 21287 and newer. Program Manager for the Graphics Team, Michelle Xiong, explains in a DevBlogs post that the technical term for the issue internally is Rapid Hot Plug Detect (Rapid HPD), and that it affects DisplayPort multi-monitor setups. The post also contains example videos of the problem in action and the behavior post the fix.
While the fix is currently applied to builds released in the Dev channel, it is not necessary that it ships only when builds from that development branch make it to production, which in this case could be later this year. The company might choose to test out the remedy for the issue with Dev channel Insiders first and eventually introduce it to Beta and Release Preview channels. Examples of features making it to older Windows 10 versions include WSL 2 being backported to versions 1909 and 1903, and more recently the News and Interests feature being made available to production versions of the OS.
A native fix for the “annoying” window rearrangement behavior on Windows 10 will be a welcome one for those that rely on a multi-monitor setup and have to constantly rearrange their apps every time the system enters a sleep state. Users that wish to try out the feature can enroll in the Windows Insiders Program in the Dev channel and install the latest build. However, it must be noted that these builds are pre-release versions and can be unstable, so it is best not to install them on daily drivers.
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