How to connect an external monitor (or TV) to a laptop using a wireless connection TIP: Did you know that you can also snap Windows apps side by side and split the screen, when you're using a dual-monitor setup? 3. Then plug an appropriate cable between the adapter and the external monitor.įor example, if your laptop has an old VGA port and your monitor an HDMI port, you can plug a VGA to HDMI adapter in your laptop's VGA port, and then an HDMI cable between the adapter and your external monitor. Once you've got the adapter, plug it into the corresponding port on your laptop. You can find adapters in electronics shops for almost any type of video connection, and they're fairly cheap. What you need is an adapter to convert the video signal from your laptop to the external monitor.ĭepending on what video ports you have on your laptop and monitor, you might need a DisplayPort to VGA, HDMI to DisplayPort, USB-C to HDMI, VGA to HDMI, DVI to HDMI, or Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter. In this case, connecting the external monitor to your laptop is a bit trickier, but not impossible. The laptop and the external monitor don't share a common video port.
Look on the back and the sides of your laptop and check for the following details to correctly identify the type of ports available on your laptop: If you own an old laptop, it might not have any of the video ports we've mentioned, instead coming with older types of ports such as DVI, VGA, or even S-Video. Some choose to use smaller video ports such as USB-C or faster and more capable DisplayPort ports. The reasons for laptop manufacturers to include other types of video ports differ. If you don't have HDMI on your laptop, you might have another type of video port on it. How to connect an external monitor using other types of ports and cables (USB-C, DisplayPort, DVI, VGA, S-Video)