User profile for user: Mr. Dakota Brower
Mr. Dakota Brower Author
User level: Level 1
46 points

Desktop Files on Second Monitor Not Visible Upon Wake

When waking my MacBook Pro from sleep, most of the time, the desktop items on my secondary monitor are missing. I'm also unable to right click on that desktop. I can drag app windows to that screen and everything functions properly. One of the only ways that I've found to recover them is by unplugging and replugging in my HDMI cable for my second monitor. It doesn't always remedy it on the first time so I often have to do it several times before they reappear. Is anyone else experiencing this or know of a solution? Thanks!


MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)

macOS Mojave Version 10.14

Posted on Sep 28, 2018 5:04 PM

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User profile for user: jeremy_v
jeremy_v
User level: Community Specialist

Posted on Sep 30, 2018 7:15 AM

Hi Mr. Dakota Brower,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. From your post, I see that the desktop on your second monitor may not be behaving as expected in macOS Mojave.

You mentioned that unplugging and replugging your HDMI seems to help. By any chance, do you have another HDMI cable available to try testing with that one? That would help rule out the possibility of a cable issue.

If not, or if the same behavior occurs with another cable, testing in a new user account would be a great next step. This will tell you if the issue is system-wide, or if it might be specific to your user account. Here's How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac .

Use another account for testing

If another user account is already set up on your Mac, you can simply log out of your account (Apple menu > Log Out) and log in with the other account. But the best way to test is with a newly created account:

  1. Choose Apple menu () > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.
  2. Click User uploaded file, then enter an administrator name and password.
  3. Click the Add button (+) below the list of users.
  4. Complete the fields shown for a Standard or Administrator account, then click Create Account (or OK).

If you plan to test with any of the documents in your own account, make those documents available to the new account. Drag them to the Shared folder of the Users folder on your hard drive (~/Users/Shared). You can then move them to other folders after you log in as the new user.

Then log out of your account and log in with the new account:

  1. Choose Apple menu > Log out.
  2. At the login window, log in with the name and password of the new account. If you're also asked to sign in with an iCloud account or Apple ID, skip that step.

Now try to reproduce the issue in the new account. If you need to set up an email account or other account in order to test, you can do so.

You'll find additional steps on how to proceed after testing in the article above. I hope this helps get to the bottom of what's causing this behavior.

Warm regards.
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Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: jeremy_v
jeremy_v
User level: Community Specialist

Sep 30, 2018 7:15 AM in response to Mr. Dakota Brower

Hi Mr. Dakota Brower,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. From your post, I see that the desktop on your second monitor may not be behaving as expected in macOS Mojave.

You mentioned that unplugging and replugging your HDMI seems to help. By any chance, do you have another HDMI cable available to try testing with that one? That would help rule out the possibility of a cable issue.

If not, or if the same behavior occurs with another cable, testing in a new user account would be a great next step. This will tell you if the issue is system-wide, or if it might be specific to your user account. Here's How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac .

Use another account for testing

If another user account is already set up on your Mac, you can simply log out of your account (Apple menu > Log Out) and log in with the other account. But the best way to test is with a newly created account:

  1. Choose Apple menu () > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.
  2. Click User uploaded file, then enter an administrator name and password.
  3. Click the Add button (+) below the list of users.
  4. Complete the fields shown for a Standard or Administrator account, then click Create Account (or OK).

If you plan to test with any of the documents in your own account, make those documents available to the new account. Drag them to the Shared folder of the Users folder on your hard drive (~/Users/Shared). You can then move them to other folders after you log in as the new user.

Then log out of your account and log in with the new account:

  1. Choose Apple menu > Log out.
  2. At the login window, log in with the name and password of the new account. If you're also asked to sign in with an iCloud account or Apple ID, skip that step.

Now try to reproduce the issue in the new account. If you need to set up an email account or other account in order to test, you can do so.

You'll find additional steps on how to proceed after testing in the article above. I hope this helps get to the bottom of what's causing this behavior.

Warm regards.
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User profile for user: Mr. Dakota Brower
Mr. Dakota Brower Author
User level: Level 1
46 points

Sep 30, 2018 3:27 PM in response to jeremy_v

Thanks for the response jeremy_v!

My first test, switching HDMI cords, did not work. The desktop items on the secondary screen still disappeared upon wake. My workaround at the moment is to go to System Preferences > Displays > Arrangement and then toggle "Mirror Displays". When I turn it off, I have my desktop items back. Since that fixes it and we've ruled out the HDMI cord being faulty, I really think that it is bug in the OS. I will also try using another account for testing next.


Thanks,

Dakota

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Desktop Files on Second Monitor Not Visible Upon Wake

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