quickbooks desktop notifications popping up on wrong screen

Hi there, ndrewZychowicz.

Thanks for reaching out to us. Allow me to help provide some details about the Multi-Monitor mode in QuickBooks Desktop. 

There are some QuickBooks windows where you can drag and transfer it to different monitor such as the Preferences window. However, the messages or warnings notifications will automatically pop-up on where your QuickBooks open and there isn't a way to move it to a different monitor permanently. 

For additional reference, you can check this article to learn more on how to Use QuickBooks on multiple screens or in Multi-Monitor mode. 

Please know that you're always welcome to post if you have any other question about the multiple screens. Have a good one. 

That isn't true.  The messages and warnings USED to pop up on the same screen that my QB program is open on in the 2016 version of the desktop software.  However when I upgraded to the 2019 version all the messages and warnings pop up on on the other monitor and not the one that my QB window is open on.  I want to figure out how to get them to open on the same monitor that the QB window is open on as it did in the 2016 software.  Please advise.

The messages and warnings DO NOT pop up on the same monitor as my Quickbooks window.  That is the whole reason for my post.  It used it do that in the 2016 software but I was forced to upgrade to 2019 because I process payroll through Intuit.  As I said in the original question/post, after I upgraded to the 2019 software the messages and warnings now pop up on the other monitor.  I want to know how to get these to pop up on the same screen/monitor that my QB window is open on.  The only reason I mentioned "multi-monitor mode" is that I tried engaging that mode and it didn't solve the issue.  In fact that made it even more difficult to multitask over multiple monitors (with other applications) than not using that mode.

Hello there, @AndrewZychowicz.

Thank you for the quick response. Allow me to chime in and share some insight on how to make the messages and warnings pop up on the same screen. 

Some dialogue boxes may not appear on the screen you are working on. However, you can toggle it back to the right monitor or move it manually. This way, QuickBooks will remember where you previously place it. 

For example, if you have home page on your right monitor, and you select Invoices, the Invoices page may appear on the left monitor. If you wish to see it on the right monitor, just move it to the right screen, and that'll do the trick.

I've also attached a link for our support site for additional reference: Help articles for QuickBooks Desktop.

That should point you in the right direction today. Please know that I'm just a post away if you have any other questions about the pop-up messages in your QuickBooks. I'll be happy to help you further.

@MaryGraceS  - That is the way it used to work in the 2016 desktop software.  I would have a message or error pop up on the other monitor from where my QB window was open.  I would move that message box manually before responding to the message/error and then next time it would pop up on the correct screen.  Since I have upgraded to 2019 desktop version no matter how many times I move the message boxes they still pop up on the other monitor and not on the monitor my QB window is open on.  I go to enter a transaction and nothing happens I wait and then realize a message box has popped up on the other monitor (one I am not currently looking at) and is waiting for me to respond before the transaction will be entered.  It adds time to my tasks and is a real efficiency killer.  Especially because the messages don't pop up on every transaction.  For example for a new transaction there wouldn't be a pop up and it will just record the transaction but if I am editing an already saved transaction a message will pop up asking if I want to save my changes.  I want to know how to make the software perform as it did in the 2016 version where the message boxes pop up on the same screen the QB window is operating on.

@MaryGraceS - Any other thoughts on this issue?

Hi Andrew,

I too get totally frustrated with the notifications (sometimes minimized) hiding behind other application on anther monitor. Drives me bonkers.

I've been trying new things with moving the notifications and have found - 

If I move the notification to where I want it and click the OK and then exit BY USING File and scrolling down to exit (not x in top right). It seems to stay on the right monitor. - There is something about not using the x in the top right, but using the File/Exit....that seems to make it stay (atlease today).

Try it! Let me know!

Andrew, you are not the only one frustrated by this. It would seem to me to be a real usability oversight by the Quickbooks team and something they should fix in an update. 

Moving the alert box from my main monitor to the monitor displaying QB, then exiting, does not seem to change the location of the alert box on future appearances. So it was worth a try.

Quickbooks development, if you are listening, please fix this bug - it is very frustrating! There are times I sit there waiting for something to happen, thinking that QB has frozen, only to remember to look at my main monitor for an alert. Very frustrating!

I was having the same problem, and at least in my case, finally realized it was because of which screen was identified as the primary screen by Windows.  I went to Display Settings and changed the order of my screen and that changed where the pop ups were appearing. 

My problem is for entering credit cards manually; the entry box opens with part of the fields not visible on either monitor. I can't move the box, nor enter any information in the fields. I also can't exit. So I'm jus stuck unless I shut down Quickbooks via windows as once the CC box appears, you are locked out of all other commands.

Why can't I simply drag the box and move it back onto the screen fully ?!!?

I'm here to help you out with this display issue you're having, @frankz.

Since you have difficulties with the pop-up screen view, we need to review your display and DPI settings.

Resolving display issues in QuickBooks can be done with a few methods. Follow the steps in this article to rule out the problem:

Fix screen issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

If the steps on the article doesn't help, I recommend reaching out to our Support Team for help. They have necessary tools to help diagnose the company file and make sure you're able to enter your credit card details.

To contact us: 

1. Open QuickBooks and click the Help menu.
2. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. On the pop-up screen select Contact us.
   
4. Click the Search for Something else button, then type your concern in the Ask us anything box.
5. Hit Search, then scroll down to get your contact options.

Refer to this article to learn more about our contact options and support availability: Contact QuickBooks Desktop support.

Thanks for reaching out to us today. This forum is always open for your QuickBooks display concerns, and I am always here to help. Have a great week ahead.

As of today the same thing is happening to me. It just started though. I've always had 2 monitors and the pop up dialog boxes were always on same screen. I don't know if it is because now I have 3 screens - 2 monitors and a laptop but all dialog now appears on my laptop screen. This is extremely frustrating and takes a lot of extra time. 

Yes, this is the number one cause of inefficiency and extreme frustration in my days, weeks, months.  The dinky little requestors pop up on my main screen.  The main screens of my laptops are very high resolution and the requestors are too darn small to even read the choices in the pull downs, or see to grab the tiny scroll bar and move up and down.  Totally useless obstructions for making nearly any entry in Quickbooks.

But wait, it gets worse.  Quicken also does this, although Quicken is no longer owned by Quickbooks, but Quicken got the badly written code from Intuit when it bought the product.  No foresight in product development, Intuit just runs the same old code year after year until it becomes unusable and even then they take too much time even recognizing there is a problem before finally getting around to fixing it.

Intuit seems to think their product is the only one running on my computer, and that I should just reconfigure all the settings for resolution on all my monitors to suit Intuit everytime I want to enter a transaction or run a report, crippling all the other well behaved software I own, so having to undo the changes again everytime I don't need Quick Books for a few minutes so I can get other work done.

Bookkeeping has been done on computers now for at least 40 years, and it shouldn't be rocket science to get the stupid output to display properly on the screens used in current computers.  Why couldn't this have been fixed in 2016 so I didn't have to suffer with it on my Surfacebook back then?  Why is it still a problem now in 2022, six years later?

This IS a real problem, and no, having to set your secondary monitor as your "main" monitor is not an acceptable workaround. QuickBooks has always worked poorly with high-DPI displays, rendering some text normally and some very small--regardless of system or compatibility settings. For this problem, it's not just a matter of small, barely readable text. The popups that appear on the "main" monitor are very small, easily unnoticeable, and modal, so the application appears to "hang" until they're dismissed. Even worse, they occasionally pop up behind another application, so it's not obvious why QuickBooks has suddenly stopped responding.

For issues like this that negatively impact user experience, paying customers and subscribers have every right to expect Intuit to devote developer resources to fix them. Especially years after it first became a problem. Please! Do something.

Hi there, Rick Samuelson.
 

I understand how display issues can affect your productivity and efficiency. I'll share some tips on you can resolve them.

When using QuickBooks Desktop on multiple screens, some dialogue boxes or notifications may not appear on the screen you are working on. You'll have to manually drag them back to the right monitor.

Moreover, if you're working on a high-resolution monitor, you may need to change your default settings in QBDT. This can help fix fuzzy dialog boxes and blurry text. Here's how:

1. Close QuickBooks Desktop.
2. Open the Windows Start menu, then search for QuickBooks Desktop.
3. Right-click the QuickBooks icon, then select Open file location.
4. In the folder, right-click the QuickBooks.exe file, then choose Properties.
5. Go to the Compatibility tab, then tick the Disable display scaling on high DPI settings checkbox. 
6. You can also select Change high DPI settings, then choose Override high DPI scaling behaviour.
7. Hit Apply and then OK.

It's also recommended to set your screen resolution to 1920 x 1080 for the best display. If the issue persists, I'd recommend performing the additional troubleshooting procedures in this article: Fix screen issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

Stay in touch with me if you need additional assistance in managing your QuickBooks display.

Hi Andrew, did any of these solutions work for you?

I just spent $2k to upgrade to QB Enterprise 2024 and they STILL HAVE NOT fixed this problem. Since we all know that it worked years ago, it seems to be just laziness on the part of the QB programmers to fix this issue once and for all.

And still a problem today in 2024!!

I'll hear you out, @bahamabreeze. 

Although the dialogue boxes and pop-up messages still appear on a separate screen when you open your QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) 2024, the workaround remains the same, as suggested by my colleagues in this thread. I'm here to assist you with this. 

You can still consider moving the dialogue boxes that appear on the other side of the screen to where QBDT is operating. The next time you open the software, it will remember where the boxes are placed. 

However, I understand that this workaround isn't ideal, and I recognize the importance of resolving the issue of the pop-up messages displaying on the wrong side of the screen in improving your workflow in your QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) 2024. I'd still encourage sending your feedback to our Product Engineers to resolve this in future updates. Here's how: 

1. Select the Help option.
2. Select the Send Feedback Online option.
3. Select the Product Suggestion option. A pop-up window displays.
4. Enter your feedback suggestion.
5. Click the Send Feedback button. 

If you have further concerns about QBDT 2024, you can refer to this resource: Self-help articles.

We'll be here in the Community if you have further questions about the pop-up messages in QBDT. We'll do our best to assist. 

It seems clear that that Intuit isn't fully committed to continued development of QuickBooks Desktop. I wouldn't mind transitioning to QuickBooks Online, but after several years, they still fail (refuse?) to provide feature parity between QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online. The Sales Orders feature, for example, isn't included, and despite forum posts suggesting that it's coming, it's still not here. People have been asking for this for years.

I think it's bad business to ignore issues while an increasing number of customers grow less and less satisfied, just waiting for something better to come along. If it wasn't so difficult to switch to another product, I'd have done it years ago. I think Intuit counts on this and uses it to their advantage.