When it does open correctly are there any splash screens, error messages or other dialogs opening that you need to click away?
When it does open, you could try going to Preferences/Workspace and hit Reset Workspace button.
It sounds to me like something is opening off screen that needs your attention but it is caught between monitors.
this does not say very much because your other application do probably not use the accelerated 3D OpenGL stack of the graphics card driver.
You should check the 3D settings of the nVidia Control Panel (right-click desktop) and ensure that SU is configured to always use the GeForce (sometimes called âhigh-performance Processorâ) and also poke around for 3D settings related to mutiple monitors.
Hi QPC,
Just wondering if you ever fixed this problem.
I have installed SketchUp 2019 Pro and it will not open if I have my other monitor plugged in. But if I unplug my montitor and start up SKUP I can then plug in my monitor and all works fine, but if I try to open another skup file it will ânot Respondâ and I have to close it downâŚvery frustrating⌠Iâm also finding if I am in Layout and double click in a viewport it also freezesâŚgrrrrrâŚ
I am no computer geek and drawing is my limit but if anyone has a solution to this Iâd be most appreciative 
The problem you are experiencing with your displays has been shown to be a graphics card problem. The integrated Intel graphics card you indicate in your profile is not especially well suited for the task. Integrated graphics arenât recommended for use with SketchUp.
As for LayOut and double clicking on viewports, you really shouldnât be doing that in the first place because it modifies the viewport disconnecting it from the scene in SketchUp resulting in issues when you make changes in the SketchUp file. Correct workflow is to create scenes in SketchUp for the desired views of your model and use those for the viewports in LayOut. If you find later you need to change the camera position, go back to SketchUp and make those changes for the scene being sure to update the scene to reflect the new settings. Save the changes and then update the reference in LayOut.
As for the locking up, very likely this is due to the graphics card, too.
Thanks for your reply DaveR. I have just updated my profile info as this was a while ago on another laptop. I have a new laptop and I think I have put the right info on regarding my graphics card. Would your comment still be the same with this new info?
Thatâs a huge difference from what you had listed. Thanks for updating it.
When you installed SketchUp did you right click on the downloaded installer and select Run as administrator?
Have you checked in SketchUpâs Preferences>OpenGL to see that the Nvidia graphics are being used for to display SketchUp?
haha yes I thought that
Yes when this started to happen I went in and made it run as administrator all the time and
I just checked the preferences and yes it is using the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
Thatâs not what @DaveR said. Running SU as an admin is not a good idea.
But what he asked was did you right click on the install.exe and choose Run as Admin to install it.
If not do so now and select Repair when the option is given.
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Thatâs not the same as right clicking on the installer and selecting Run as administrator.
oh!! thankyou for your comment Box and DaveR.
So I will uninstall sketchup and reinstall as Run as Administrator?
No need to uninstall. Just find the installer file in your Downloads folder (or download it again), right click on it and choose Run as administrator. After a moment youâll be presented with options. Choose Repair. Make sure youâve quit out of both SketchUp and LayOut before doing this.
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Thanks DaveR, Iâll give this a goâŚfingers crossed
How are you connecting your second monitor? What kind of monitor? Directly with a cable to your computerâs HDMI or DisplayPort connection or with a âdockâ? People have had many sorts of trouble especially with external docks. Some dock models refuse to use your Nvidia card. Others have trouble with OpenGL or 4K monitors and their connectors.
At work, now, I am using my second dock, with several driver and firmware upgrades and switching connections to USB-C cables, and it finally works somewhat but not perfectly.
Just an FYI. I also have an MSI GP63 Leopard 8RE w/ Nvidia GTX1060 (Win10 latest.)
I also must start SketchUp on the internal display with it set as the Win10 primary display.
The desktop is extended over onto an external HP 25bw monitor.
Both the internal and external displays have the same (native) 1920 x 1080 resolution.
(So @JamesEâs solution is not viable.)
Any attempts to have SketchUp open and run on the external monitor leads to non-usability. (It acts as though it cannot understand where the mouse clicks. Tray panels not usable, etc. Lock ups. Must close with Task Manager.)
I just had to wipe out registry settings for all versions, reinstall, and just have them (2016 ⌠2019) open on the internal notebook display. I really would like top get an external UHD monitor and run SketchUp on it.
@JamesE I hope yâall are still trying to fix this ?
Canât you even drag your SU window to the external monitor and then drag it back before you close it?
I wonder if this is limited to the specific Nvidia card types. The Quadro P2200 (I think in hardware terms quite near to the ones discussed here) in my work computer doesnât have this problem.
Oh, and are you connecting your monitor with HDMI or DisplayPort? The first 4K monitor I tried didnât like being connected via HDMI - something I didnât like as many new laptops no longer have a DisplayPort connector at all.
This doesnât fix the bug. Further, Iâm a developer. Iâm constantly starting SketchUp various versions in the process of testing and observation. Doinâ the âdrag-app-shuffleâ dance is just not viable.
Besides all it takes is one crash whilst SketchUp is still on the external display and itâs back to cleanup & reinstall (which might destroy my toolbar and tray setups.)
The answer is for the issue to be FIXED.
HDMI cable. (Iâm presently not using the Mini-Display Port or the Type-C USB 3.1 port.)
I bought a HDMI cable as the display I inherited is old and has only VGA, DVI and HDMI inputs.
(I thought foregoing an adapter from MiniDP to one of the given ports would just complicate the connection.)
Of course. I am just wondering if this is a SketchUp, Windows, OpenGL, display driver or a hardware problem. So far we seem to know that
- the problem persists with different SketchUp versions
- SketchUp is known to work for many users on external monitors.
Is there other OpenGL software that could be tested? I am somewhat skeptical of the OpenGL tests available online. SketchUp seems to be somewhat pickier than for instance Archicad but the problems I encounter with both seem to be similar.
Googling, I find that people, not very many, have been having this problem with several apps (photoshop, 3DS MaxâŚ) over the years. Some could solve it by disabling the Aero theme in Windows 7, but the common denominator was connecting the external monitor via HDMI⌠Go figure.
Might also be BIOS.
I have DesignSpark Mechanical 4 installed. It allows the user to choose what it uses for the model renderer. I just left it set to Direct3D11, as installed. (It also allows Direct3D9, WARP and OpenGL.)
I switched it to OpenGL and it seems to run fine on the external HDMI connected display. The major difference between SketchUp and DSM (SpaceClaim) is the latter are .NET framework applications.
I just found a weird thing. In Nvidia Control Panel, when I click (task tree) Display > Set up multiple displays, the NCP can only see the external display as â1â. But Win10 has the internal display set as â1â and the external as â2â. (Ie, Win10 Display Settings can see both displays, but NCP cannot.)
But in NCP when I click on Display (menu) > Identify Displays, it superimposes â1â on the internal primary display, and â4â on the external display.
So, something is not quite kosher.
I havenât tested it for years but it used to be that using the Nvidia Nview system to manage your desktop would break SketchUp. Since then I have always used only the Windows display settings and only used the Nvidia control panel for my application settings.
If this was my setup I would try in order:
different HDMI cable, inexpensive
borrow a different monitor, free
replace the graphics card $$$ possibly warranty?