I have three identical monitors in a row. Primarily I use the center one, for productive work and gaming, but often I'll have something up on the second screen that I'm working with as well. It's more rare that I actively use the third one, but some tasks have more than two or three windows and now I can see all of them full size at once.

I've occasionally used them as a single ultra wide screen for gaming, but since then I've gotten an hmd for VR and that is better.

I'm an engineer (a non-IT engineer) and have 4. There is so much ensuring consistency between drawings and documents. I'd like 5 (including the inbuilt one) but graphics card on my high performance company laptop says no.

At least one for file explorer, then other three could be pdf editor, or word, or excel, or internet browser.

I regularly have 4 drawings open, plus another reference, plus windows explorer for file management.

It's never enough. I could totally do with more than 4 screens, I'm already squeezing multiple drawings onto one monitor.

I have two monitors but I do all my work on one the other is completely separate. Plays YouTube all day so that I have background noise to work with.

Four monitors plus the laptop screen. It’s…a lot visually, but my productivity is significantly higher than when I only had two and the laptop screen.

They’re arranged in a square so clockwise from top right:

1. Work entry screen - this is where I’m typing a lot

2. Reading screen - this is the general source of what I’m working on

3. Outlook - I’m fully remote, Outlook is life

4. File folders - I work mainly with two or three folders all day so it just makes sense to have them uncovered

Laptop - Teams!

Of note, I use a ton of keyboard shortcuts and have generally optimized my workflow so I’m not hitting the mouse nearly as often as my coworkers. Having Outlook and Teams each have their own screen means I can keep them open and see what’s coming in while still working on my stuff on other screens. Final thing I’ll say about the arrangement, because you’re probably visualizing this making for a good gaming setup, no it wouldn’t because of how the screens are placed.

No matter what, get yourself a mirror. I don’t like people suddenly appearing by me, and since I’m using noise-cancelling headphones with music/podcasts 40+ hours a week, this keeps me from jumping out of my skin.

Backend dev. I have an ultrawide (like two monitors in one).

Sometimes I need to test the full stack and need a lot (8+) terminals. I try to tile them all on a separate virtual desktop.

Most commonly though, I center my main application and can have two smaller, peripheral applications, one on each side.

When doing full stack, I need a browser, IDE and two terminals, tiled to give more space for the browser.

Code, editors, terminal, and most browser tabs on the right..

Calendar, Slack, some more browser windows on the left, sometimes some debugging tools.

Third smaller screen off to the side for media if I want to throw on something in the background.

For work, it's usually IDE on the right (my larger screen) and a live build of the thing I'm working with on the left (a laptop screen). Though it varies a lot throughout the day. Primary screen gets the app that needs most scrutiny, small screen gets auxilliary things like passive communication apps or reference materials.

For home use, where I have two monitors of equal size, it's usually Discord on one screen and a web browser on the other. Comms on the left and active task on the right.

I don't see a use case in my workflow for a third screen, especially not one that is a weird size or is in portrait orientation. But if one was simply bestowed upon me, I'm sure I'd find something to do with it sooner or later. There was a time where I though two monitors was overrated, I'm sure I can adapt my opinion again for 3+.

I have a central monitor in landscape orientation which is where my IDE lives. Then a monitor on the left in portrait, which has the bottom quarter or so dedicated to work chat, music controls, and the browser developer window, then the rest of it is a web browser for documentation. On the right is my laptop screen, which is used for more documentation and watching TV shows while I work

Two screens and a laptop screen, could find use for more. I find myself shuffling things around depending on what I need, but most commonly I have the left screen split between notepad++ on one side for any notes keeping, and either documentation I'm reading, documentation I'm writing, a browser I'm using, or something such. Whenever I need to compare text files, notepad++ gets to take the whole screen.

On the middle screen I usually have the remote desktop or VM I'm working on at the time.

Right (laptop screen) is usually reserved for Outlook and Teams.

• Left (horizontal) - communicators, btop, Spotify.
• Middle (horizontal) - browser with GitLab, terminals and editors, main development in general.
• Right (vertical) - browser for googling and docs, terminals for tests / logs / whatever I want to see at the same time as the editor, Obsidian for notes.

Anything less than that will completely ruin my workflow. I'm even trying to come up with a feasible way to fit a fourth one.

2 is the bare minimum for work as a sysadmin.
3 is better, then I can dedicate one to communication (email, Teams, softphone), one for documentation and one to actually work on. I could see 4 being useful if you work both locally and on terminal servers but I've never tried it.

• Left (wide screen): Teams and Jira
• Center (Ultra wide screen): IDE, file browser and other main stuff
• Right (portrait): Terminal and ocational documents

• Left (vertical) - Notesnook (or whichever knowledge management system I'm on at that particular moment), Signal, and Slack all tiled so I can see them all together.
• Middle (horizontal) - IDE.
• Right (vertical) - Browser.

This works well, but I'd enjoy another monitor for Spotify or, more likely, so I could make all the terminal, debugger, run, database, etc from my IDE full-blown windows on the fourth monitor.

I have two monitors: a 27 inch 1440p and a 17 inch CRT for retro gaming. No productivity.

Music production. Left: tracking and editing window. Right: mixer and plug-ins

Left reference, middle work, right email/IM

Independent IT Contractor: I have a 4-wide 1080p screen setup. I keep Slack/Teams on one screen, the semicircle setup means I can only really look at 3 at the same time. I upgraded from 3 screens because I kept having to juggle windows around while troubleshooting someone's webserver.

Also used this setup when I was really heavy into FFXIV- I like having wikis/alerts open and visible, so one screen for that, the game, discord, and then the last one was just for youtube/netflix.

Video games. On one screen is the game, on the other screen is a web browser with the wiki opened. Also have YouTube for the tough puzzles. Helps a ton.

My work setup has two monitors in a horizontal layout.

Left (in front of me) contains the main stuff for my task at the moment. That's where my meeting app goes as well so I can look straight at the webcam during meetings.

Right has the supporting stuff, reference docs, IM just in case I need to be pulled away for some critical issue, etc.

At most, I can work with three monitors for increasing productivity in terms of screen real estate. More than that would be a case of diminishing returns for more physical space taken.

I use 3 monitors. One is for the task I'm doing, one is for reference material for the task, and the third is for my sanity. That last one is where youtube/memes/whatever are. I can focus extra hard if I need to, but I prefer not to. When I started out, I used to get home completely burned out, and incapable of doing anything but eating, showering, and vegging out in front of the TV or PC.

The thing I've always noticed about getting more monitors is that you never really think you need one more monitor until you end up getting one somehow. After that you start getting used to the extra space and it feels wrong to go back to having less. When I originally had one monitor I was just used to that and didn't see anything wrong with it. Once I got two monitors I again felt good and got used to it. It was really nice to be able to watch stuff while playing games or have Unity and Visual Studio on separate screens at the same time. Eventually I got a nicer monitor and decided to go up to 3 monitors which again felt really nice and I found uses for all 3. That's where I'm at now and I don't have plans to get anymore but if I ever got a newer monitor there's a good chance I would end up giving 4 a try cause why let one of my older but still good monitors go to waste. And I imagine I would still be able to find uses for the extra space. I feel like at some point there is a limit but at least so far every time I've gained more monitor space even when I'm not sure what I would use it for I always end up using that extra space for something.

Two and a half monitors here. Two connected to my desktop (one normal one vertical) and my laptop below them.

My laptop is for Teams calls, and the occasional reference page or video, but is mostly ignored until I need it. The main large monitor for editors and email. The vertical one for references and notes.

I would love a third monitor for the desktop but my desk is too narrow for that to be realistic.

I have three. The third doesn't really boost my productivity much, I have it vertical just to show my file browser because I open and switch through different files quite a lot. The other two are to show the actual files I'm working in or comparing.

Scientist here, a lot of my job is writing texts with references to other literature of the field, or reviewing such texts (or PowerPoints). Main screen has the document open, the other is actually in portrait format and has gazillions of open pdfs on it that are relevant to whatever I'm working on. I had to get this setup for working from home because productivity dropped immensely with only one screen.

I'm a FE and A11y focused SWE

Laptop screen: IDE / main browser

Main monitor: terminal with dev server, and browser to localhost

I wish I could have a small, third monitor for just the terminal but my Mac struggles with one extra monitor. I also tend to work at 150% zoom because of terrible eyesight, so I don't actually have that much screen real estate.

At home I have the game I'm playing on one screen and Discord and a web browser on the other so I can communicate and look things up without needing to alt tab.

For work I generally have references, teams, email, and other stuff on other screens and a main one that I'm working on. Like querying a database while testing, editing screenshots for docs and issues, having reference docs open, etc. I don't do development itself, but do a lot of requirements documentation, testing, and project management stuff on web apps. Sometimes it is just two screens, but sometimes I have the laptop open too and put teams and email on it so I don't have to bring it forward if something comes up.

not a software dev, but a linux user and a stout technology enthusiast.

I have 3 monitors setup on my primary workstation. Two landscape in a stacked arrangement, it's just tidy and works well enough for a secondary media display, organizational monitor. And then my third is portrait for anything i keep long term tabs on, chat programs, music player, system resources, etc...

I recently switched from KDE to i3wm, and i find i need inherently less monitor. i3wm does all the sorting organization and bullshit i hate for me automagically, it's perfect for opening a terminal to check something, or work on something real quick, and being able to have one static window, and two tabbed/stacked windows on one monitor is HUGE. Super nice for terminal breakouts with a browser for documentation. If you're ever balls deep in a config and testing shit actively, you'll immediately understand how much of a godsend it is.

Anyway, floating window managers are dead and anything shipping a floating window manager is a dead product on arrival.

Author (not very successful, but still).

Main screen is for writing and editing. Second screen holds notes, maps, etc for reference as I write. If I'm editing, second screen usually has a music player going, along with notes about changes needed.

I can't say it's necessary, but the second screen really does help keep me focused better. Instead of having to switch windows and then come back, or have windows stacked up and have to move things, being able to just glance at the secondary screen is awesome.

Like, I'll have my name list up, a map of the area, and the notes for the chapter up on the secondary screen, with a fourth window tiled with any extras needed (like quick sketches for things). It's a mid sized monitor (27 inch iirc), so everything is readable with my reading glasses but it doesn't hog desk space. The main monitor is a 31 inch where I can have librewriter up and sized to where I need it, with a notepad window to the side for copy/paste usage or quick sections that inspiration hits but it isn't the right section to just enter it into the working file.

Compared to the single monitor set up I used to have, it saves me time, and *more important) allows me to stay in flow state better, which means better writing, with less editing needed later. I can, when I'm actually writing rather than trying to write, double or triple my output compared to before.

Big center monitor: ide, terminal

Big left monitor: browser. Jira ticket, documentation, email, etc. sometimes also notes. Http client (trying Bruno now).

Small laptop monitor: slack, sticky notes

Gaming: I have a game that has tons of third party software that tracks game elements real-time that are far easier to read, contain more information, and more readily understandable than any in-game menu. So play the game on one monitor, have the apps running in windows on the second one.

3D design. Have the work window open for maximum real estate on one monitor, have pop-out menus and tools on the other for things that maybe don’t have hot keys or shortcuts assigned. Also, a small browser window for “how do I” question when I hit a roadblock.

2 27” 4k monitors. I do 98% of everything on the main monitor. The screen to the right contains a few sticky notes (I use Zhorn Stickies) and a Ticktick widget with all my tasks for the day. When I start up Obsidian, I have a saved Ivy Lee list that appears in a spot on the right side monitor as well. It’s just basically quick-glance scrap space.

Data on one side, assessment write up on the other. Extremely convenient. Not sure if I’m more productive or if I’m just happier.