How I turned my old Android tablet into a second monitor for my PC

If you have an old Android tablet lying around that you're not sure what to do with, why not use it as a second display for your PC? Android, being an open platform, lets you do quite a lot with it, and there's a fantastic (not to mention free) application on the Google Play Store that can do all of the hard work for you. It's called spacedesk, and with it, I was able to quickly and easily use my tablet or my smartphone as a second monitor for my PC.

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Pretty much any modern Android tablet or smartphone will work for this, but "modern" can go back quite a few years. The team behind spacedesk says that it supports Android 4.1 and higher, which is pretty broad in terms of support. It can also be used on iPhones on iOS 9.3 and up, meaning that you could even do this to turn your old iPhone or iPad into a second monitor for your PC, too.

It's not exactly a replacement for a good monitor, but it gets the job done if you need an extra screen every now and again.

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How to turn your old tablet into a second monitor

It takes five minutes

Spacedesk turning phone into a second monitor for PC

For turning my tablet into a monitor, spacedesk is the application of choice that I used here. It only takes about five minutes to set up and configure. All you need is a cable, but it can even work wirelessly if you'd prefer.

1. On your smartphone or tablet, find the spacedesk app on the Google Play Store, so install it and open it.
2. On your PC, navigate to the spacedesk website and install the spacedesk application. You'll then need to launch it, where you'll be brought to the "Driver Console"
3. 

   spacedesk driver console on windows
   From there, plug in your device to your computer, open the spacedesk app on it, and on your PC in the spacedesk control panel, click "USB Cable Driver Android." Finally, enable USB Cable Android in this menu.
4. If your device asks for permission to connect to spacedesk, allow the connection. It should then instantly connect.

Spacedesk showing third monitor on Windows

That's it! Your phone will then show up as a third monitor in Windows. You can move it around and change how your monitor is positioned relative to other devices, just like any other monitor on your PC. By default, your audio will now come through the device that you connected, so if this bothers you, be sure to change it. This program isn't exclusive to tablets either, and you can set it up on an old phone you may have lying around either.