Issues with Use All Displays in Fullscreen

This problem has been bugging me all morning and I can't seem to find out why it is happening.
I have a MacBook with two external monitors attached. Up until today I have been able to run a Windows installation on Parallels that uses all three screens when in Full Screen mode, with the "primary" monitor in Windows being the MacBook screen and the external monitors acting as secondary screens.
Today, however, the system refuses to go in full screen mode on the MacBook screen - when I choose the "Enter Full Screen" option the system attempts to go to full screen on one of the external monitors instead. If I try to move this full screen window to the MacBook screen it exits full screen mode and becomes a window on the MacBook screen. As I repeat this process multiple "Parallels Desktop" spaces are created but none of them work - if I select them I get presented with a black screen that doesn't do anything.
I have tried to fix this multiple ways: rebooting, shutting down VM, removing and reimporting VM, etc. None of them seem to work. Any other suggestions?
I am running the latest version (according to the "Check for updates..." option) of Parallels 10 on Yosemite 10.10.3 and have not made any changes since last week.

 

Hi Wing,
Please try re-installing Parallels Tools, refer http://kb.parallels.com/4841 and check how it works.
Also please check, Open Virtual Machine Configure >> Options >> Full screen >> Check the option which says "Use all displays in full screen".

 

Hi Dhruba,
I already tried both of those before I posted...no dice.

 

Hi Wing,
1. Start virtual machine, go to Start > in the search box type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter (return).
2. Expand Display adapters and make sure that the is no exclamation mark and the adapter is called Parallels Display Adapter.
If these requirements are not met:
3. right-click the adapter > Uninstall. If the pop-up appears, check Delete the driver software for this device and click OK.
4. Restart virtual machine and reinstall Parallels Tools (in Parallels Desktop top menu bar go to Virtual Machine > Reinstall Parallels Tools).
If these requirements are met:
5. In Parallels Desktop menu bar go to View and check Use All Displays in Full Screen option.
6. Switch the virtual machine into Fullscreen view mode.
7. Go to Start > in the search box type Control Panel and hit Enter (return).
8. Go to Hardware and Sound > Display > Adjust Resolution (on the left pane).
9. Click the additional monitors one-by-one, and in the drop-down Multiple displays menu select Extend these displays for each of the monitors and let us know how it works.

 

It did not work. I do not believe this is a Windows issue - it is an issue either with Parallels or the Spaces on the Mac side. The VM has been able to do multiple displays before, it's just recently that these issues have popped up.

 

Hi Wing, please go to Apple icon on menu bar > System Preferences > Mission control > Un check "Displays have separate spaces " > Restart the Mac > Launch Windows > Install Parallels Tools manually as suggested at http://kb.parallels.com/en/112609 and check if the issue still persisting.

 

Is that the only way? I like the idea of being able to swap between my spaces and my extended desktops. Turning off this option would not allow that, correct?

 

Hi Wing, Yes, it will allow you to swap between your spaces on extended desktops.

 

Co-worker finally solved it for me. Parallels was being forced to a certain desktop (right click Parallels - Options - Assign to Desktop None).

 

Hi Wing, Thank you for sharing the fix with us, feel free to reach us any time, we are here to help you.

 

Wing, I am not sure what you mean by right click on Parallels? The application? If I do this I do not get "Options"?

 

Wing. I just figured out what you meant. You right click on Parallels in your DOCK! I have None already checked. My issue may be different from yours. I have had a lingering problem with Parallels (not VMWare) that when I restart and leave the Space as Windows is restarting my Windows monitor stays in that space but my other two monitors go to a new space that is separate from the main one. If I do not leave the Space when restarting everything stays "attached". This drives me crazy since I work with multiple VMs at one time!

 

Thank you for posting this!

I had also right clicked on the parallels icon and had set the application to "Desktop on Display 1" and was then not able to use Parallels in full-screen and on all monitors. A tip for anyone having this same problem - you have to click the plus sign "+" and add at least one extra desktop for the display options to show up. If you then set applications to specific monitors/desktops, even if you then remove the extra virtual desktop, the settings remain. To be able to see the settings for any application again, add the virtual desktop back again.


Setting parallels to "None" did indeed fix my problem: