UDM helps you manage monitor layouts, resolution, refresh rate, orientation, DPI scaling, HDR,
cloning, display positioning, and profile-based setup switching from one app that lives in your system tray.
It is designed to feel simple when you just want to fix something quickly, while still giving power users deeper control
through profiles, recovery tools, and command-line workflows.
No admin required
Installs through the Microsoft Store and runs without UAC prompts.
Lite + Pro
The free app handles direct display control, while Pro adds profiles, failsafe recovery, and more.
Built for real setups
Works best as a practical Windows utility, not a one-feature toy.
A quick history of the public UDM releases covered by this documentation.
Full CLI implementation for direct display control, scripting, profile workflows, recovery tools, and JSON output
Display naming for cleaner monitor identification Pro
Stronger failsafe recovery behavior Pro
Profile export and direct profile launching improvements Pro
Support logging improvements, including Lite availability
General reliability and packaging improvements
Released the tray menu, Options window, layout editor, theming system, and Display Properties window
Brought core display control for topology, resolution, refresh rate, orientation, scale, HDR, cloning, and DDC/CI power workflows
Introduced Pro features including profiles, failsafe, monitor list, UI customization, and profile hotkeys
Included the first basic command-line support, later expanded heavily in v1.1
Ultimate Display Manager is a Windows desktop utility for managing multi-monitor setups with less friction than the built-in Windows display controls.
What it can do
Manage topology, resolution, refresh rate, orientation, DPI scaling, HDR, display cloning, display positioning, and recovery-oriented profile switching.
Who it is for
Anyone who wants faster control over a desktop or laptop display setup, from casual users to power users with multiple saved layouts.
Where it is available
UDM is distributed through the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 and Windows 11.
How it feels
Practical, trustworthy, and easy to reach from the tray, with deeper tools ready when you need them.
Screenshot placeholder
Main app overview / Options window hero image
Replace with a clean full-window screenshot that shows the layout editor and overall app styling.
UDM installs through the Microsoft Store and keeps its writable data outside the app install folder.
Where to install
Search the Microsoft Store for UDM - Ultimate Display Manager for Windows.
System requirements
Windows 10 build 19041 or later, on either x64 or x86 systems.
Permissions
UDM is designed to run without admin rights.
Tiers
The Store install includes UDM Lite for free, with an optional in-app upgrade to UDM Pro.
Where your files go
App data and settings: stored under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Ultimate Display Manager
Profiles, logs, and backups: stored under %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Ultimate Display Manager
Install folder: not used for writable data
Launching UDM
After installation, you can launch UDM from the Start menu. You can also run udm from a terminal,
the Run dialog, or a shortcut.
Profile files: UDM profile files use the .udmp extension. On Pro, double-clicking a profile file can apply it directly.
UDM lives in the system tray after launch, so most of your day-to-day control starts there.
What happens when you launch it
The UDM tray icon appears in the Windows notification area.
Lite users get a one-time welcome notification.
Pro users who have not created a failsafe yet are taken straight to the Options window so they can finish first-time setup.
If a failsafe already exists, UDM follows your normal startup preference and either opens the Options window or starts minimized to tray.
Tray icon behavior
Right-click
Opens the full tray menu with monitor actions, profiles, hotkeys, Options, About, and Exit.
Left-click
Opens the Options window. By default this is a single click, but you can change it to double-click in Settings.
A good first five minutes
Launch UDM and confirm the tray icon is visible.
Open the Options window with a left-click on the tray icon.
Look at the layout editor to match the app's display view to your desk setup.
Try a direct action such as changing orientation, resolution, or primary display.
Pro users: set your failsafe layout before building a profile library.
Return to the tray menu when you want fast everyday access without keeping the window open.
The Options window is the main control surface for UDM.
Top area
The app title opens the About window.
The version label is shown beside the title.
The Settings button opens the Settings window.
Failsafe row Pro
If you use Pro, the Options window includes a failsafe button near the top. Before setup it reads Set failsafe (Setup).
After setup it changes to Update failsafe layout.
Profile row Visible in both tiers, active in Pro
Profile dropdown — lists saved profiles
Load profile — applies the selected profile
Save current layout — saves the live display state as a profile
… — opens more profile actions such as rename, export, import, and recovery
In Lite, these controls stay visible but route you to the upgrade flow instead of performing profile actions.
Main center area
Layout editor — a visual canvas of your displays
Display action buttons — fast actions for the current selection Pro
Monitor list — the detailed table view of your displays Pro
Bottom area
Edit hotkeys… opens the Hotkey Editor
Close hides the window
Lite users see Upgrade! in the footer
Pro users see Donate!, which can be hidden in settings if preferred
Screenshot placeholder
Full Options window with labels or clean crop
Good place for a guided screenshot showing the profile row, layout editor, and footer.
UDM gives you both quick tray actions and a more detailed monitor list for precise work.
Monitor list Pro
Shows each known display in a sortable multi-column table.
Supports keyboard control, multi-select, and double-click to open Display Properties.
Can remember your chosen sorting when that setting is enabled.
Why there are two monitor menus
Tray menu version
Includes a shortcut into the detailed window because you are not already inside it.
Monitor list right-click version
Skips that extra shortcut and instead adds display naming tools for quicker editing in-place.
Available per-monitor actions
Set as primary
Solo a display
Enable or disable a display
Extend in several ways, including variants that re-enable displays
Clone one display to another, to a group, or to all compatible displays
Stop cloning
Change orientation, resolution, refresh rate, and scale
Toggle HDR on supported displays
Power a display on or off through DDC/CI on supported hardware
Copy common monitor identifiers and details
Open Display Properties
Safety behavior: when a display is part of an active clone group, UDM intentionally hides settings that could desync the group.
Display Properties window
The Display Properties window gives you a focused editor for one display. From there you can toggle enable state, power,
primary status, orientation, resolution, refresh rate, DPI scaling, and HDR when supported, then apply several changes together.
Display naming Pro
You can give a display a custom name to make similar monitors easier to tell apart. That name shows up throughout the app and can also be used in CLI targeting.
The layout editor is the visual heart of UDM and is available in both Lite and Pro.
What it shows
Each active or known display appears as a draggable rectangle, arranged in roughly the same way Windows sees your monitor layout.
How to use it
Click a display to select it.
Drag a display to reposition it.
Use Ctrl + click to add or remove displays from the selection.
Drag empty space to draw a selection box.
Drag a multi-selection to move a group together.
Hold Ctrl while dragging for finer movement.
Snapping helps align edges and corners cleanly.
Tabs above the canvas
When relevant, UDM shows tabs for active displays, inactive displays, and clone-group views so you can focus on the right slice of your setup.
Selection sync Pro
In Pro, selecting a display in the layout editor also highlights its row in the monitor list, and selecting a row in the list highlights the display on the canvas.
Identify overlay
Use the identify control in the app or run udm --identify to show a large number on each real monitor so you can match the on-screen layout to your physical desk.
Screenshot placeholder
Layout editor close-up or identify overlay capture
Use a screenshot that clearly communicates drag-and-drop layout editing.
Profiles let you save complete display setups and switch between them later.
What a profile remembers
A profile saves the live state of your display setup, including topology, primary display, resolution, refresh rate,
orientation, HDR state, DPI scale, positioning, and active cloning.
What you can do with profiles
Save the current layout as a named profile.
Load a profile to return to that exact setup.
Rename a profile when your library grows.
Delete and recover profiles through the built-in backup flow.
Import a .udmp file into UDM.
Export a profile to a .udmp file for sharing or backup.
Where profile controls appear
The profile row in the Options window
The Profiles submenu in the tray menu
The tray shortcut for creating a profile from the current layout
The tray command for reloading the most recently loaded profile
Good habit: set your failsafe first, then build your profile library. That way UDM always has a known-good layout to fall back to.
Failsafe is UDM’s recovery safety net for risky or unusual display transitions.
What it is
Your failsafe is a saved, known-good display layout. If something goes wrong during a switch, UDM can use that layout to bring you back to a working state.
Why it matters
Some display changes can fail in messy ways because of drivers, disappearing displays, clone-group edge cases, or unusual hardware situations.
Failsafe exists so you are less likely to get stranded in a broken configuration.
How to set it up
Open the Options window.
Click Set failsafe (Setup) if you have not created one yet.
Later, use Update failsafe layout whenever your preferred safe layout changes.
How to trigger it
From the tray menu
From the dedicated failsafe hotkey
Automatically, when UDM can recover from a failed or risky operation
Safe switching
Pro also includes a Safe switching setting that adds extra caution and delay to certain profile transitions.
Its current on/off state is shown in the Options window footer.
UDM lets you tailor both the look of the app and, in Pro, how much UI is visible.
Theme options
System — follows your Windows theme
Light — bright interface with its own accent color
Dark — dark interface with its own accent color
Both Light and Dark themes have separate accent color controls, each with a default reset button.
Customize UI Pro
Pro users can open Customize UI… from Settings to decide how much of the Options window and monitor menus they want to keep visible.
Hide or show the display action button row
Hide or show the monitor list
Hide or show the info footer
Choose the number of visible monitor list rows
Hide monitor-menu categories you never use
UDM Pro expands UDM from direct display control into layout persistence, recovery, and deeper customization.
Safe switching Add extra caution to risky profile changes.
Reload last profile Quickly re-apply the most recent layout.
Profile hotkeys Trigger specific saved layouts from the keyboard.
Monitor list Use the detailed multi-column display table in the Options window.
Display action row Get faster buttons for the selected display.
Customize UI Hide surfaces and menu sections you do not need.
Display naming Give your monitors custom names.
Pro CLI commands Unlock profile, failsafe, recovery, and naming commands in the CLI.
How to upgrade
Click Upgrade! inside the app
Click any locked Pro control in the Options window
Use udm --upgrade from the command line
Purchase the add-on from the Microsoft Store listing
Restoring your purchase
UDM Pro is a durable purchase tied to your Microsoft account. Reinstalling the app on the same account should restore access automatically.
UDM includes a real command-line interface, so you can control the app from Command Prompt, PowerShell, Windows Terminal, the Run dialog, scripts, or shortcuts.
Important: the free tier covers direct display control. Pro adds profile management, recovery flows, display naming, and other persistence-oriented commands.
Getting started
The main command is simply udm. Many commands can be run while the app is closed, and UDM will perform the action and exit cleanly.
If UDM is already running, the command can hand off to the existing instance instead of launching a second copy.
UDM can also run JSON recipe files with --run <file>. Recipes stop on the first failed step and can combine direct display commands,
waits, profile actions, and a few UI boundary helpers.
You can also pass a .udmp file path directly to UDM, which is especially useful for imported profile files and shortcuts.
A few quick checks solve most common issues.
Where to find logs
Turn on Enable support logging in Settings → Advanced. Logs are then written to
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Ultimate Display Manager\Logs.
Where your data lives
App settings and cache:%LOCALAPPDATA%\Ultimate Display Manager
Profiles, logs, and recovered items:%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Ultimate Display Manager
Need help finding them? Use the Open data folder button in Settings → Advanced.
UDM Pro looks locked after purchase
Restart UDM
Make sure the Microsoft Store is signed into the account that purchased Pro
Run udm --update or udm --upgrade --quiet to refresh the status
A CLI command says it requires Pro
That is expected for profile, failsafe, recovery, and other Pro-only commands. You can launch the purchase flow with udm --upgrade.
Resetting settings
Use Restore all to default in Settings to reset most app settings. The CLI equivalent is udm --restoredefault, which requires --force when run non-interactively.
Mixed-DPI setups
UDM is designed to work correctly on mixed-DPI setups, but the window may look a little softer when moved between monitors with very different scaling values.
Reporting a bug
The best report includes a log file, your Windows version, a short description of your monitor setup, what you did, and what you expected to happen.
Contact: lucid.direct@hotmail.com
UDM stores its working data locally on your PC and does not operate its own data-collection service.
Your profiles, settings, logs, and app data stay on your machine.
UDM does not send usage data to a UDM-run server.
Store purchase and entitlement checks go through Microsoft Store services.
Update checks also go through Microsoft Store services.
Read the full privacy policy for the formal privacy statement.
