How to mirror a PC to a TV
TVs are basically just smart monitors. Instead of hooking them up to your laptop or PC, you use a TV box, a cable service, or other streaming apps/services, to stream content to them. That said, you can use your TV as a display for your computer any time you want. If you are, for example, playing a game, you can mirror it to your TV and play on a larger screen.
Mirror PC to TV
You can mirror a PC to a TV with a wire, or wirelessly. If you choose to go the wireless route, you will need to purchase some sort of dongle that can receive a signal from your PC, and transmit it to the TV.
1. Mirror PC to TV – HDMI
Most modern PCs, whether they’re laptops or desktops, have an HDMI port. Likewise, TVs have an HDMI port as well. A simple HDMI cable is enough to mirror a PC to a TV. You will need to buy an HDMI cable but they are cheap.
- Connect the HDMI cable to your laptop/desktop system.
- Connect the other end of the HDMI cable to your TV’s HDMI port.
- On your laptop/desktop, assuming you’re running Windows 10, tap the Win+P keyboard shortcut.
- In the panel that opens on the right, select ‘Duplicate’.
- Your PC’s screen will be mirrored on the TV.
2. Mirror PC to TV – Chromecast
Chromecast is Google’s branded TV dongle. There are other dongles that you can buy e.g. an Amazon Firestick, or a generic dongle that supports Miracast however, we recommend a Chromecast simply because it’s easier to use on Windows 10, macOS, and Linux, and because it’s more reliable than Miracast.
- Set up your Chromecast.
- Install Chrome on your PC. Download it here.
- Sign in to Chrome with the same Google account used to set up the Chromecast.
- Open Chrome.
- Click the more options button.
- Select Cast.
- Select your Chromecast.
- Open the ‘Sources’ dropdown.
- Select ‘Cast desktop’.
- Everything on your desktop will be mirrored to your TV.
Conclusion
A smartTV might put up a bit of a fight when you try to mirror your PC’s screen to it. SmartTVs like the AppleTV or a Samsung TV aren’t meant to receive an input signal from a PC but if your TV has an HDMI port, wired mirroring is the best option. With an HDMI cable, you won’t get lag though you should make sure you can stream both audio and video through your PC’s HDMI port. You may need to stream audio through other means if your PC’s HDMI port cannot stream audio.
