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DisplayLink and Windows 10

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DisplayLink technology is fully supported on all current versions of Windows 10 (Intel and AMD CPUs). In the summer of 2016, the DisplayLink architecture on Windows 10 was improved. This changes the behaviour and installation methods. The details of this are covered below:

Windows 10 Anniversary Update requires our driver v8.0 or above. The latest driver can be downloaded from our website.

Note: When upgrading to Windows 10 Anniversary Update from a previous version of Windows, you will be notified that the DisplayLink driver will be uninstalled. This is expected, and desired as the driver must also be upgraded (either from Windows update or using the driver from our website) to the new Windows architecture, once the system has upgraded. You can safely ignore the message about compatibility.

What has changed in the Windows 10 DisplayLink driver?

DisplayLink has been working with Microsoft on extending the Windows graphics architecture to support USB graphics on Windows. A new interface has been designed between Microsoft and DisplayLink for USB displays. This is available in Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016 (Redstone) from August 2016. The DisplayLink software uses the new native DisplayLink USB graphics support on Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016 onwards to provide a forward compatibility with Windows. There is no change to Windows 10 Threshold and earlier OS versions. The table summarises the DisplayLink driver compatibility:

Windows 10 Threshold 1
Windows 10 Threshold 2 
Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Redstone 1)
Windows 10 Creators Update (Redstone 2)
Windows OS Build version
How to find the Windows build number		< 10.0.10586

> 10.0.14393
Windows 10 "version"v1507 and v1511

v1607 and newer
DisplayLink driver minimum version to use7.98.0
V8.0 or later will be installed by Windows Update on Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Running the DisplayLink installer, from the DisplayLink website will also automatically install the appropriate driver for the Windows 10 version you are running.
You MUST NOT try to install DisplayLink driver 7.9 on Windows 10 Anniversary Update and newer. Similarly you MUST NOT deploy DisplayLink_Win7-10TH2.msi when you are using a Redstone build. Changes in the Windows driver model can then prevent your computer from booting!

Windows 10 Anniversary Update changes


The following driver differences will be see when using the DisplayLink driver from Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016

Device Manager

DisplayLink displays appear under "Display Adapters" in Device manager, rather than under "USB Display Adapters":


DisplayLink System Tray Icon


On Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016, the DisplayLink icon is always present in the Windows system tray (from V8.0 M2). The UI options are currently reduced while support is added to the new driver architecture.

First Connect Behaviour

On Windows 10 Anniversary Update 2016, on first connect, DisplayLink displays are configured by the Windows OS. The Windows OS behaviour is to:

  • Desktop PCs: Set the display to extend
  • Laptops and Tablets: Set the display to clone

This behaviour is no longer overridden by the DisplayLink driver.

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