Finish setting up Offhand in WoW

Once your Windowed WoW client covers the intended displays, Offhand guides you through the seam, Mainhand viewport, interface scale, and protected HUD layout.

Most users only need the guided setup below. The remaining sections explain Edit Mode, the settings dashboard, everyday use, and recovery.

Follow the guide once

Open the guide with /offhand guide. It remains available later from Help & recovery.

Before setup: save a copy of your Blizzard Edit Mode layout and back up your UI addon profiles. Spanning changes the canvas and can require repositioning custom interfaces. On Windows, the Microsoft Store Companion is the recommended placement method.
1

Start setup

Back up your Blizzard Edit Mode layout and UI addon profiles, then click Start setup in the welcome guide.

2

Choose your window tool

Choose Use Companion for the recommended Windows setup. Click Already installed, or get Companion and return here. FancyZones and manual placement remain alternatives.

3

Use Windowed mode

Select standard Windowed, then Place WoW. Windowed (Fullscreen) is different. Windowed mode alone does not span the game.

4

Span, reload and confirm

While in the game world, select your screens and Mainhand in Companion and click Span WoW Now. Return to the guide, click Reload UI, then Confirm placement. For FancyZones/manual placement, visually check the window, choose Confirm placement, then Remember Window.

5

Calibrate and finish the HUD

Click Start Calibration. Follow the separate wizard through display detection, orientation, seam and UI scale. Where supported, finish with Create Mainhand HUD Layout outside combat with Edit Mode closed, then Reload UI.

Expand a screen reference when you need it; select any image for its full-size view. Captures show one portrait/landscape setup. Values, available controls and some wording vary by client and version. Companion-supplied geometry controls are expected to be locked.

First-time setup: five steps

Welcome, window tool, Windowed mode, placement and calibration

Calibration wizard: five steps

Detection, Mainhand, seam, scale and HUD completion

Check Mainhand and Offhand labels

Only the two WoW monitor regions are shown

Click Show Mainhand / Offhand in the guide or Display settings. These labels show your configured regions, not automatically detected physical monitors. If they cross the bezel, correct the placement or calibration. Labels disappear after 12 seconds or when you choose Hide labels.

Already completed part of the process? Open /offhand. Use Auto-Setup Wizard to repeat calibration, or use the Offhand Monitor & Map tab's Recovery & Preview controls for targeted repair.

Let each system own the right frames

Offhand manages ordinary workspace windows. Blizzard Edit Mode remains responsible for protected combat controls.

Offhand manages workspace windows

World Map, Character panel, combined backpack, chat, and supported addon panels can live on the Offhand Monitor. Drag supported frames by their headers and let Offhand remember their positions.

Edit Mode manages protected HUD controls

Action bars, unit frames, stance and pet bars, party and raid frames, and other protected combat UI remain under Blizzard ownership. Customize these through Edit Mode after Offhand creates the Mainhand-safe layout.

1

Create

Outside combat with Edit Mode closed, select Create Mainhand HUD Layout. Offhand clones the active Blizzard layout and moves default HUD anchors into Mainhand while preserving custom-positioned source entries.

2

Reload

Reload when prompted so the generated layout and the rest of the Offhand workspace start from a clean state.

3

Personalize

Open Blizzard Edit Mode, fine-tune the generated Offhand layout, and save it. Setup can reuse a compatible account layout on other characters without rewriting its edits. Different display geometry or frame owners may need a numbered layout; native controller layouts use Offhand - Gamepad. Existing character-named layouts remain intact. Keep protected controls inside the visible Mainhand region.

4

Designate on Forever

After selecting and saving the custom layout in Edit Mode, return to Offhand Monitor & Map → Recovery & Preview and select Use Current Edit Mode Layout. Built-in Modern and Classic layouts cannot be designated.

Forever Gamepad example with map, Character panel, bags, and chat on portrait Offhand, and the gamepad HUD on landscape Mainhand.
Example: Forever's default Gamepad layout. This shows one working result across a portrait Offhand monitor and landscape Mainhand. It is not a required appearance. Use Blizzard Edit Mode to adapt the generated Mainhand layout to your controls, accessibility needs, and play style. Select the image to inspect it at full size.

The HUD creation prompt

Create the layout, then reload when prompted
Do not create or rebuild the layout during combat. If Edit Mode controls become unreachable, temporarily return WoW to Mainhand, repair and save the layout, then restore the combined window.

Know where to make each change

Type /offhand or /oh. Changes update the active profile immediately and WoW writes them to disk on logout or /reload.

1

Display

Use this tab for monitor orientation, Mainhand geometry, the remembered independent window, camera and UI scale, world text, group-loot placement, and advanced bezel compensation.

  • Start with the Auto-Setup Wizard.
  • Keep raw mouse input enabled if vertical camera movement stops at the canvas boundary.
  • Only remember a FancyZones or manual window after visually confirming its placement.
2

Offhand Monitor & Map

Use this tab for the World Map, ordinary workspace windows, persistence, recovery, and supported window behavior.

  • Start with Recover Missing UI when a supported window or HUD element is fully off-screen. Visible elements stay in place.
  • Use Recovery & Preview to rebuild or designate the protected HUD layout.
  • Use Reapply Layout after correcting the window or changing workspace settings.
3

Themes & Colors

Choose the settings-window style, trim colour, canvas background, and opacity. The Background Studio card reports whether an installed Offhand_UserMedia package is ready.

  • Enable Use installed custom background after installing the media package.
  • Use the Studio recommendation or override it with Fill, Fit, or Stretch.
  • Fully restart WoW after replacing the media package.

Create or update a background

4

Profiles

Create separate groups of Offhand settings for different characters, display arrangements, or play styles. The selected profile is character-specific, while its settings update as you make changes.

  • Create a profile before making a substantially different configuration.
  • Copy into current replaces the current profile with another profile's settings.
  • Use reset and delete carefully because their confirmation describes permanent profile changes.
5

Help & recovery

This is the in-game setup and recovery handbook. It reopens the first-time guide, calibration, and common recovery actions without requiring you to return to the website during play.

/offhand guideFirst-time guide/offhand wizardCalibration wizard/offhand diagSupport diagnostics

Which settings should a new user change first?

  1. Complete the wizard before changing individual geometry controls.
  2. On Offhand Monitor & Map, decide whether ordinary panels should redirect to the workspace and remain independently open.
  3. Open the map, bags, Character panel, and chat, then arrange the supported windows where you want them.
  4. Use Themes & Colors only after the functional layout is comfortable.
  5. Perform one full logout and cold relaunch before building additional profiles.

See each settings tab

Open only the tab you need. Each image links to the full-size capture so labels and controls remain readable.

Display

Canvas, geometry, text, loot, and OBS controls

Offhand Monitor & Map

Workspace behavior, window locking, and recovery

Themes & Colors

Window style, canvas background, and Background Studio

Profiles

Save and switch configurations

Help & recovery

Setup handbook and recovery shortcuts

Open Help & recovery for the setup handbook. Welcome to Offhand reopens first-time setup, Auto-Setup Wizard repeats calibration, and Window Setup returns to placement. Start with Recover Missing UI when a supported window has disappeared.

Restore the window before the workspace

Offhand validates the game canvas first, then restores panels and applies the saved layout.

FancyZones

Launch WoW, place it into the saved Canvas zone if Windows did not restore it automatically, and let Offhand validate the remembered dimensions.

Companion

Apply the saved span before opening workspace panels. Companion may be closed afterward unless you want automatic spanning or active display recovery.

Manual placement

Resize and position WoW to the remembered canvas. Only select Remember Current Window again after visually verifying the complete placement.

Cold-launch check

  1. Exit WoW normally and fully relaunch it.
  2. Restore the intended Windowed span.
  3. Confirm that the 3D world remains on Mainhand.
  4. Open the map, bags, Character panel, and chat to confirm the workspace.
  5. Confirm that the protected HUD uses the intended Edit Mode layout.

Start with the symptom

Correct the window before rebuilding in-game placement. Offhand keeps saved panel positions when it falls back to safe single-screen geometry.

Window size or split is wrong

Reapply the FancyZones zone, Companion span, or manual size. Reload after a corrected Companion span. For an independent setup, remember the current window only after its placement is visibly correct.

The seam needs finer adjustment

Manual Physical Monitor Seam Alignment supports 10% to 90% with 0.1 percentage-point precision. Exact Companion topology sets the physical seam automatically, so manual adjustment is disabled while it is active.

The loading screen is cropped

WoW's native loading artwork can span or crop across unequal displays. Offhand's in-world viewport does not control that artwork. As a manual workaround, use Companion's Restore Window before loading, then Span WoW Now once back in the world. If a border remains inside Mainhand after loading, check the actual window placement, Windows display scaling and bezel settings, then include those details with your report.

A supported window or HUD element is missing

Open Offhand Monitor & Map → Recovery & Preview and choose Recover Missing UI. It targets fully off-screen supported elements; anything visible on either display stays in place. Inactive abilities and interaction windows stay closed. Recovered elements may need adjustment, and HUD repair may require a reload.

You want workspace panels back on Mainhand

Gather Safe UI to Mainhand is a broader gather action. Read its confirmation: it can move supported visible workspace windows and update saved positions, including windows that were already reachable. It does not reposition protected HUD systems.

A protected HUD frame is misplaced

Leave combat, open Blizzard Edit Mode, select the layout intended for this character, reposition the frame, and save. Use Recover Missing UI first if only an off-screen element needs repair. Rebuilding the Mainhand layout can reposition visible HUD systems and replace edits in the generated layout, so back up the layout before rebuilding.

The custom Edit Mode layout list is full

Open Escape → Edit Mode and its layout dropdown. Export a custom layout if you may want it later, then delete only an unwanted layout. Close Edit Mode, reopen /offhand wizard and retry HUD creation. Offhand does not delete layouts for you.

The custom background is unavailable

Verify that Offhand User Media is enabled, check the package status on Themes & Colors, and fully restart WoW after replacing the folder.

A display was disconnected

Return WoW to a surviving display before changing the HUD. Reconnect the saved display, restore the combined window, then reapply the layout.

You need support

Run /offhand diag and include the client, addon version, geometry source, persistence source, placement method, and exact symptom. Companion users should also include its activity log.

A safe fallback is not data loss. If the current window materially differs from the remembered canvas or exact topology, Offhand uses single-screen geometry rather than applying the split to the wrong window. Restore the intended window before changing saved placements.