Terraria alt-tab: stop it pausing and minimizing
To make Terraria not pause when tabbed out, set Settings, General, Pause When Unfocused to Off; to stop it minimizing, turn on Borderless Window. What neither setting does is keep Terraria on the monitor you want: it opens on your main display or wherever it was last. Second Screen Gaming puts it on the screen you choose at every launch and keeps the mouse there while you play.
Keep Terraria on the right monitor, every launch
Run Terraria windowed, turn on Second Screen Gaming's Run borderless on a chosen screen and pick the monitor. At every launch Terraria lands on that screen and fills it, and waits for it if it is unplugged. Keep the mouse on this screen stops the cursor drifting onto your other monitor during a fight, and is released the moment you alt-tab.
Why Terraria pauses and minimizes when you alt-tab
Terraria pauses singleplayer the moment you click away, and in fullscreen it minimizes too, because fullscreen gives the display back when the window loses focus. Both have a setting: Pause When Unfocused, added in version 1.4.5.5, and Borderless Window.
Stop Terraria pausing when you alt-tab
Open Settings, General and set Pause When Unfocused to Off. Your singleplayer world keeps running while you read the wiki or answer a message on your other screen. Multiplayer worlds never pause.
On a version older than 1.4.5.5, the workaround players use is to start the world through Host & Play from the Multiplayer menu instead of Single Player. A hosted world is a server, and servers do not pause.
Do not confuse it with Autopause, which is a separate setting that pauses the game while your inventory or a sign is open.
Stop Terraria minimizing
In fullscreen, Terraria minimizes as soon as you click another monitor. Switch to borderless:
- On the main menu, open Settings, Video, Resolution.
- Set Borderless Window to Enabled. It fills the screen at your desktop resolution with no frame.
- Or press Alt+Enter to switch between fullscreen and windowed.
Borderless Window can only be changed on the main menu, not in a world.
Moving Terraria to another monitor by hand
Players report two fixes: turn Borderless Window off, drag the window to the screen you want and turn it back on, or press Windows key + Shift + Left or Right arrow to move it. Neither sticks reliably across launches.
Common questions
How do I make Terraria not pause when minimized?
Set Pause When Unfocused to Off in Settings, General. On a version older than 1.4.5.5, start the world through Host & Play, since a hosted world never pauses.
Does Terraria keep playing sound when I alt-tab?
It can go quiet when it loses focus. With Pause When Unfocused off the world keeps running, and if the sound still drops, the guide to keeping game sound on covers it.
Why does Terraria's frame rate drop when I'm on my other screen?
Windows can throttle a game in the background to save power. See how to keep a game running when tabbed out.
Is Host & Play safe for my singleplayer world?
Yes. It runs the same world file on a local server only you join. The one difference is that the game no longer pauses at all, including from the menu.