Got an old monitor lying around collecting dust, or found a super cheap one on Facebook Marketplace? It’s time to put it to good use.

There are many ways you can repurpose an old monitor and turn it into one of your favorite tech gizmos in the house. Thanks to mini PCs, Raspberry Pis, and smart TV sticks, there are plenty of ways to breathe new life into the aging display.

7

Use It as a Secondary Monitor

Perhaps the most obvious use of an old monitor is to hook it up to your PC as a secondary monitor. Now that you have a shiny new monitor, it doesn’t mean that you have to get rid of the old one. If it’s not worth all that much on the used market (and if it is, you could sell it and buy two older monitors), then it could make for the perfect secondary display.

If you’ve never used a dual-monitor setup, you don’t realize how much you’re missing until you try it. One of the simplest yet most productive ways to take advantage of it is by splitting your Chrome tabs across both screens.

You could dedicate one display to ChatGPT, Notepad, or a productivity tool, while focusing on your main task on the primary monitor. It also helps organize your digital workspace, as the two monitors feel like distinct, dedicated work zones.

Even if you already have two monitors, there’s little reason not to get a third one, assuming you have a large enough desk or can move things around to accommodate it. It’s more screen estate for your browser tabs, Slack, Asana, and other productivity tools if you work from home.

If you’re a gamer, use one monitor for Discord or Spotify and another for Chrome while gaming on your primary screen. Streamers can use it to monitor the stream chat. The options are near-endless!

If your GPU only has a single HDMI port with multiple DisplayPorts, but the monitor doesn’t have a DisplayPort, or it’s an older VGA or DVI unit, you can easily solve this with an adapter, such as the CableDeconn Multi-Function DisplayPort Adapter. I used an adapter with my old VGA monitor as a secondary display on my PC for nearly five years until it finally kicked the bucket.

Monitors are more like TVs than you might think. If your monitor has built-in speakers and an HDMI port, then it’s basically a dumb TV waiting for you to plug in a streaming stick and start binge-watching YouTube and Netflix. It’s the perfect setup for a mini media center in your kitchen, guest room, garage, patio, or home gym. It’s a compact solution for watching content in less-frequented areas of your home.

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Even if your monitor doesn’t have built-in speakers, you can still use Bluetooth speakers or headphones for audio, which is totally fine if you’re watching on your own.

If you choose to mount the monitor somewhere in the kitchen, I’d advise against using it for recipes simply because an old tablet would do a better job at it. You can still use the monitor to watch content while cooking and follow the recipe on the tablet.

And if speakers are a must, some Android TV boxes include a 3.5mm audio jack. A Raspberry Pi could also get the job done if you’re the DIY type. You could hook up an old pair of PC speakers for a proper (and most importantly, free) home theater experience.

5

Convert It Into a Home Surveillance Monitor

What better way to repurpose an old monitor than by using it to monitor your home (pun intended)? Most home security cameras provide an easy way to stream directly to your monitor, saving you from having to open your phone each time you want to check the live feed. You can even use it as a literal baby monitor.

Some units like the AXIS M42 Series have an HDMI Output that can stream directly via an HDMI cable, but there are other solutions, too.

For instance, you can combine the monitor with a Raspberry Pi, mini PC, or your current PC to connect to the internet and run a web app like Wyze Live (for Wyze cameras). Alternatively, you can set up your own solution using a self-hosted NVR (network video recorder).

4

Repurpose It as a Smart Dashboard

Another cool use for an old monitor is to turn it into a dashboard. Mount the monitor to a wall or place it on a shelf, counter, or desk where it’s easy to glance at, then hook up a Raspberry Pi, Mini PC, or even an old Android phone, and decide what kind of dashboard software you’d like to run.

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Ideally, the dashboard would use software that automatically updates without you having to interact with it. Remember, the monitor (probably) doesn’t have a touchscreen, so it’s really more of a display for your clock, calendar, weather, to-do list, and more.

The open-source MagicMirror2 platform is a pretty solid option. While the name implies that it’s designed with smart mirrors in mind, it still works with monitors and is a solid option here, but don’t hesitate to explore other options as well.

You could even take it a step further by adding a custom wood frame to cover the monitor’s unsightly bezels for a sleeker, more homey look. By the way, this tip also applies to the next use case.

3

Turn It Into a Digital Art Display

If you love art and want to show it off, your old monitor is perfect for this. A slideshow of your favorite pieces is a beautiful way to add a touch of modern home décor that looks modern and elegant without spending any real money. Even if it’s an older CRT monitor, it can look amazing with the right combination of vaporwave and cyberpunk wallpapers.

If you’re an artist, this is the perfect solution to showcase your digital pieces in your art studio without any upfront costs. Brownie points if you build a cool custom frame to hide the monitor’s bezels.

To create a digital art gallery, you can use a variety of devices, including any smart TV stick or box that has internal storage and a Gallery app. Load your photos onto it, then simply start the slideshow, and enjoy the view.

As a side note, you’ve probably already seen people use the Gallery app on their smart TVs for this, but I think it’s wasteful. LCD panels slowly wear down their backlights, but OLED screens are even more vulnerable.

With OLEDs, it’s practically a race to uneven brightness caused by uneven wear. If only a few images are used, or the gallery has fixed interface elements, the screen might even suffer from burn-in. While the backlighting on your old monitor will eventually fail too, the cost is more bearable. In fact, you likely won’t mind having to recycle it when it eventually dies.

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2

Use It for a Live Social Feed

If you’re a fan of RSS feeds, you’ll love this one. An old monitor is the perfect device to use for live social feeds (or RSS feeds) that allow you to glance over the screen throughout the day to see what’s new.

Since you probably won’t have a mouse hooked up to the device powering the feed, you can stay in the know by only reading the content without diving too deep into the topics and wasting time. It’s the perfect solution for those of us who spend a little too much time on our phones.

Like with most other solutions from this list, there are many ways to build a social feed. Premium users on X can use X Pro (previously called TweetDeck), but there are far simpler (and free) solutions.

A Raspberry Pi or mini PC running a Chrome browser and the Auto Refresh Page extension is all you need. Open the browser in full-screen mode or run multiple browser windows side-by-side and go to your social media websites of choice, then configure the extension to refresh as you’d like.

1

Use It for a Secondary Gaming Station or Arcade Cabinet

Perhaps one of the coolest ways to use an old monitor is as a gaming station. You can never have too many gaming setups at home, especially if you have kids or frequent gamer visitors. This works particularly well if your monitor is a high refresh rate panel. Simply hook up your laptop or an old PC and enjoy older games with smoother performance than ever before.

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If you’re planning to build a retro gaming station, an old CRT monitor works even better. It’s the best way to enjoy classic games running via an emulator.

The simplest way to set this up is to find a spot in your home for the monitor, connect a device that can run emulators—such as a Raspberry Pi, mini PC, or an old desktop—or even play games natively on your handheld, then set up RetroArch. Connect a compatible controller, and enjoy gaming on your mini emulator station.

If you’re handy and want to take it a step further, you could build a DIY arcade cabinet using some plywood. And what controller is better suited for the task than the 8BitDo Arcade Stick, which you can hook up to your Raspberry Pi or mini PC so it never needs charging. You could even add a pair of vintage speakers for a really cool custom arcade cabinet. The possibilities are almost endless.

Number of Colors

1

Control Types

Arcade Stick

Wireless?

Bluetooth and 2.4GHz USB Dongle

Compatible Systems

Nintendo Switch and any Xinput-compatible Device

Brand

8BitDo

Color Options

Retro

The 8Bitdo Arcade Stick for Switch is a premium arcade controller designed for Nintendo Switch and PC, perfect for fighting game enthusiasts and retro gamers. It features a classic layout with highly responsive, customizable buttons and joystick. 

As it turns out, much like with an older TV, there are many ways to repurpose an old monitor. Monitors are arguably even more practical for DIY projects. Since they’re significantly smaller, it’s easier to find a spot for one in your home, and you don’t even have to wall-mount it, as a monitor arm can achieve much of the same effect.