Mirror laptop screen

Sorry I'm not at my laptop currently but will get the information necessary soon. Not sure if there's a misunderstanding which is my fault for how I explained it. But basically, on Windows, plug a laptop into your TV with HDMI and you'll see it is mirroring exactly what is on the laptop screen. On Linux, it shows what seems like a blank wallpaper (maybe setup as a second monitor of sorts?) What I want is to basically mirror laptop on TV just like Windows does by default.