Displays settings on Mac

Arrange

Arrange the position of the displays, mirror their content or relocate the position of the menu bar.

This option only appears when you have an external display connected to your Mac. See Extend or mirror your Mac desktop across multiple displays.

pop-up menu

Choose a display to mirror or extend your desktop.

Use as

Set up your display to mirror or extend your desktop or to act as your main display.

This option only appears when you have an external display connected to your Mac.

Optimise for

Choose to optimise for the external display or your desktop. This option only appears when you have an external display connected to your Mac.

Resolution

Choose the amount of detail your display shows. Choose Default to automatically use the best resolution for the display, or choose another option to manually choose between larger text or more space onscreen.

Show all resolutions

View all available resolutions, including low-resolution modes.

Brightness

Adjust how light or dark your screen appears. For alternative ways to adjust brightness, see Change your Mac display’s brightness.

Automatically adjust brightness

Automatically adjust the display brightness and black level based on current ambient lighting conditions.

True Tone

Automatically adjusts the colours on the display based on current ambient lighting conditions.

Preset

Choose a built-in reference mode that matches your media workflow. See Use the Preset menu in Displays settings.

Customise Presets

Allows you to create custom reference modes. See Create custom reference modes.

Calibrate Display

Use the Pro Display Calibrator for in-field recalibration for specific colour workflows that may require custom calibration. See Customise the calibration using the Pro Display Calibrator.

Rotate or Rotation

(depending on your display)

Rotate the image shown on your display by the chosen amount. See Rotate the image on your Mac display. This button only appears if an external display is connected to your Mac.

Refresh rate

Set how frequently your screen is redrawn. You can choose a dynamic refresh rate, known as ProMotion, or select a fixed refresh rate. If frame accuracy is desired, select the refresh rate based on the frames per second (fps) of the media you’re working with.

Show Sidebar

Choose whether the sidebar on your iPad appears on the left, the right or not at all.

This option only appears if you’re using your iPad as a second display.

Show Touch Bar

Choose whether the Touch Bar on your iPad appears on the top, the bottom or not at all.

When you use an app that supports the Touch Bar on your iPad, the Touch Bar is shown in the location you specified. The buttons available in the Touch Bar vary depending on the current app and task.

This option only appears if you’re using your iPad as a second display.

Enable double-tap on Apple Pencil

Select the tickbox if you want to be able to double-tap the lower section of Apple Pencil to switch drawing tools in some apps (if your Apple Pencil supports it).

See the Apple Support article Pair Apple Pencil with your iPad.

This option only appears if you’re using your iPad as a second display.

Overscan

Select this option if you are using a TV as a display and you can’t see the menu bar.

This option only appears on supported TVs.

Underscan

Select this option if you’re using a TV as a display and you don’t want black bars to appear around a movie or show.

This option only appears on supported TVs.

Dynamic resolution

Enable to allow the resolution of a virtual display to automatically match the size of its screen share viewer window.

This option only appears when a Screen Sharing Virtual Display is connected.

High dynamic range

Enable to allow remote ultra-high-definition video production workflows up to 1,000 nits by supporting the High Dynamic Range (HDR) Video (P3-ST 2084) reference preset.

This option only appears when a Screen Sharing Virtual Display is connected.

Advanced

Set options for viewing resolutions and connecting to a nearby Mac or iPad.

• Show resolutions as list: Enable to always see available resolutions as a list.

• Link to Mac or iPad: See Use a keyboard and mouse or trackpad across devices with Universal Control.

Night Shift

Shifts your display to the warmer end of the colour spectrum. Warmer screen colours are easier on your eyes when you use your Mac at night or in low-light conditions. See Use Night Shift.

Detect Displays

Scans for all the displays connected to your Mac. Press and hold the Option key to make this button appear in place of the Night Shift button, then click Detect Displays if your Mac doesn’t recognise a display you just connected.