Displays settings on Mac

On your Mac, use Displays settings to adjust resolution and brightness and to set display options.

If your Mac doesn’t recognise an external display

Set sleep and wake settings for your Mac

Browse through the options below for details about customising your settings.

Note: Not all options described here appear for all displays or Mac models, and some options appear only when your Mac is connected to a display.

To open these settings, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Displays in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)

Open Displays settings for me

Option				Description
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				Choose whether your display mirrors or extends your desktop or acts as your main display. This option only appears when you have an external display connected to your Mac. See Extend or mirror your Mac desktop across multiple displays.
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 select a resolution. See Change your Mac display’s resolution.
Show all resolutions				View all available resolutions, including low-resolution modes.
Brightness				Adjust how light or dark your screen appears. Move the slider to the right to make the screen brighter or to the left to make it darker. See Change your Mac display’s brightness.
Automatically adjust brightness or Ambient light compensation (depending on your display)				Adjust the display brightness automatically based on current ambient lighting conditions. This option is only available if your Mac has ambient light sensing.
True Tone				Automatically adjust the colours on the display based on current ambient lighting conditions.
Colour profile				Change the colour profile your display uses. Detailed information about all of the colour profiles installed on your Mac (and used by connected cameras, printers and displays) is provided in ColorSync Utility (in the Applications > Utilities folder). See the ColorSync Utility User Guide. You can also create your own custom colour profile by calibrating your display.
When connected to TV				Choose what to share when connected to a TV or whether to ask each time you connect. This option only appears on a Mac with Apple silicon. See Extend or mirror your Mac desktop across multiple displays and Mirror your Mac on a TV.
Preset				Choose a built-in reference mode that matches your media workflow. See Use the Preset menu in Displays settings.
Customise Presets				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 a supported external display is connected to your Mac.
Refresh rate				Adjust how frequently your screen is redrawn. If the rate is too low, your screen may appear to flicker. If the rate is too high, the screen may be black because it doesn’t support that rate. Check the documentation that came with your display for the best rate. If you have a supported display, you can set your display to dynamically adjust its refresh rate, using Adaptive Sync. This option only appears if an external display that supports changing the refresh rate is connected to your Mac.
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 for your Mac.
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 for your Mac.
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). This option only appears if you’re using your iPad as a second display for your Mac.
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 one keyboard and mouse to control Mac and iPad.
Night Shift				Shift 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				Scan 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.

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Displays settings on Mac

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