As I mentioned, I am using two displays now so I thought I would write up a short article on just how you can set up a multiple display situation. There are three different ways that you can use multiple displays:
Expand Your Desktop
This is what I am doing and I have one continuous desktop that stretches across two 27-inch monitors and my MacBook Pro display. Move your pointer past the edge of one display and it appears on the other display. At first, your primary display has all of your desktop icons and open app windows. You can drag them to the other display as needed.
Set Up Mirroring
Video mirroring shows the same desktop and windows on multiple displays at the same time. You can use it to view content such as photos or videos on a larger display or HDTV.
Closed Laptop Mode
You can use an external display or projector with a Mac notebook while its built-in display is closed. This is known as closed-clamshell or closed-display mode.
I will go over each of these but will concentrate upon the extended desktop. I often have two browsers, an email client, Messages, Skype, Numbers, Pages, our K9 database and other windows open when I am working. It does get crowded, especially if I am working on the 13-inch display on my MacBook Pro. Setting up an extended desktop allows me to spread out the work in a much more organized fashion.
Here’s how to set up an extended desktop:
Connect and turn on your additional display or displays. I have mine connected to two of the USB-C ports on my MacBook Pro.
- Open System Preferences.
- Choose Displays.
- Click the Arrangement tab.
- Make sure that the Mirror Displays checkbox isn’t selected.
- Each display has a menu bar.
- Each display can have full-screen apps. To take an app full screen, click the green button in the upper-left corner of the app window. Or press Control-Command-F.
- You can use Mission Control to organize windows and full-screen apps across your displays.
- If the Dock is positioned at the bottom of your screen, you can view it on any one of your screens by moving your pointer to the bottom edge of that screen. This one had me baffled for a long time as my dock would end up on the wrong display and I could not figure out how to get it back. But moving the cursor to the bottom of the display where you want the dock works every time.
Arrange your displays
I don’t think I have the ultimate set up yet but I am playing with positioning my displays. Using the Display pane of Systems Preferences you can tell your Mac where your displays are in relation to each other. Use this feature so that your connected displays match their real-world location when you move between windows.
You can select which display has the Finder’s menu bar and arrange them just right so that mouse movements are smooth from one to the other. In the picture of my setup here you will see that I set the MacBook Pro display much lower than my others. This makes it so when I am a moving between displays it is totally fluid.
The blue boxes in the Arrangement pane represent all displays that you’ve connected to your Mac. The size of each box represents the current resolution of each display.
The white bar at the top of the blue box identifies your primary display. The primary display is where your desktop icons and open app windows first appear. To make a different display your primary display, drag the white bar to the box that represents that display.
Setting up Mirroring
Video mirroring shows the same desktop and windows on multiple displays at the same time. You can use it to view content such as photos or videos on a larger display or HDTV.
Here’s how to set up video mirroring:
- Connect and turn on your additional display.
- Choose System Preferences.
- Choose Displays.
- Click the Arrangement tab.
- In the lower-left corner of the Arrangement pane, select “Mirror Displays.”
In OS X Mavericks or later, you can add a status menu bar item to make it easier to mirror your displays. Use this menu to select an Apple TV or television to use as a display. It appears when you connect to an HDTV, or when an Apple TV is available on your network. To add the menu to the top of your screen, select “Show mirroring options in the menu bar when available.”
Closed Laptop Mode
To use closed laptop mode you need:
- An AC power adapter
- An external keyboard and mouse or trackpad, either USB or wireless
- A USB-C to USB adapter if you’re using a USB mouse or keyboard with MacBook (2015 and later) or MacBook Pro (2016 and later)
- An external display or projector
Use these steps to enable closed-display mode.
If the external display isn’t recognized when it’s connected and your Mac is powered on, try connecting the display while your computer is asleep or off. Then wake or turn on the computer after you connect the display.
If you’re using a USB keyboard and mouse:
- Make sure that your Mac is plugged into AC power
- Connect a USB keyboard and mouse to your Mac.
- With your Mac turned on and the display open, connect the Mac to the appropriate port on the external display or projector and turn the display or projector on. Use an appropriate Apple video adapter if necessary.
- After your Mac laptop’s Desktop appears on the external display, close the computer’s lid.
When you close the lid:
In OS X Lion 10.7 and later, the external display changes to a blue screen, then shows your Desktop.
You can now use your Mac laptop as you normally would with a USB keyboard and mouse.
If you’re using a wireless keyboard and mouse:
- Make sure that your Mac laptop is plugged in using the AC power adapter.
- Verify that Bluetooth is turned on
- Pair your Bluetooth keyboard or mouse with your Mac.
- In the Bluetooth pane of System Preferences, click Advanced and make sure the checkbox next to Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer is selected.
- With your Mac turned on and the display open, connect the Mac to the appropriate port on the external display or projector and turn the display or projector on.
- After your Mac notebook’s Desktop appears on the external display, close the computer’s lid.
You can now use your Mac notebook as you normally would with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
It’s best to put your Mac to sleep by choosing Apple menu > Sleep before disconnecting your display
This new BenQ display has a little shelf for the MacBook Pro to sit on when using closed mode but I find it convenient to have that third display as even more desktop.
With all these displays I must look like my friend Larz Barber at Merrill Lynch.