Set the Primary Display on a Dual-Screen Mac Setup
If you are running a dual-display setup, you can easily adjust the primary display monitor in Mac OS X. When would you want to do this? For example, if you have a MacBook Pro 13″ hooked up to a larger external display, and you want the external display with it’s higher resolution to become the primary display, and your MacBook Pro with it’s smaller resolution to become the secondary display.
How to set the primary display on a Mac:
* Have both displays turned on and connected to the Mac
* Open System Preferences
* Click on the Display icon
* Click on the ‘Arrangement’ tab
* Click and hold on the white bar at the top of the current primary display
* Drag the white bar across to the monitor you want to set as the new primary display for your Mac
* Notice the red border that forms around the new primary screen as you drag the white bar into the arrangement, this helps you determine which screen to use
* After you have set the primary display to the screen you wish to use, close System Preferences
Whatever monitor is set as the primary display will become the default display for applications launching, in addition to holding the system menubar, containing all the default desktop icons, and contain the Dock. Using this method you can effectively turn any external display into the main display for any Mac (MacBook, iMac, whatever) which is a really nice way to maximize screen real estate in dual-display setups that feature a smaller screened Mac with a larger external monitor. Note this is different than operating a MacBook or MacBook Pro in clamshell mode, which also will set the external display as the primary.
Or, if you really want to milk the productivity, install SecondBar to put a menu bar on both screens: http://bit.ly/aVvdhn
I looked a while (and finally found!) a solution to change primary and secondary display on a mac via command/shortcut (i had to switch several times a day and the drag-drop action was really annoying me)..
If anybody is interested, I blogged about it here: http://www.magrolino.com/index.php/2009/11/18/exchanging-primarysecondary-display-in-osx-via-shortcut/
i have my imac with crack monitor and i want to use hdtv as a main monitor. since my imac monitor is useless i couldnot fix my display setting. if anybody know how to set up the external monitor without using the main one please let me know.
When you find the solution please let me know becasue I have the same problem!!!
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Thank you for this. I should have guessed it would be this simple. I’m having a hard time deciding which was more difficult… searching for the answer or doing the actual change in prefs…
This is great, but this still doesn’t cause the boot screen to show up on the second monitor. Is there a way to do that? I tried booting with just the second monitor plugged in and it did show up on the second monitor, but once again when I have both plugged in, the boot screen reverts to the first monitor. I’m working on a Mac Pro, and this can be frustrating, because I need to be able to see the OS selection screen on the second monitor when booting, and not the first.
I am running Mac Pro with lion and 2 screens, each plugged into separate video card. If I drag the menu bar to the left screen (using slot 2 card), the logon screen will show up on that monitor about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time the logon screen shows up on the right monitor and in that case, the screen arrangement is lost and I have to reposition them in preferences.
A workaround for me is – if the logon screen shows up in the wrong place, do a restart from the logon screen. Then it will start correctly and have the correct screen arrangement.
I switched the monitors to the other cards, which solved the problem, but the monitors are different sizes and I do not want that arrangement.
It appears there is a startup timing issue and sometimes the monitor starts quickly enough, and sometimes not.
thank you !!!
very useful tip!!
[...] is a great tool especially for Mac users with multiple displays, because once you set the primary display, the menubar sticks on that screen only. It’s also very handy if you spend a lot of time in [...]
[...] of four displays to work with. That’d be a ton of screen real estate (don’t forget to set the primary display so the menubar is where you want it), and if you happen to go for that show-off solution please [...]
Thank you! Solved my issue!
[...] Nothing is more annoying during a presentation when the speakers talks for 50 minutes instead of 30 minutes as it was scheduled. Moreover it is a common error that speakers use slides as note for themselves and reading them loudly. Presenter View helps to solve this issue by showing notes, elapsed time on the speakers monitors, and the next slides. In order to access this functionality, mirroring has to be turned off in display settings, and extended display option has to be chosen. More info here: Windows 7, Mac OSX [...]
For some reason I cannot get my display to fill my entire screen. I have the mini display port/hdmi hooked up correctly I just can’t get the display to fill my entire screen as there are two black bars on each side . I’ve tried several different things to change this but I still cant get it to work. I have a 42″ flat screen and the MacBook pro 15
” OSX Lion …can anyone help me?? Please
[...] will flicker blue briefly, then the external monitor will refresh and automatically be set as the primary display, moving your desktop, menu bar, and all other windows over to the attached [...]