#How to enlarge screen on mac how to
#How to enlarge screen on mac pro
#How to enlarge screen on mac download
#How to enlarge screen on mac mac

If you want to set things more precisely, however, you should download Retina Display Menu, a free menu bar application that lets you set the relative resolution to whatever you want on your Retina display. Want More Choices? Check Out Retina Display Menuįive scaling choices isn’t very many, though in my opinion the range offered will probably cover most use cases. Then, I connected the display and set the scaling on my built-in display to “Default.” Now the scaling switches automatically when I connect or disconnect the external display. To achieve this, I set the scaling to “More space” while the display was not connected.

This, combined with the lower resolution of my external, means I’d like the the Retina display scaled up a little when the external is connected. When I’m at my desk, however, I stand a little further back from the display. It’s a subtle thing, but can be very helpful.įor example, I like the scaling on my MacBook Pro’s display to be set to “More Space” when it’s not connected to any external display, so that I have as much room to work with as possible.

#How to enlarge screen on mac mac

It’s also worth noting that your Mac will “remember” what kind of scaling you want on your Retina display while a particular external display is connected, and when no external display is connected. It seems like a small thing, but trust me: this is a marvel of engineering. This is true regardless of which scaling option you’ve chosen for your high-density display. So what happens when I drag a window from a high-density display to a low-density one? The window moves, seamlessly, making the adjustment in scaling as you drag it over. In my case the external display is not high-density, so I can control the resolution. When I head to the Displays panel in System Preferences with that display connected, macOS opens two windows: one for my built-in display, and another for my external display. I use an external monitor at my desk-one I’ve had for years. I could never work like this, but someone with much worse eyes than me could benefit from it.Īgain, none of these settings actually changes the resolution of the display: all they do is change the relative sizes of things. The browser now takes up the entire screen, and the menu bar is now freaking huge. Let’s go one step further, making the display “look like” 1024 by 640 pixels: Going the other way, here’s one size smaller than the default, which “looks like” 1280 by 800:Įverything is a little bit bigger, and the browser window (which I haven’t resized) now takes up most of the screen. If you have good eyesight, this setting can make your Mac’s display feel quite a bit bigger, allowing you to have more things on the screen at once. The result is similar to changing resolution on older Macs, but without the visual distortions.Īre you wondering what this looks like? Well, here’s my desktop set to the default setting, which “looks like” 1440 by 900 pixels.Īnd here it is when I choose the “More Space” option, which “looks like” 1680 by 1050 pixels:Īs you can see, the browser window takes up a lot less space on my desktop now, and the menu bar looks quite a bit smaller. And to be clear, your system resolution doesn’t actually change if you choose a different setting: just the scaling of things like text and interface elements will change. The precise choices offered will vary depending on your specific Mac model. These numbers are somewhat arbitrary, in that they are related to how previous-generation Macs looked at particular resolutions. The option above the default “looks like” 1680 by 1050. The two options below the default “look like” 1280 by 8 by 640, as I work my way down. The default, for example, “looks like” 1440 by 900 pixels, which you can see by hovering your mouse pointer over the option. I’m presented with four options, all of which “look like” a hypothetical resolution on a previous-generation Mac.

#How to enlarge screen on mac pro

To control this function, and to activate keyboard shortcuts to instantly zoom, open the Accessibility system preference and look for the Zoom preferences.I’m using a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a resolution of 2560 by 1600 pixels. If you're visually impaired or need additional help seeing details on the screen, you can also zoom to get a close up of areas of the screen. If you'd like to just increase (or decrease) the font size in your apps, hold down the command key and press + or. To make more space, select a larger number.

To make text larger, select a smaller number for the resolution.

#How to enlarge screen on mac how to

How to change the resolution of your Mac's external display To make more space on the screen so you can see more things, click one of the boxes to the right of Default. To make text larger, click on one of the boxes to the left of Default.If Resolution is set to Default for display, click on Scaled.How to change the resolution of your Mac's built-in display