BetterDisplay Guide

Make your displays more comfortable to use, whether you want to change the brightness, give your windows more room or put an extra screen to work. This guide explains both the everyday features and the choices available when you want to fine-tune your setup.

BetterDisplay Settings with the Displays overview on the left and the App Menu on the right

BetterDisplay’s Displays overview in Settings, alongside the App Menu’s quick adjustments for each display.

The App Menu gives you quick access to everyday display adjustments, with a section for each display and shared actions under Tools. Click the BetterDisplay menu-bar icon to open it. See App Menu overview for more about opening, navigating and customizing its presentation.

Device menu — Brightness, resolution, display modes, colors, arrangement, mirroring, streaming and other features for an individual display.
Tools — Shared actions for displays, virtual screens and groups, streaming selected content, system colors and more.

Settings

Settings is where you configure displays and groups, choose how BetterDisplay behaves and manage your license. Open it with the Settings gear button in the App Menu, or Option-click the BetterDisplay menu-bar icon. See Settings overview for more about navigation and shared UI features.

Displays — Configure physical displays and virtual screens, manage connections and set up custom controls and filters.
Groups — Organize displays into groups, synchronize adjustments, match interface sizes and protect layouts.
- Individual group
Application — Startup, privacy, notifications, Dock behavior, updates and integration with other software.
Menu — Choose the App Menu’s contents, appearance and behavior, its menu-bar icon and resolution options.
Keyboard — Set up keyboard control, shortcuts, target displays, adjustment steps and on-screen feedback.
Pro — Review trial and license status, purchase or activate a license and manage activations.
About — Find the app version, check for updates and open information and support links.

Integration

Build automations, connect other apps and make display controls work with your own scripts or services. The Integration overview explains the available methods and how to enable them.

macOS Shortcuts — Browse every available action, with examples.
CLI reference — Read the app-generated operations and parameter reference.
CLI examples — Build commands for common display and automation tasks.
Control Integration and Events — Connect display controls and events to scripts, URLs and notifications.
App console — Use Show Console to try commands and inspect responses inside BetterDisplay.
Enable macOS Console logging — View system log messages or Terminal output; use the built-in app console for the simplest log check.
Third-party app integration — Exchange requests and responses, or implement alternate OSD feedback.
Advanced terminal preferences — Change preferences without a Settings interface.
Scripted license management — Activate and manage licenses in automated deployments.

Licensing

Purchase and activate Pro, manage installations, and understand license coverage and upgrade options. The Licensing overview helps you find the right article for your purchase or deployment.

Getting a Pro license — Purchase, activate, transfer and troubleshoot a license.
Free and Pro features — Compare feature access and capabilities across BetterDisplay, MonitorControl and m1ddc.
Scripted license management — Use command-line activation and deployment workflows.
License terms, refunds and privacy — Review free and business use, upgrade coverage, refunds and data handling.
BetterDisplay v5 upgrade FAQ — Check the January 1, 2025 purchase cutoff and existing activations.
BetterDisplay v4 upgrade FAQ — Understand the earlier upgrade policy and compatibility options.
Thanks to the early backers of BetterDisplay (then BetterDummy) — Meet the people who supported the project at the beginning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find direct answers and practical troubleshooting in the FAQ overview.

General Questions — Find help with app settings, downloads, updates, languages and diagnostics.
App Menu — Find displays and customize the menu’s appearance, contents and behavior.
HiDPI and Desktop Size — Make text comfortable to read and understand HiDPI clarity, desktop size and performance.
Display Modes and Resolutions — Find missing modes, choose output resolutions and manage favorite display modes.
Refresh Rates — Understand refresh-rate choices, reporting, protection and their interaction with HiDPI and HDR.
EDID and System Configuration — Edit display definitions, apply custom configurations and understand how overrides are shared.
Brightness and Dimming — Adjust brightness, synchronize displays and keep dimming within a useful range.
HDR and XDR — Set up HDR and XDR brightness, troubleshoot upscaling and understand reference presets.
Color and Image Quality — Understand color profiles, RGB output, image adjustments, dithering and color depth.
DDC and Monitor Inputs — Troubleshoot hardware commands, monitor input switching and DDC communication.
TV Control — Connect supported TVs and use their network controls, input selection and service features.
Display Detection and Hardware — Troubleshoot missing displays, connection limits, adapters and hardware identification.
Turning Displays Off — Disconnect or blank a display and understand automatic built-in display disconnection.
Sleep, Wake and Startup — Restore display connections and settings after sleep, undocking or restarting.
Display Layouts — Arrange displays, keep windows in place and switch between desk configurations.
Keyboard and On-Screen Feedback — Choose which display responds to brightness keys and customize shortcuts and on-screen feedback.
Audio and Volume — Set up monitor volume, choose keyboard audio targets and troubleshoot mute and feedback sounds.
Virtual Screens and Mirroring — Create virtual desktops, choose their geometry and manage mirroring and reconnection.
Streaming and Picture in Picture — Position, crop and interact with streamed desktops and Picture in Picture windows.
Recording and Screen Sharing — Prepare a recording desktop and understand capture, notifications and protected-video limitations.
Remote Displays, Sidecar and AirPlay — Use virtual desktops remotely and troubleshoot Sidecar, AirPlay and remote input.
Shortcuts and Automation — Build shortcuts for display modes, image adjustments, monitor inputs and saved configurations.
Command Line and Integrations — Select displays and send commands through the CLI, URLs, HTTP and other integrations.
Licensing Questions — Find answers about trials, activation and personal licenses, including purchases for several Macs.

Tutorials

Follow an end-to-end task with preparation, numbered steps, result checks and troubleshooting. The Tutorials overview is the home for practical task-based articles.

More Resources

Find downloads, community help, development news and ways to contribute to the app. The More Resources overview helps you choose where to go.

Official GitHub Page — Visit the project’s home for downloads, announcements and support links.
Releases — Find published versions, release notes and downloads.
Issues — Search reported problems and feature requests, or submit a new report.
Latest internal builds — Find the latest internal development releases.
GitHub Discussions — Search questions, answers and community conversations.
Discord server — Join the community and search its chat history for help.
Discord forum — Browse focused questions and answers.
Paddle Support — Get help with payment and order questions.
Development news — Follow the dev_news channel on Discord.
Localization effort — Help make BetterDisplay available in your language.

Technical terms

If a term such as HiDPI, HDR, DDC or virtual screen is unfamiliar, visit Technical terms for a plain-language explanation and links to the relevant app features.

For the rendering background, see how macOS scaling, HiDPI and LoDPI work.