How to switch the default monitor on Mac
I was chatting with my buddy Stephen yesterday and we were gabbing about our monitor configurations. I have an external monitor hooked up to a MacBook Pro. Pretty basic setup.
Stephen asked if I had made my external monitor the default screen. Then he blew my mind hole because apparently there’s a way to do that in System Preferences that ain’t very obvious.
Join me in the Displays → Arrangement settings.
![](https://i0.wp.com/geoffgraham.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/macos-sys-display-arrangement.png?resize=1560%2C1190&ssl=1)
See that little white bar across the top of the laptop screen? It can be moved!
![](https://i0.wp.com/geoffgraham.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/macos-sys-display-arrangement.gif?resize=664%2C474&ssl=1)
Now my external monitor is the default screen. In other words, all my downloads and saved files will go directly there instead of my laptop. The external monitor is what I primarily use, so even being able to access app helpers in the system menu bar is a lot more convenient.
And if my monitor isn’t plugged in? It just reverts to the laptop. Perfect!
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