How do I turn off the MBP built-in display when connected to an external monitor?

[andrewwg94]

WITHOUT closing the lid, because i like using the touchpad. i know that you can turn the brightness all the way down, but sometimes windows from the main screen randomly open on the other display. and it also slows down performance. i want to turn off the 13" screen as if the lid was closed. that way, the mac doesn't even see it. is that possible?

 

[RaceTripper]

WITHOUT closing the lid, because i like using the touchpad. i know that you can turn the brightness all the way down, but sometimes windows from the main screen randomly open on the other display. and it also slows down performance. i want to turn off the 13" screen as if the lid was closed. that way, the mac doesn't even see it. is that possible?

Close the lid while the external monitor is active. Once the MBP resyncs to just the ext display you can pull the MPB lid open again. As long as you don't refresh monitors you should be OK.

 

[andrewwg94]

Close the lid while the external monitor is active. Once the MBP resyncs to just the ext display you can pull the MPB lid open again. As long as you don't refresh monitors you should be OK.

thanks for the reply, but i'm confused. when i close the lid, it instantly goes to sleep. when i open it back up, it goes back to how it was..

 

[RaceTripper]

thanks for the reply, but i'm confused. when i close the lid, it instantly goes to sleep. when i open it back up, it goes back to how it was..

I do this all the time, but I have an external keyboard and mouse attached. Maybe that makes the difference, since I use a keytap or mouse click to wake it up with the lid closed. Once it wakes up I can open the lid again.

 

[andrewwg94]

I do this all the time, but I have an external keyboard and mouse attached. Maybe that makes the difference, since I use a keytap or mouse click to wake it up with the lid closed. Once it wakes up I can open the lid again.

my problem was that i had the displays set on extend, not mirror. this helped me out:

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060607121656766

for some reason, if you have them set on extend, the main display will turn back on after waking

 

[RaceTripper]

my problem was that i had the displays set on extend, not mirror. this helped me out:

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060607121656766

for some reason, if you have them set on extend, the main display will turn back on after waking

Mine is on extend. If I close the lid, let it wake up again, and reopen the lid it works just fine with video on the external display only. I've been doing this for a while.