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zamboknee

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 10, 2009
286
11
I have a dual monitor setup where 1 monitor is on one side of the wall and the other monitor is on the other side of the wall.

They are mirrors of each other but I'd like to be able to work on monitor 1 and then, when I move over to monitor 2, 'bring' that stuff over to it.
Basically one monitor would have 'content A' on it while the other monitor would have 'content B'. As I work on 'Content B' I'd like to be able to pull it up when I go to the other monitor.

Sorry if this is confusing.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
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splifingate

macrumors 68000
Nov 27, 2013
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If you "Mirror" your displays, they will always be at-parity. No individual control.

You probably want independent Extended Displays, each holding discrete parameters; all (most?) of which you can independently control.

I have three 4K (+12.9 IPP), and each is a separate, distinct display.

What version of Mac OS are you using?
 

Bigwaff

Contributor
Sep 20, 2013
2,734
1,830
Settings > Displays ... click on each display and make sure Use As is set to "Extended display"
 

zamboknee

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 10, 2009
286
11
So I'm good on taking things out of 'mirrored display.' I know how to do that. I think my main question might have been confusing.
With these two separate monitors, how would I work on, let's call it, 'project A' on the first monitor and then move over to monitor 2 and pull up 'project A?'
 
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Bigwaff

Contributor
Sep 20, 2013
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In Settings > Displays, you arrange the displays.. say, one on the left and one on the right. If you open an app on L display, you drag the app to the R display. Alternatively, you can select the Window menu and select which display to move the app to. The app will slide over to the selected display.
 
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theorist9

macrumors 68040
May 28, 2015
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Sounds like you're wondering how to actually move the content window from one display to the other. You'd do it the same way as if the displays were side-by-side: Grab the window with your mouse and slide it over. Or if you'd rather do that via keyboard, you could get a window management app like Rectangle, and set up a shorcut to move the widow to the next screen.

I've never experimented with Voice Control, but you might even be able to use that, instead of the keyboard, to activate the shortcut and thus move the window.
 
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splifingate

macrumors 68000
Nov 27, 2013
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So, zamboknee . . . no need to be shy, or feel anything but curiousness ( ALL 👀 of us who have--or attempted to use--more than one screen have ridden this rodeo) :)

Just so you know, you're really not going to ultimately break your System by experimenting with window management.
 
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zamboknee

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 10, 2009
286
11
So, zamboknee . . . no need to be shy, or feel anything but curiousness ( ALL 👀 of us who have--or attempted to use--more than one screen have ridden this rodeo) :)

Just so you know, you're really not going to ultimately break your System by experimenting with window management.
Yeah. I guess I'm over thinking it a bit.
 
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meson

macrumors 6502a
Apr 29, 2014
516
511
Might have to look into that. My issue is mostly that I have 2 different screens and one is preferred for one type of app (Davinci Resolve) and the other screen. for most other apps.
You can assign apps to different spaces/monitors. Right click the app’s icon in the dock, choose options and assign it to the space you want.

You may need to choose the option to make each display a separate space wherever they moved that tick box to in the Settings app.
 

theorist9

macrumors 68040
May 28, 2015
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You can assign apps to different spaces/monitors. Right click the app’s icon in the dock, choose options and assign it to the space you want.

You may need to choose the option to make each display a separate space wherever they moved that tick box to in the Settings app.
That's an interesting idea!

OP: In case you're not quite folowing what meson suggested, the idea is that, when you use Spaces, you can configure it so that each app opens in an assigned virtual desktop. I.e., you can configure it so that when you click on apps A, B, and C, they automatically open in Desktop 1, while apps D and E open in Desktop 2, etc.

What mesons's suggesting is that you can additionally configure it so that Desktop 1 only opens on screen X and Desktop 2 only opens on screen Y. The result should be that apps A, B, and C only appear on screen X, and apps D and E only appear on screen Y.

Here are the instructions on how to do this; I've screenshotted those for Sequoia, but you can select whatever version of MacOS you're using at the top of the page:

1726678179593.png
 
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meson

macrumors 6502a
Apr 29, 2014
516
511
That's an interesting idea!

OP: In case you're not quite folowing what meson suggested, the idea is that, when you use Spaces, you can configure it so that each app opens in an assigned virtual desktop. I.e., you can configure it so that when you click on apps A, B, and C, they automatically open in Desktop 1, while apps D and E open in Desktop 2, etc.

What mesons's suggesting is that you can additionally configure it so that Desktop 1 only opens on screen X and Desktop 2 only opens on screen Y. The result should be that apps A, B, and C only appear on screen X, and apps D and E only appear on screen Y.

Here are the instructions on how to do this; I've screenshotted those for Sequoia, but you can select whatever version of MacOS you're using at the top of the page:

View attachment 2420791

Thanks for the follow up. I only had a short time to reply and wasn't at my Mac to give more detailed instructions.

I should also note that what I refer to as spaces is part of what Apple calls Mission Control (and has for years). In order to get it to treat each display as having its own collection of spaces, you need to go to Settings.app -> Desktop & Dock -> scroll down to Mission Control and switch on the Displays have separate Spaces button.

Back in the original implementation of spaces (when it was a grid), and I was using my PowerBook G4, I worked this way. I'd dedicate a space to email, messages, and other communication apps, one dedicated to writing code, one dedicated to work related browsing, one dedicated to personal browsing, one dedicated to writing, etc. In just a couple keystrokes, I could navigate to where I needed to be. With more modern implementations preferring to order things in a horizontal line arranged by most recently used, it became a guessing game and I opted for using a second display and gave up on spaces.

It took a little while to assign apps to their dedicated spaces, and then learn which ones I wanted to follow me around from space to space. Those unassigned apps would then just pop up in the current space if you clicked on their dock icon to bring that app's window into focus.
 
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Ben J.

macrumors 65816
Aug 29, 2019
1,062
623
Oslo
I just want to give my support to the rcommendation of Mission Control and Spaces. I've used both two and three monitors setups for a long time, and I'm really impressed with how good it is nowadays.

F3 - Mission Control. Roll your pointer to the top edge, and all your spaces on every display shows, and lets you change their order or drag them to another display. If you have "Group applications in spaces" enabled, you can drag an app and all its windows to another display in one go, by grabbing the little app icon.

And - don't forget the "mirror displays" option (cmdF1) whenever you want all content on every display.

Youtube: Macmost Mission Control
 
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smirking

macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,939
4,008
Silicon Valley
There is one caveat to using spaces and multiple monitors and it's the reason why I rarely do it. If you regularly switch between one screen and multiple screens, it's really hard to keep spaces stable. MacOS gets confused and programs that I've assigned to a space will end up on the wrong space or the wrong monitor.

I also do lots of things by muscle memory so having a window I expect on my right show up on my left or nowhere at all really screws up my flow. I've found that using multiple spaces on multiple screens doesn't save me any time because any time I save is lost trying to get my spaces reconfigured to how I want it each time it gets scrambled.

What I'm saying may not be as much of an issue for other people though. I have 5 or 6 spaces typically and I use shortcuts to help me navigate them, which adds to my misery because if the Spaces get confused, my macros become useless.

If anyone's figured out a way to keep their Spaces configurations from getting scrambled every time they switch back and forth from one screen, let me know.

BTW, my setup is I have an external monitor and sometimes I use my laptop as a second display. This might be why MacOS gets confused. It might be more stable if I used two external displays.

I actually do have a second external display. I guess I should try it and see if spaces works better with it.
 

Ben J.

macrumors 65816
Aug 29, 2019
1,062
623
Oslo
There is one caveat to using spaces and multiple monitors and it's the reason why I rarely do it. If you regularly switch between one screen and multiple screens, it's really hard to keep spaces stable. MacOS gets confused and programs that I've assigned to a space will end up on the wrong space or the wrong monitor.
The simple solution is; cmd-F1. Mirror displays. Everything shows up on your screen, even if they are on a different display's space.
If anyone's figured out a way to keep their Spaces configurations from getting scrambled every time they switch back and forth from one screen, let me know.
In my experience, macOS remembers the configuration when a display is turned off and on. This is part of why I think it flows very seamlessly.

I also allow my ipad and MBA to be displays in my Mission Control and Displays System Settings, but that's another story. Also quite a problem free experience. And then there's Universal Control. MacOS is pretty good right now.
 
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smirking

macrumors 68040
Aug 31, 2003
3,939
4,008
Silicon Valley
I also allow my ipad and MBA to be displays in my Mission Control and Displays System Settings, but that's another story. Also quite a problem free experience. And then there's Universal Control. MacOS is pretty good right now.

I wish this were my experience. I will go through pains to have Spaces 1-3 on my laptop screen and screens 4-6 on my external only for space 3 to end up going to my external screen without any action from me. I'll assign programs to a desktop from the dock. The next time I launch that program, it launches in the wrong space.

When I go back to inspect the desktop assignment, numbers 3-6 have disappeared and my assignment options are "This Desktop, Desktop 2, All Desktops". I'll choose "This desktop" and it doesn't always work.

I'll give cmd-F1 a try, but I'm not sure how mirroring displays fixes these issues.
 
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