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I have a Late 2011 Macbook Pro 13" (running Lion - OS 10.7.4) which I use with a dual external monitor setup. I have two 21" LCDs that I use as external monitors. One uses the built in Mini Display Port on the Macbook Pro and the other is connected via a USB to DVI adapter (Diamond DVILink).

The problem I am having is with the 13" built in display of the Macbook Pro. I would like it to remain closed and unused (I prefer the dual monitors at same resolution), however I cannot seem to "disable" the display in the display preferences applet. So even though the Macbook Pro lid is closed the operating system still makes use of the display, even though the apple logo on the back of the display is unlit. I have tried to move the laptop screen off out of the way in display preferences but I find when I "sleep" my setup that any applications that remain open move to the laptop screen. This makes it difficult to locate the application windows when resuming from sleep.

Display Preferences

Does anyone know of a way to disable the laptop built in display so it is not seen by the OS when external monitors are being used?

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  • Have you installed any software that could keep the display from sleeping?
    – Gerry
    Commented Jul 19, 2012 at 19:49
  • No I haven't. Also, the display does "appear" to be sleeping as the backlit Apple logo is turned off on the back of the lid.
    – webworm
    Commented Jul 19, 2012 at 19:51
  • Just to clarify .. I do have the lid of the Macbook Pro closed.
    – webworm
    Commented Jul 19, 2012 at 19:51
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    The Apple logo on the back is lit by the same light that lights the display on the front; no light from the Apple logo just means that the light is off, same as if you turned the brightness all the way down (to off). It does not indicate display sleep, as the display can (and does) continue to update while the light is off.
    – iynque
    Commented Jul 20, 2012 at 18:58
  • How does one disable the internal display when the lid is closed?
    – webworm
    Commented Aug 3, 2012 at 1:33

8 Answers 8

Reset to default
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Turning the brightness down as suggested above turns the monitor off on my MacBook Pro - mid 2014 model. Keeping the lid open allows better dissipation of heat and keeps the fan noise to a minimum so this is my preferred mode of working.

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    This turns off the built-in display, but does not prevent the cursor from wandering off into it. Does "clamshell mode" prevent that?
    – Tianxiang Xiong
    Commented Apr 26, 2017 at 20:58
  • yes, "clamshell mode" completely disables that display, so your mouse cannot reach it
    – Ciprian Tomoiagă
    Commented May 1, 2018 at 8:38
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    adding clarity to this answer. all this does is turn off the backlight to the internal display while the monitor is still active and using CPU/GPU cycles. ie. not the most efficient solution. a much better solution would be to put the mac in clamshell mode while the display is open thus not allowing the OS to recognize the internal display and having much less overhead on the system.
    – ipatch
    Commented Jul 30, 2019 at 16:12
  • This answer is wrong. It causes more CPU/GPU to have the display simply mirrored with brightness turned off, like @ipatch says. This worked for me: apple.stackexchange.com/a/301847/266584
    – Martin Braun
    Commented Feb 17 at 0:24
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You should be able to close the lid and use an USB mouse/keyboard to awaken the computer to only use the external display.

The interesting thing here, is that you use an USB-graphcis adapter too. That software may confuse this process.

I would suggest just using the native graphics ports to begin with and see if you can make it work, and then add the USB-adapter.

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    You may have to remove the DisplayLink software initially.
    – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
    Commented Jul 19, 2012 at 19:58
  • Perhaps your right about the DisplayLink software. I may have to save for a Macbook Pro with Multiple Thunderbird and/or HDMI ports.
    – webworm
    Commented Jul 23, 2012 at 18:09
  • Do some experiments before jumping to conclusions
    – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
    Commented Jul 23, 2012 at 21:46
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I use a very naive solution on a Macbook Air mid-2012: instead of using clamshell mode (closing the lid), I just press the brighness down button until the lowest level. For my surprise, the lowest level turns off the internal display. I don't know if this works for others models, but it works well for me.

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  • For my this doesn't actually disable the display, it just completely turns off the backlight. If i shine a flashlight at it, it's still possible to see the contents on the display
    – Hjulle
    Commented Mar 24, 2023 at 11:58
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There's a tool that allows you to disable internal display: https://github.com/Eun/DisableMonitor.

I've been using it with success in the same scenario.

Disclaimer: I'm not a maintainer, so I fear I won't be able to provide support in case of any problems. Please use github issues.

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On 10.6 an earlier, the internal display stayed disabled even after opening the lid. There's a firmware variable that restores that behavior:

sudo nvram boot-args="iog=0x0"

I don't know if it would help in this case though. You don't have to reboot when changing display configurations.

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  • I have seen this in other posts but really did not want to have to reboot the computer each time when switching between external display and internal only display. Perhaps I am wrong, but shouldn't there be a way to disable the internal display completely when an external monitor is attached?
    – webworm
    Commented Aug 3, 2012 at 1:43
  • Confirmed working with latest Macbook Air (June, 2012). To zap the NVRAM next boot press: CMD-OPT-P-R or reset with "sudo nvram -d boot-args".
    – user34302
    Commented Nov 8, 2012 at 0:12
  • sudo nvram boot-args="niog=1" if >=10.10
    – netawater
    Commented Apr 12, 2022 at 13:39
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Lunar can turn off the MacBook display without having to close the lid of the MacBook.

Lunar screenshot with instructions for activating Blackout

This allows the MacBook to cool down faster and allows you to keep using TouchID, webcam and the very nice speakers of the MacBook, while being able to focus on the external monitor.

The feature is called Blackout, here are some more details: lunar.fyi/#blackout

How it works:

  1. Sets the native brightness of the MacBook display to 0
  2. Sets the Gamma tables of the MacBook display to a list of zeroes
  3. Mirrors the external monitor to the MacBook display so that:
    1. The monitor keeps its native resolution
    2. Apps/windows don't get trapped on a non-visible display

To activate, just press Control+Command+6 and Lunar will toggle Blackout and do all of the above steps for you.

Disclaimer: I'm the developer of Lunar and BlackOut is a paid feature with a free 14-day trial

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  • This'll work with the new M1/2 MacBook Airs? And I can have the lid open for cooling but use an external keyboard/trackpad? (considering moving to MacBook from a Mac Mini).
    – William Turrell
    Commented Jan 24, 2023 at 16:55
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    Yes it will work with the new M1/M2 MacBook Airs. I'm also working on actually disabling/disconnecting the screen completely for the next version, just like closing the lid does it. I wrote some words on the work here: alinpanaitiu.com/blog/turn-off-macbook-display-clamshell
    – Alin Panaitiu
    Commented Jan 24, 2023 at 21:06
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    Holy smokes, what a fantastic app. Just gave it a try and it does everything you say it does on my M1 Max MacBookPro! I've been looking for a solution to this problem for a long time.
    – brandonscript
    Commented Aug 29, 2023 at 17:45
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I have Mac book Pro Retina 13 late 2013 and turning brightness down to the end made my lid off with two external monitors connected one via hdmi another one via thunderbolt port. As @Mikey said closing lid and using external monitors can cause serious heat problem for lap top it's true and i asked apple support directly for making sure. it's better to let it be open and using external monitors.

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BetterDisplay will do this for you and it works on my M2 MacBook Pro. https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay

So now I can turn the internal MacBook Pro display off and I'm still able to use the MacBook Pro's internal keyboard and trackpad and fingerprint reader (just like I'm used to using).

Also, I can use the two external displays which are up higher (and not miss something popping up down there). Besides, when it's open to use, it's a little hard to see over the 16" internal display and fully see the bottom of the external display behind it (which is in a hutch and can't be raised).

It's easy as flicking a switch in the menu. on/off display switch

It seems to be completely off, as it doesn't show up in the display control panel any more. control panel showing it is disabled

This is great as I didn't want to be mirroring displays, and messing with brightness or other cheats I've seen online.

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