For many years, our devices operated as separate, highly independent units. It can still be a production to move a photo from your phone to your computer, but back in the day, it was all about cables and specialized programs to allow interoperability. Somewhere along the way, the big tech companies realized what folly that was and started to create a more integrated digital world, definitely helped along by the rise of cloud storage and faster Internet connectivity.
Apple has always been a leader in this regard, thanks to its carefully curated environment. Indeed, if you have an iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad, you might already have been startled by how information on any one device promptly migrates to all the others. You can even copy text on a Mac and paste it on your iPhone. What you can also do that most people miss is use that iPad as a separate display for a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, or any other Mac system. Without any wires.
The overall program to get all the devices to play well together is called Continuity, and the specific feature that allows remote screens is Sidecar. Enable that, and you’ll be able to enjoy a second Mac screen at any time. Except there is no “Sidecar” setting. A dilemma, but one that’s easily solved.
Configuration: On the Mac
To start out, open up Settings on your MacOS system. I’m running macOS 26.4, but the process hasn’t changed much since Handoff and Continuity were first introduced back in 2014. Sidecar was introduced in 2019, so it’s also been around quite a while.
You might have glossed past it a hundred times, but you’re looking for General > AirDrop & Continuity. Tap on it to proceed:
All that’s required on the Mac side is to enable “Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices”, as shown above. This is not technically required for Sidecar, but I recommend it.
Configuration: On the iPad
The next few settings take place on the iPad itself. Again, I’m running iPadOS 26.4. The Settings area is exactly the same as with the Mac (and that’s not an accident!)…
Choose General > AirPlay & Continuity, exactly as we did with MacOS. This area’s a bit different in iPadOS, however:
There are many intriguing options and settings to explore in this area of Settings.
Tip: You can always ask ChatGPT or Copilot for an explanation of a specific setting and whether you should enable it. For example, ChatGPT says: “Keep Audio with Headphones” stops iPadOS from auto-switching audio to other nearby Apple devices, keeping playback on your headphones. Enable it for consistent, interruption-free listening; disable only if you want automatic device switching.”
Though it’s Continuity that needs to be enabled – notice Continuity Camera, above – I recommend you also enable Handoff, as shown.
Now we’re almost ready to proceed. To ensure it all works, make sure that both Mac and iPad are logged in to the same iCloud account (visible in Settings) and are on the same Wi-Fi network. All set? Great. Back to the Mac.
Using an iPad as a Second Mac Display Screen
MacOS uses AirPlay to broadcast display content, often used by teachers and presenters to “beam” media onto a convenient television or projector. It’s accessible through Control Center, on the Mac, which you access by clicking on the tiny double-control switch icon in the menubar:
The AirPlay shortcut is just below the music player widget, two rectangles stacked atop each other. Clicking reveals a list of available AirPlay and, by extension, Sidecar, devices visible on the local network:
In the above, my iPad Mini “Dave’s iPad”, my AppleTV unit, and my Mac Mini are all shown. No surprise, it’s the iPad that’s the target, so that’s what I’ll choose.
I prefer to use my iPad as an additional display, so “Use as Extended Display” is the right choice, but if you want to show the same on the Mac and iPad screens, that’s “mirroring”. Be aware that the Mac display resolution will change to match that of the iPad, as needed.
It’s working great, with my Mac cursor able to glide between displays seamlessly. Want to change the “side” that the second screen is positioned relative to the main screen with cursor motion? That’s in Settings > Display on the Mac.
Sidecar Has One More Tricky Feature
Before you rush off to give this a try, did you notice the two additional options in the Control Center for the iPad? “Show Sidebar” and “Show Touch Bar”. The former’s much more useful, and when I enable it, the display on the iPad shifts to the right, and a control bar shows up on the left edge:
Lots of buttons, but what do they do? Rather than guess, here’s the official Apple cheat sheet:
That’s it. Now get everything set up and give it a try yourself!
Pro Tip: I’ve been writing about MacOS since the first release and have hundreds of helpful tutorials here on the site. Please check out my Mac help library for lots more useful content while you’re here!
