How to Use Sidecar on Mac to Turn iPad into Second Screen

MACTELLiGENCE

In macOS Catalina, Apple added a new tool called Sidecar, which allows you to extend or mirror the same screen on your Mac using an iPad. Once extended, your iPad can access and manage your Mac, allowing you to use markup, the Apple Pencil, and many other features that are compatible with the iPad in Mac apps.

Apple users are accustomed to the concept of extending the display; many of you may already be doing it with the aid of third-party applications like Duet Display or Luna. You don’t have to worry about hardware requirements, though, as this is a built-in feature in macOS Catalina. Sidecar connects your iPad and Mac wirelessly or via a USB cable with USB-C or Lightning cable.

Although Apple didn’t officially list any compatible hardware, we tested this on an iPad Pro running iPad and a MacBook Pro running the latest version of macOS, 10.15 Catalina, and it worked flawlessly on both. The iMac 27″ (late 2015 or later), MacBook Pro (2016) or later model, Mac Mini (2018), Mac Pro (2019), MacBook Air (2018), and MacBook Pro (2019) are all supported by Sidecar (Early 2016 or newer). Make sure your iPad is running iPadOS and your Mac is running macOS Catalina before you begin. I’ll walk you through each step in detail if you follow along.

How to Use iPad as a Secondary Display and Use Sidecar on Mac

Step #1.  Put your iPad close to the Mac or use a cable to connect it.

Note:  You can manually connect your iPad if it doesn’t appear in the AirPlay list, though. Simply select your iPad by going to Settings Sidecar Connect To Devices.

Step #2. Now select your iPad Name to connect to by clicking the AirPlay symbol in the Mac’s upper right Menu bar.

click on the AirPlay icon from the top right Menu bar on your Mac

You can now notice that your iPad accurately reproduces the screen of your Mac.

iPad completely replicates your Mac’s screen

Simply click the Airplay icon and select Disconnect to disconnect.

Disconnect, Simply click on the Airplay Icon

How to Change Sidecar on Catalina Mac OS

From the AirPlay icon, select Open Sidecar Preferences to further personalize your Sidecar.

Click on Open Sidecar Preferences

The following are some of your possibilities for customization:

You can arrange sidebar tools on the left or right while using an iPad in landscape mode by adjusting the position of the sidebar.

You can adjust Sidebar tools

Double-Tap on Apple Pencil:  You can enable or disable using an Apple Pencil on your iPad from this page.

you can enable or disable it from here

Show Touch bar on Top or Bottom:  On an iPad in landscape mode, the position of the Touch Bar tools display can be changed.

Finishing up

That's all. Using sidecar on a Mac may be incredibly practical because it extends the desktop and makes it much simpler to utilize the Apple Pencil inside of macOS apps.

The Official List of Apps that Support Sidecar is available here

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Affinity Designer
  • Affinity Photo
  • Cinema 4D
  • CorelDRAW
  • DaVinci Resolve
  • Final Cut Pro
  • Maya
  • Motion
  • Painter
  • Principle
  • Sketch
  • Substance Designer
  • Substance Painter
  • ZBrush

Finishing up

That’s all. Using a sidecar on a Mac may be incredibly practical because it extends the desktop and makes it much simpler to utilize the Apple Pencil inside of macOS apps.