Change your Mac’s display resolution from settings or the keyboard

Start with macOS settings

1. Open Apple menu → System Settings → Displays. If several displays are connected, select the screen you want to adjust.
2. Choose a resolution. If the choices appear as thumbnails, point to one to see its dimensions. To compare numeric sizes in a list, Control-click the thumbnails and choose Show List.
3. For a connected display, Show all resolutions may reveal more choices when that option is available. Choose a size that makes text readable and leaves enough room for your windows.

Available modes and controls vary by display and macOS version. Check text and window sizes after changing the setting. Once the result suits your work, close System Settings; no extra app is needed.

If changing the resolution leaves the screen blank, Apple recommends waiting 15 seconds, then pressing Escape if it has not reverted. If it stays blank, follow the recovery steps in Apple’s resolution guide.

Choose for your text and windows

Start from the default resolution, then compare one alternative using your usual apps. If text feels too small, try a larger-text option; if windows feel cramped, try more space. Check menus, document text and the windows you keep side by side before settling on a choice.

The size of the desktop workspace is not necessarily the display panel’s physical pixel count. With scaling, a display can use more pixels to draw that workspace. The largest number is not automatically the most useful setting for your work.

If the display or resolution is missing

• The display itself is absent: check its power and connections. In Displays settings, hold Option to reveal Detect Displays and try detection.
• The display appears, but the desired mode does not: check the exact Mac model’s supported display count, resolutions and refresh rates, together with the display and cable or adapter specifications. Other connected screens can affect the available configuration.
• A dock or hub is in the connection: try connecting the display directly to the Mac to help isolate the connection path.

These checks follow Apple’s external-display troubleshooting guide. For a connection checklist, see external-display setup. A resolution available on another person’s setup is not proof that yours supports it.

Select a resolution with DeskCommit

The DeskCommit steps below describe version 0.4.3. Available modes depend on your Mac, display and connection. The operation video shows display arrangement, not a resolution change.

In DeskCommit’s Arrange mode:

1. Open the palette with Control–Shift–D, the default shortcut. If you have changed it in DeskCommit Settings, use your chosen shortcut.
2. Press the display’s number, 1–9, to select the screen you want to change.
3. Use Option–Up or Option–Down to move through the resolution choices for that display.
4. Check the target display, proposed resolution and refresh rate before applying.
5. Press Return to apply an ordinary resolution change. Keep the palette open and use Command–Z if you want to undo it.

Selecting a candidate prepares a change; it does not apply it immediately. Before applying, Escape discards pending changes and closes the palette. Avoid pressing an unmodified arrow key when you intend to change resolution: in Arrange mode, those keys prepare a display-position change.

Read the mode label as well as the size

The dimensions shown by DeskCommit describe the logical workspace. Compare them with the mode label and refresh rate; equal dimensions do not necessarily mean the same appearance.

These are DeskCommit’s mode classifications, not a promise of identical sharpness on every display. If text looks worse after a change, compare the mode label as well as its size.

Preview, cancel, apply and undo

Low-resolution modes are hidden by default. The 15-second confirmation is specific to the LoDPI safety flow; do not rely on it for an ordinary change. It is not a guarantee of recovery from every display or connection problem.

If a mode is missing in DeskCommit, check whether macOS offers it and whether low-resolution modes are hidden. DeskCommit cannot add a mode beyond what the display, Mac and connection support.

Reuse a setup with the same displays

For repeated workspaces, you can save a display setup and restore it manually when the exact same set of displays is connected. Saved setups include arrangement, resolution, refresh rate and Main; reconnecting does not automatically restore one.

DeskCommit is a separate macOS menu-bar app, priced at US$4.99 once for one person on up to two Macs, with no free trial or subscription. Review the product and demo and the refund policy before buying. For opening settings and mirroring shortcuts, see the general shortcut guide.