How to rotate your monitor and use it vertically in macOS

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Youdon'talwayshavetokeepadisplayinalandscapeorientation.Here'showyoucanturnasecondscreenintoaverticalmonitor,andtoadjustmacOStoworkwithit.

Oneofthebenefitsofbuyinganewmonitoristhatyou'renotonlypotentiallyimprovingtheimageonyourmaindisplay,butnowyouhavetwoscreens.YouhaveaseconddisplaythatyoucouldfeasiblyconnecttoyourMacatthesametime,increasingtheamountofworkspaceyouhavetoplaywithwhenperformingtasks.

However,assomemoviesandTVshowshaveshown,alongwithnumerousimagesofcomputingsetupsonRedditandelsewhere,youdon'thavetosticktotheusuallandscapeorientation.Noteveryonewithmultiplemonitorskeepsthembothhorizontal,assomeinsteadusethesecondaryscreeninaportraitorientation.

Thismayseemlikeagoodandfashionableidea,butitdoesrequirealittlebitofworktogetthescreenworkingonitsside,bothphysicallyandinsoftware.

Whatarethebenefitsofverticalmonitors?

Oneofthemostobviousreasonsforturningamonitorissimplyalackofspace.Noteveryonehasthedeskspaceavailabletoputtwolargeandwidedisplaysnexttoeachotheronadesk,evenwhenplacedataslightangletoeachother.

Byrotatingamonitor,youcancutdownhowmuchhorizontaldeskspaceisoccupiedbythetwoscreens.

Havingtwowidescreenscanalsoforceyoutoturnyourheadalotmoretoseeallofbothdisplays.Thisreductioninwidthstillretainstheusableworkspaceofferedbytwodisplays,butitmeansyoudon'thavetoshiftyourattentionandturnyourheadasfartogofromtheleft-mostedgeofthesetuptotheright-mostcorners.

Intermsofworkflow,averticaldisplayofferssheerlength,whichishandyifyouareinatext-heavyordesign-relatedprofession.Beingabletoseeadocumentalmostfillupthedisplayandstillbereadableisextremelyuseful.

Forextremelylongonlinearticles,suchasgovernmentfilingsorpatents,havingaverticalscreenmakesitaloteasiertoscanthepagesquickly.Thisissimilarlyusefulfordeveloperslookingthroughlotsoflinesofcode,andforotherareaswherethere'salotoftextordatatolookthrough.

AppdeveloperscouldbenefitfromseeingtheirappfillalargerverticalscreeniftheyareproducingiOS-boundsoftware.Artistsmayalsowanttoenjoyseeingtheirartworkonsuchadisplay,withoutthedeadscreenspaceeithersideofaportrait-orientedpiece.

Naturally,there'salsofarlessscrollingthatneedstobedonewhenreadingpagesinportraitthaninlandscapeorientation.

Hardwareconsiderations

There'stwosidestotheequationwhenitcomestoturningamonitoronit'sside:physicallydoingit,andgettingmacOStoagreetothechange.Beforeyoutipthatmonitortotheside,makesureitwillactuallybeusablefortheintendedpurpose.

Manymonitorsaremadesotheyhavegreatviewinganglesfromthesides,butnotnecessarilywhenviewedfromaboveorbelow.Asitwillbeangledonitsside,whatwouldnormallybeconsideredtheverticalviewingangleofthedisplaybecomesimportant.

Forsomemonitors,especiallyoldermodels,youwillseetheeffectivenessofthedisplaydipwhenyouincreasetheverticalviewingangle,includingshiftsincolorandbrightness.Atsomeverticalangles,theseshiftscanmakethedisplayunreadable,orattheleast,hardertoread.

Makesurethemonitorcanbeviewedatreasonableangleswhileonitssidebeforemakinganymajorchangestoyourcomputingsetup.

Thesecondthingistoinvestinanewstand.Whilesomemonitorstandsoffersomedisplayrotationcapabilities,manymonitorsinsteadhaveastandorafootthatdoesn'tallowforrotationaladjustmentatall.

Inthesecases,youwillwanttoinvestinaVESAmountofsomedescription.Usingthosefourscrewholesonthebackofthedisplay,youcanmountthescreentotheVESAstandorarminmanydifferentorientations.

Ifyouarefeelingadventurous,youcouldbuyadualmonitormountforadesk,whichcanholdtwomonitorsandallowyoutorotatebothofthemhoweveryouwish.

Goingdownthisroute,youwillhavetoremoveanyoriginalbasesormountsthataresuppliedwiththedisplay.Checkthemanualforthedisplayforinstructionstoaddthemount,andfollowtheorderinreversetoremoveit.

Lastly,bearinmindthewaythecablesattachtothemonitor.Ifyouhaveamonitorarmthatallowsyoutorotatethedisplay,thelastthingyouwantistowrapthecablesaroundthearmandtwisttoomuch,asthatcouldpullthecablesoutorcausedamagetoyourhardware.

ManagingmonitorrotationinmacOS

Onthesoftwareside,there'safewthingsyouneedtodowithinmacOS,bothinmanagingtherotationandthedisplayspositioningwithinthedesktopitself.

That'sthecoreofsettinguptherotationofthedisplayitself,butthere'sotherthingstobearinmind.Inmyparticularcase,macOSwasn'tcorrectlypickingupthenativeresolutionoftherotateddisplay,sothathadtobechanged.

Todothis,clicktheScaledoptionnexttoResolution,thenthecorrectresolution.IfmacOSonlyshowsafewresolutions,andnottheoneyouwant,youcanbringupthefulllistbyholdingdowntheOptionkeythenclickingtheScaledoption.

YouwillalsohavetomakechangestothepositionofthemonitorwithinmacOS'desktoptomatchitsphysicallocation.ThiscanbechangedfromthesameDisplaymenus.

SincemacOSisworkingofftheresolutionvaluesofthedisplays,ratherthantheactualphysicaldimensionsofeachscreen,thedisplayboxrepresentationsinthemenuwon'tlineupexactlywithreality.It'sbesttounderstandtheboxesasarepresentationofthemacOSdesktopitself.

Ifyouneedtochangewhichdisplayisthemaindisplay,clickanddragthewhitebarfromthecurrentmaindisplayboxtoanotherdisplaywithinthemenu.

It'syourworkstation,yourchoices

Ultimately,it'sdowntoyourownpersonalpreferenceforwhetheryouuseaverticalmonitoraspartofyourcomputingsetup.Bearinmindthatitisastatethatcanalwaysberevertedifyoudon'tlikeitafterawhile,oryouhaveataskthatabsolutelyrequirestwolandscape-orienteddisplays.

Also,giveyourselftimetogetusedtothescreen.Similartohowitcanbebewilderingtomovefromonescreentotwo,incorporatingaverticaldisplayintoyourworkflowcanintroducesometeethingissues.

Hopefully,aftersomeexperimentationwiththeformat,you'llgetusedtotheideaofhavingalongscreenratherthanawiderdisplay.