Why is my Mac unable to detect displays not working?
Why is my Mac unable to detect displays not working?
I’m really frustrated because my Mac just won’t detect my external display. I’ve tried everything I can think of – double-checking the cables, making sure the monitor is powered on, even restarting my Mac – but nothing seems to work. I fear there’s some setting I’ve missed or maybe it’s a hardware issue. The display worked fine with another computer, so I’m not sure why it’s causing problems with my Mac. It feels like I’ve hit a wall and I’m running out of ideas on how to get my Mac to recognize the external monitor.
6 Answers
You may want to examine the display settings on your Mac:
1. Go to System Preferences > Displays.
2. On the Display tab, try tweaking settings like Resolution, Refresh Rate, and the Underscan slider.
3. Adjust these settings to see if your external monitor gets detected. For me, changing these settings resolved the problem instantly.
My suggestion is to update macOS to the latest version. Sometimes, these updates contain fixes for hardware compatibility issues. Follow these steps:
1. Go to the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
2. Click on Software Update.
3. If there’s an update available, click Update Now and follow the prompts. This resolved the issue for me as it might include patches for display problems.
Here’s a quick tip that worked wonders for me:
1. Power off your Mac and the external monitor.
2. Unplug the monitor from the power source and disconnect it from your Mac.
3. Wait for a couple of minutes.
4. Reconnect the monitor to the power source and then to your Mac.
5. Power them back on. This helped the system to reinitialize the connections and solved my issue.
I found manually using the Detect Displays option to solve a similar problem:
1. Open System Preferences.
2. Navigate to Displays.
3. Press and hold the Option key to make the Detect Displays button appear.
4. Click on Detect Displays, and your Mac should recognize the external monitor. Forcing the detection can help bypass the automatic recognition issues.
Try the good old method of resetting the NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory):
1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Turn it on and hold down Option, Command, P, and R keys together for about 20 seconds.
3. Release the keys after the startup sound or when the Apple logo appears and disappears. This method worked for me when my external monitor wasn’t being detected.
Here’s a basic check that helped me once:
1. Ensure your external monitor is turned on and set to the right input source.
2. Inspect and clean the cable and ports for dust and debris.
3. Use different ports on the Mac and the monitor if available.
4. Try a different cable to rule out cable faults. Sometimes, the simplest checks are the most effective.