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What's the keyboard shortcut for switching between video mirroring and and extended desktop screens? In Display Preference the feature is called "Turn On Mirroring" or "Mirror Displays." It took me some time to discover the keyboard shortcut for this.

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5 Answers

up vote 7 down vote

On older laptops (eg. earlier MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Powerbooks, etc.), by default it's simply F7. You will need to press Fn if you have "Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" checked off in the Keyboard and Mouse Preference Pane.

⌘ - F1 is supposed to work but I've found it quite spotty in terms of whether it worked or not on desktop (eg. iMac, Mac Pro) machines.

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My MBP has the keycap labelled with this. I hadn't actually used it until just now, however. – Matthew Schinckel Jul 18 '09 at 7:37
+1 for detailed info. – eed3si9n Jul 18 '09 at 15:09
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up vote 6 down vote accepted

It's ⌘-F1 or ⌘-fn-1, depending on the setting according to Chealion.

I found this on Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts. It's listed there as "Command-Function-1," but on my current generation (3rd generation?), unibody, MBP, ⌘-F1 is what works for me.

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Doesn't work on my current-generation Macbook Pro. – Peter Burns Jul 18 '09 at 6:16
Doesn't work on my 3-generations-ago MacBook Pro (Santa Rosa). – Matthew Schinckel Jul 18 '09 at 7:37
The discrepancy in use of Fn is because the F-keys can be configured to act as normal F-keys either with or without Fn pressed, with the other state activating the volume/brightness/etc. controls also printed on the keys. – Daniel Beck Dec 20 '10 at 10:03
Does work on my 2010 MBP – Stu Thompson Nov 15 '11 at 10:49
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up vote 0 down vote

I believe it used

to have a picture of 2 layered boxes but it isn't on the new laptops. It isn't on mine, I have the Aluminum Macbook (Non-Pro), or on several others I've seen.

You could however write an AppleScript to adjust the setting, and set it to a keyboard shortcut using either the built-in services menu and ThisService: http://wafflesoftware.net/thisservice/, or Quicksilver, or you could create a new keyboard layout in Ukelele (search it) and make sure you include that key.

One of those WILL work.

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Automator (OS X 10.6+) is probably easier to use for service creation (just select the Run AppleScript or Run Shell Script actions) than ThisService. – Daniel Beck Dec 20 '10 at 10:05
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up vote 0 down vote

on a MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard, Command-F1 switches between mirroring, extended desktop, and if only the external monitor is on (if for example, you opened the laptop while it was sleeping with an external monitor connected), command-F2 turns on the laptop monitor.

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up vote 0 down vote

control key + arrow keys will navigate you between desktops

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