Extend Displays for ProPresenter on Mac and Windows (Not Mirror)

The projector is plugged in and ProPresenter is running, but the room is looking at your operator screen: the playlist, the slide thumbnails, everything. It’s something I get asked often, and most people assume a ProPresenter setting is wrong.

Usually it isn’t. It’s a feature of the computer’s operating system, and it comes down to one choice: mirror or extend. Here’s how to get that right on a Mac and on Windows, then the one ProPresenter step that puts the slides on the correct screen.

Mirror vs. Extend in Plain Terms

When you connect a second screen over HDMI (or through a USB-C to HDMI adapter), the computer does one of two things with it.

• Mirror shows the same picture on both screens. That’s great for a simple presentation where you click through slides and want to see exactly what the room sees.
• Extend turns the second screen into more desktop. You can drag windows onto it, and each screen can show something different, like private presenter notes on your laptop while the audience sees only the slides.

It also helps to know which screen is your primary (main) display. On a laptop, that’s the built-in screen. On a desktop, it should be the monitor your operator uses in the booth, not the projector. The primary display is where new windows open and where the desktop icons and menus usually appear.

ProPresenter is designed to run with your displays extended. The operator screen lives on the computer’s main display, and every other screen gets assigned from inside the software.

That’s why mirroring breaks a ProPresenter setup. Mirrored, the projector can only show a copy of your operator screen. Extended, ProPresenter can send a clean audience output to the projector and a stage display layout (current and next slide text, notes, clocks, timers) to another screen, while the operator view stays in the booth.

First, Let the Computer See the Screen

Plug in the cable, turn the TV or projector on, and make sure its input is set to the port you’re using, like HDMI 1. When the computer detects the new display, your main screen usually flashes black. Then either the scale of everything changes (mirrored) or your desktop background appears on the new screen (extended).

If nothing shows up at all, stop there. Until the operating system can see the display, there’s nothing ProPresenter can do with it. I’ve seen too many people frustrated inside ProPresenter when the evidence showed the problem wasn’t ProPresenter at all.

How to Extend Displays on a Mac

Apple moved the display settings a few years ago, so start by checking which version you have. Click the Apple menu in the top left. The second item down is either System Settings (macOS Ventura and newer) or System Preferences (older macOS). The settings look different depending on which one you see.

Newer macOS: System Settings

1. Open Apple menu → System Settings → Displays.
2. You’ll see your built-in display and the connected TV or projector.
3. Select the external display and look at its Use as setting. If it’s mirroring, choose to stop mirroring so it’s used as an extended display.
4. The same setting is where a screen can be made the main display. Keep your laptop or booth monitor as the main display, not the projector.

Apple renames and moves labels between releases, so treat these as the layout shown in the video.

macOS Sequoia 15 and newer: the “limbo” button

Newer macOS no longer assumes a new display should extend. It puts the display in a kind of limbo, and a blue button appears in the menu bar at the top right. Click it and choose mirror or extend. Only then does the display appear in System Settings → Displays.

Older versions of macOS assumed extend unless you told them otherwise. So if a setup worked for years and a new display suddenly “does nothing,” look for that button first.

Older macOS: System Preferences

1. Open Apple menu → System Preferences → Displays, then the Arrangement tab.
2. The Mirror Displays checkbox in the bottom left turns mirroring on and off. Uncheck it to extend the desktop.
3. In the arrangement picture, a thin white strip sits across the top of one display. Whichever display has it is your primary display. If it ever jumps to the projector, drag it back to your main screen.

How to Extend Displays on Windows

ProPresenter runs on Windows too, and the idea is identical: extend, and keep the operator monitor as your main display. These general steps apply to Windows 10 and 11:

1. Open Settings → System → Display.
2. With the second screen connected, choose Extend these displays in the multiple displays option.
3. Click Identify to flash a number on each screen so you know which is which.
4. Select your operator monitor and turn on Make this my main display, so new windows and desktop icons open on your operator screen, not the projector.

For a fast switch, press the Windows key + P and choose Extend.

Send ProPresenter’s Output to the Extended Screen

With the displays extended, open ProPresenter. Just above the output preview are the Audience and Stage buttons. Red means that output is off, and green means it’s on.

Here’s a common symptom. You click Audience, it turns green, and the slides fill your own screen instead of the projector. That tells you the audience output is assigned to the wrong display, your main one.

1. Close that output so you can see ProPresenter again.
2. Go to Screens → Configure Screens.
3. Select your audience screen and open its output dropdown. Under the system displays, choose the external display.
4. Not sure which display is which? Click Identify beside a display, and it shows you exactly which physical screen that entry means.
5. Close the window and turn the Audience output back on.

That’s the clean split: the operating system extends the desktop, and ProPresenter decides what each extended screen shows. The next steps (a stage display screen, stage layouts and cable distances) are covered in ProPresenter screen setup for church. For stage layouts specifically, start with ProPresenter 7 | Stage Display Essentials.

When Your Mac Runs Out of Displays

This one surprises people. Computers used to be limited mostly by how many output ports they had. Apple silicon Macs also have a limit on how many displays they’ll drive, and it varies by machine and chip.

• My M2 MacBook Air supports only one external display. It gave me a main output for ProPresenter but left me without a stage display. Plugging in another screen did nothing.
• On my M4 MacBook Pro, two external displays maxed it out: one on the built-in HDMI port and one through a USB-C to HDMI adapter.
• Mac Studio computers can drive at least five displays, depending on the chip.

Check a Mac’s display limit before you buy it for ProPresenter. Count the independent outputs you actually need (audience, stage display, stream, maybe a lobby screen) and make sure the computer can deliver them.

Adding an output with the UltraStudio Monitor 3G

When you need more than the Mac allows, a device that acts as a “digital display” can get around the limit. I’ve used the Blackmagic UltraStudio Monitor 3G for exactly this, and a few details matter:

• Use a real Thunderbolt cable. The device connects over USB-C, but a charging-only USB-C cable won’t work. It needs a Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 cable, which doesn’t come in the box.
• It has full-size HDMI and SDI outputs, so you don’t need converters. You can use both at once, but they show the same picture.
• It isn’t a normal display. macOS doesn’t configure it like a monitor, and you can’t drag windows onto it. The software you’re using has to support it.
• Install Blackmagic’s Desktop Video software from the support page on Blackmagic’s website. Get the regular download, not the SDK.
• Expect a security step. If the device doesn’t show up, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, allow the Blackmagic software, and reboot.

Once it’s running, ProPresenter lists it in Screens → Configure Screens in its own Blackmagic section. Assign it to a screen (such as the stage screen), pick a resolution, and you’re live.

There are honest limits. Not all software supports this kind of output, and running several outputs can tax the computer. It’s a great solution in a pinch, but I wouldn’t rely on it long-term when a properly powered computer can deliver every output you need.

For a bigger system, a Blackmagic DeckLink Duo 2 card in a Thunderbolt enclosure goes further. At the church I served in Canton, Ohio, the ProPresenter Mac Studio fed a Sonnet enclosure that gave us four SDI outputs into the ATEM switcher: key and fill for graphics, the stage display, and the full-screen feed for the projector.

Troubleshooting: The Wrong Picture on the Wrong Screen

• The projector shows exactly what’s on your laptop. The displays are mirrored. Switch the external display to extend.
• The projector shows only your desktop background. Good news: it’s extended. ProPresenter’s Audience output is off, or it isn’t assigned to that display yet.
• Slides cover your operator screen when you turn on Audience. The output is assigned to your main display. Fix it in Screens → Configure Screens.
• The menu bar or desktop icons moved to the projector. The projector became your main display. On newer macOS, set your operator screen back to main. On older macOS, drag the white strip back. On Windows, use Make this my main display.
• A new display does nothing on a newer Mac. Look for the blue display button in the menu bar and choose extend.
• A second external display does nothing at all. You’ve probably hit the Mac’s display limit. Check the model, or add an output device.
• The TV says no signal. Check the TV’s input setting and the cable before touching any software.
• The UltraStudio Monitor 3G won’t appear. Allow the software in Privacy & Security, reboot, and confirm the cable is Thunderbolt.

The Whole Thing in One Picture

• Mirror copies your screen. Extend adds a screen. ProPresenter needs extend.
• Keep your laptop or booth monitor as the main display.
• Mac: System Settings → Displays on newer macOS, or System Preferences → Displays → Arrangement on older macOS. Sequoia 15 and newer may ask through a blue menu-bar button first.
• Windows: Settings → System → Display → Extend these displays, or Windows key + P.
• ProPresenter: Screens → Configure Screens, pick the external display, use Identify, then turn Audience on.
• Out of displays? Check your Mac’s limit before adding a device like the UltraStudio Monitor 3G.

Gear mentioned in this guide

Affiliate links — clicking them helps support what we do at no cost to you.

• uni USB-C to HDMI Adapter 4K@60Hz — the kind of adapter that adds a screen from a USB-C port. Buy →
• Blackmagic DeckLink Duo 2 PCIe Capture Card — a card for adding dedicated SDI outputs through an enclosure. Buy →
• Sonnet Echo Express SE1 Thunderbolt 3 Chassis — a Thunderbolt chassis that holds a PCIe card. Buy →

Related Videos

• Screen Setup & Configuration | ProPresenter 7 demonstrates mirror vs. extend on older and newer macOS, plus assigning the output.
• Blackmagic Monitor 3G: Expanding Your Mac’s Display Capabilities covers Apple silicon display limits and setting up the Monitor 3G.
• Let’s Fix Your ProPresenter Screen Setup covers the Sequoia display change, stage screens and multi-output setups.

Keep Going

• ProPresenter screen setup for church
• ProPresenter for church: the complete training guide
• HDMI vs. SDI vs. fiber for church video
• ProPresenter stream output

More training is on the YouTube channel: youtube.com/@CrazyAmazingDesigns.