Universal Control btw. MacBook Pro and Mac Studio only working for files and not for apps

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Universal Control btw. MacBook Pro and Mac Studio only working for files and not for apps

I was able to use Universal Control to drag windows of apps (like Zoom, Safari, Excel) from my MacBook Pro onto my bigger Mac Studio Display and it stopped working. I can still drag files (like an .xlsx file) between displays but not the open window of an app (like the same Excel file). Both my Mac Studio and MacBook Pro have Excel, Zoom etc.. installed.

Everything else is working fine (the mouse pointer, file drag and drop, etc...) but the open windows which I could easily drag btw displays stopped working. Any suggestions?

Thank you.

MacBook Pro

Posted on Sep 26, 2022 9:43 AM

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Answer 1

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ceru89rvhp08oiqewri9adopsjm Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 27, 2022 7:57 AM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you again - I finally figured it out.

While keeping the Universal Control on, you can go to Display settings and choose Mac Studio as your extended display (not mirror image, just extended display). This way, you can stil use Universal Control (one mouse and keyboard) across both (MacBook Pro and Mac Studio) and drag files, app windows etc... from the smaller MacBook Pro display to the bigger Mac Studio display.

I probably didn't word it correctly - thank you for helping out.

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Answer 2

Sep 26, 2022 10:11 AM in response to ceru89rvhp08oiqewri9adopsjm

For details: Universal Control: Use a single keyboard and mouse between Mac and iPad - Apple Support

This feature allows using the same the keyboard and mouse/trackpad to move among the displays, and allows content files—not apps, and not app displays—to be dragged around, as well.

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Answer 3

Sep 27, 2022 5:36 AM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you - I believe you can achieve what I am trying to by using Universal Control AND sidecar together. There is a setting for MacBook Pro and Mac Studio that allows using the same the keyboard and mouse/trackpad to move among the displays, and allows app displays (open windows of Mac Mail, Zoom, Excel, etc...) to be dragged around. Do you know the simultaneous setting that lets you operate like that?

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Answer 4

Sep 27, 2022 7:28 AM in response to ceru89rvhp08oiqewri9adopsjm

ceru89rvhp08oiqewri9adopsjm wrote:

Thank you - I believe you can achieve what I am trying to by using Universal Control AND sidecar together. There is a setting for MacBook Pro and Mac Studio that allows using the same the keyboard and mouse/trackpad to move among the displays, and allows app displays (open windows of Mac Mail, Zoom, Excel, etc...) to be dragged around. Do you know the simultaneous setting that lets you operate like that?

There is no such setting.

What you are probably remembering allows an iPad to be used as a display. Not a pair of Macs.

Usual path here is a second connection into the display, and display switching.

ARD/VNC/ARD can also be used, but probably isn’t preferable for moderate- to intensive display activities.

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Universal Control btw. MacBook Pro and Mac Studio only working for files and not for apps

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