displaymode

displaymode is a command-line utility for changing the display resolution on macOS. It will work on macOS 10.6 or later.

In recent versions of macOS (e.g. macOS Ventura / v13), it's possible to set the resolution via Apple's built-in System Settings app, obviating the need for this utility. Firstly, enable System Settings > Displays > Advanced > "Show resolutions as list", then enable "Show all resolutions".

Installation

With Xcode

If you have Xcode (or the Xcode command line tools) installed, it's best to compile it yourself. From the terminal:

1. git clone https://github.com/p00ya/displaymode.git
2. cd displaymode
3. clang -std=c11 -lm -framework CoreFoundation -framework CoreGraphics -o displaymode displaymode.c

Without Xcode

If you don't have Xcode installed, then you can download the binary (note this is not a zip file) then give the OS permission to run it. From the terminal:

1. curl -LO https://github.com/p00ya/displaymode/releases/latest/download/displaymode
2. xattr -d com.apple.quarantine displaymode
3. chmod a+x displaymode
4. codesign -f -s "-" -v displaymode

Usage

To change the resolution of the main display to 1440x900, run the command:

./displaymode t 1440 900

To change the resolution of the secondary display to 1440x900, run the command:

./displaymode t 1440 900 1

You can also specify a particular refresh rate:

./displaymode t 1440 900 @60

You can get a list of active displays and available resolutions by running:

./displaymode d

The output will be a table like:

Display 0 (MAIN):
2560 x 1600 @60.0Hz *
1280 x 800 @60.0Hz
2880 x 1800 @60.0Hz
640 x 480 @60.0Hz !

Display 1:
800 x 600 @75.0Hz *

where each row is the width x height in pixels. * indicates the current mode, and ! indicates modes that are not usable for the desktop.

Other options

./displaymode h prints a summary of the options.

./displaymode v prints the version and copyright notice.