Adjust external display brightness in macOS with MonitorControl

MonitorControl offers everything you need to control the brightness of your Mac displays. Free and damn effective utility.

Have you ever wished that the brightness keys on your Mac keyboard could control the brightness of an external display? For users with multiple screens, adjusting the brightness across multiple screens can be difficult because you have to use the physical buttons. Luckily, there is a very powerful little utility called MonitorControl that does just that. You can even sync all of its screens to change the brightness of all screens at the same time.

MonitorControl offers everything you need to control the brightness of your Mac displays.

MonitorControl is a fantastic utility for all Mac owners who use multiple screens daily, and especially for those who sometimes work late at night or very early in the morning with very variable ambient light. To use MonitorControl, screens must be DDC compatible, allowing the software to customize display settings. Most modern screens are like this, but you can check with the manufacturer to be sure. With this compatibility, the app works with all external displays connected via HDMI, USB-C, ThunderBolt or DisplayPort.

Once you’ve moved the application to your Applications folder to install it, launch MonitorControl. You will also need to grant permissions without “Privacy & Security”> “Accessibility”in order for the app to be able to control your Mac. If your screen is compatible with DDC, MonitorControl will work right away.

Free and damn effective utility

Screen brightness settings using the keyboard will affect the screen where the cursor is active. So, to adjust the brightness on an external display, hover over that display and use the brightness keys on your keyboard. You can also use the menu bar icon to access all screens.

There are many other options available. In addition to brightness, you can also control contrast and sound if your monitor has speakers and an audio output. Also, this utility works very well with multiple screens and if you use an iPad as a Sidecar screen. It’s also possible to adjust the brightness very precisely with the Shift + Option keyboard shortcut, just like you can control it from the terminal with AppleScript.

If for some reason you’re not happy with MonitorControl, there’s an alternative to Lunar that also offers two options if your monitors aren’t DDC compatible.