BetterDisplay setup question — 1 Mac, 2 displays, 2 desks

[RoteSau]

Heya,

I’m considering a slightly unusual setup and was wondering if BetterDisplay Pro could make it work smoothly.

I have an M3 Max MacBook Pro connected to a Pro Display XDR at my sitting desk, and I’d like to add a Studio Display at a standing desk about 2m away.

Ideally, I’d like one shortcut to switch between:

Sitting: XDR active, Studio Display disabled
Standing: Studio Display active, XDR disabled

The important part is that all open windows move to whichever display is active, so I can continue working in the same sessions without dealing with windows opening on the other desk.

Would BetterDisplay be able to handle this reliably?

If I mirror them the Apple way then I would be worried about mismatched resolutions and treating the standing desk as an external display is not an option because then I feel like I will wonder all there where the windows will open up if that makes sense. That brought me to Better Display.

Would highly appreciate any ideas. Thanks!

[waydabber]

With the v5.x version, if you hold SHIFT while toggling a display on/off (using the header), it will turn off (or on) all other displays. I sometimes use a two-desk setup as well, so this feature is specifically to make it easy to switch between desks.

For more info about this: #5701

[RoteSau]

Thank you so much, I highly appreciate your feedback. So you think my two desk setup could work seamlessly? I have not purchased the Studio Display for the Standing Desk just yet and would basically only do it once I have confidence BetterDisplay would be a good solution.

[waydabber]

I don't see a reason why it would not work, but of course the best course of action is to try first with a similar setup if possible, especially if the whole decision of getting a Studio Display hangs on this.

If this method does not work, you can still script turning the displays on/off with the app.

[RoteSau]

thanks a lot, really grateful for your expertise!