Skip to main content

How To: Run dual monitors on a iMac All-in-one

Perhaps you’re sitting there staring at your iMac and thinking, “You know what? This single monitor is not enough.” If so, go no further because we’ve got the steps to get you hooked up with dual monitor computing.

You’ll need a few items for this process so gather that following items:

– A monitor with a DVI input

– A mini DVI adapter

– A DVI cable 

Now that you’ve gathered the necessary items, we can get started.

1. Turn on your iMac.

2. Look on the back side of your computer. You should see an input with an IOI symbol above it. This is the mini DVI port. Plug your adapter into it.

3. Now, hook the DVI cable into the other end of the adapter. Connect that to the other monitor.

4. Plug in and power up the second monitor. Your iMac should immediately recognize the new monitor.

5. Now you’ll need to go into “System Preferences”. To do so click the Apple icon in the upper left corner. Preferences will appear in the drop down menu. Inside that select “Monitors”.

6. Under the “Arrangement” tab you can orient how the two monitors interact with one another. For example, you can select which monitor will be the dominant monitor which will display the dock and the primary opening of applications. 

Editors' Recommendations

Scott Younker
Former Digital Trends Contributor
How to share an external hard drive between Mac and Windows
The WD Easystore 14TB External USB 3.0 hard drive on a desk next to a monitor and near a plant.

While using a Windows machine over a MacOS system (or vice versa) was once fairly limited in terms of crossover, such towering walls no longer exist. Still though, if you’ve ever wanted to use the same external hard drive with both Windows and MacOS, you know how big of a burden this process can be.

Fortunately, a little process called ‘partitioning’ is available with both OS types. When you partition a hard drive, you’re basically splitting its internal storage space into different sections. These sections can then be formatted to work with many different types of computers.

Read more
I reviewed both the XPS 14 and MacBook Pro. They’re closer than you think
The XPS 14 and MacBook Pro side by side on a desk.

Apple has been squeezing impossibly strong performance out of the 14-inch MacBook Pro for years now. All the while, I've been wondering if a proper Windows alternative could ever really exist -- a laptop that's as premium and compact as it is powerful.

The Dell XPS 14 certainly seems like as suitable a rival as I've come across yet. Having reviewed and tested both machines myself, I have a pretty good idea where their strengths and weaknesses lie -- and which is the better option for most potential buyers.
Specs and configurations

Read more
I never knew I needed this mini Mac app, but now I can’t live without it
Apple MacBook Pro 16 downward view showing keyboard and speaker.

Switching apps is something I do countless times every day on my Mac, so much so that I don’t ever think anything of it. That is until recently, when I discovered a new app that has me flipping windows in a new (and much-improved) way.

That app is called Quick Tab, and it’s designed to make app switching a little more painless. Now, I’ll admit that I’ve never thought of the traditional Command-Tab key combination as all that painful, but Quick Tab has swiftly shown me what I’ve been missing.

Read more