Use your Android tablet as a wired USB second screen for your Mac

When a cable beats Wi-Fi

Over Wi-Fi, your tablet finds your Mac by itself and the second screen is free. A cable is for the places where Wi-Fi gets in the way:

• A busy network, where many devices share the air and the picture is less steady.
• A locked-down office, hotel or guest network that keeps devices from seeing each other.
• No network at all: the USB connection needs no Wi-Fi and no internet.

Over the cable your Mac still sees the tablet as a real display. You place it and pick its resolution in System Settings → Displays, and windows drag across to it like to any monitor.

What you need

• A Mac with macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon or Intel, running the free Wing Display app for Mac. Nothing else to install: the Mac app carries the Android tools the cable needs.
• An Android tablet on Android 11 or later with Google Play, or a foldable used unfolded. Phones aren't supported, and the tablet shows your Mac in landscape.
• A USB data cable. Many cables that come with chargers carry power only.
• Wing Display Pro on the tablet. First-time subscribers get 14 days free.
• USB debugging switched on once on the tablet.

Set it up

1. Install both apps

   Download Wing Display for Mac, open it and click Start in the menu bar. Then install the Android tablet app from Google Play.

2. Switch on USB debugging

   Android hides Developer options until you reveal them: open Settings → About tablet and tap Build number seven times. On a Galaxy Tab, Build number is under About tablet → Software information. Then turn on USB debugging in Developer options. The tablet app's Open Developer options button takes you straight there.

3. Plug in and connect

   Open the tablet app and tap USB at the bottom. Connect the tablet to your Mac with the data cable and accept the "Allow USB debugging?" prompt the first time. When the app says "Cable ready", tap Connect over USB. If this tablet is new to your Mac, click Allow on your Mac. Wing Display's menu on your Mac shows "USB cable" under Connection while the cable link is up.

Set up your tablet as a second Mac screen covers every permission your Mac asks for.

What to know before you plug in

• USB is part of Pro. Without Pro, USB in the tablet app is marked PRO and offers Get Pro instead of a connect button. The wireless second screen is free to use.
• Your tablet stays within reach of the cable. Wireless lets you put it anywhere in the room.
• USB debugging is a developer setting. Android asks before it trusts each computer, so accept the prompt only for your own Mac. If you switch USB debugging off later, the USB connection stops working until you switch it back on.
• Watch the battery on long sessions. Some tablets can end up charging the Mac instead of charging themselves. Here's how to fix that.

No cable handy and the network keeps devices apart? Turn on your tablet's own hotspot and join your Mac to it. That is free, and usually the steadiest wireless picture.

Use your tablet as a second screen on hotel or café Wi-Fi walks through the hotspot.

If the USB connection won't come up

Most often the cable is charge-only, USB debugging is off, or the tablet hasn't accepted the "Allow USB debugging?" prompt. Swap in a known data cable, check the setting, and make sure Wing Display is started on your Mac. Troubleshooting has more.

Every Android tablet uses the same USB debugging, so the cable works the same whatever the brand. If yours misbehaves, write to support@wingdisplay.com with its model.

What it costs

The Mac app is free, and so is the second screen over Wi-Fi or your tablet's hotspot. Pro adds the USB connection, touch control of your Mac, and the pen with pressure, tilt, hover and palm rejection. It's a monthly or yearly subscription, bought in the tablet app through Google Play, and first-time subscribers start with 14 days free. Cancel any time in Google Play. Compare the plans.

Questions