How to share your Mac screen with another Mac

2 min read · 7 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Screen Sharing lets you see and control one Mac from another, which is the easy way to help a relative with a setting or to reach the Mac in the next room. It is built into macOS on both ends.

Menu names are from recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings.

Step by step

1. Turn on Screen Sharing on the Mac to be viewed

   Choose Apple menu, System Settings, click General and then Sharing. Click the info button next to Screen Sharing and switch it on. If Remote Management is on, switch that off first: the two cannot be on together.

   Done

2. Decide who may connect

   Under Allow access for, choose All users, or Only these users and add the accounts with the Add button. Anyone may request permission to control screen lets people without an account on this Mac ask, and you approve each request on the screen.

   Done

3. Open the Screen Sharing app on the other Mac

   Find it with Spotlight (Command + Space) or in the Utilities folder.

   Done

4. Connect

   Click Network in the sidebar, hold the pointer over the Mac you want and click Connect. For a Mac that is not in the list, click the new connection button and enter its name, its address or the Apple Account of its owner.

   Done

5. Sign in

   Enter the user name and password of an account on the other Mac and click Sign In. If you are offered a choice, Standard suits most connections. High Performance is for fast networks between Macs with Apple silicon.

   Done

6. Control or just watch

   In control mode your pointer and keyboard work on the other Mac. In observe mode you only watch. The toolbar of the Screen Sharing window switches between them.

   Done

7. End the session

   Close the Screen Sharing window, or choose Window, Connections, hold the pointer over the session and click Disconnect. Switch Screen Sharing off again in the settings if it is no longer needed.

   Done

Good to know

For helping someone far away, there is a quicker way that needs no settings: start a FaceTime call or open a conversation in Messages and use the screen sharing button. The other person has to accept.

Leave VNC viewers may control screen with password switched off unless you really need to connect from a non-Apple device, and never use a simple password there.

Both Macs must be able to reach each other, normally in the same network. From outside, sign in to both with the same Apple Account or use a VPN into the home network.

To show the Mac on a TV instead: how to mirror a Mac screen to a TV with AirPlay.

In short: System Settings, General, Sharing, Screen Sharing on, choose users. Other Mac: Screen Sharing app, Network, Connect, sign in, control or observe.