How to use an external webcam with a closed MacBook

Apple has long offered a laptop option when you want to use just an external display in mirrored mode and not view the internal monitor. You can close the clamshell lid, and your separate screen continues to work. But what if you want to have external devices active and don’t need a display? One reader, for instance, wants to keep a webcam active but close their laptop’s lid.

Apple doesn’t provide a “headless’ option, and I can’t find third-party software designed for consumer models. It might be undoable.

You can keep the lid opened a little bit and set it so that its display dims after a short period:

• In Monterey or earlier, go to System Preferences > Battery, and in the Power Adapter view, check “Prevent your Mac from automatically sleeping when the display is off.”
• In Ventura, go to System Settings > Displays, click Advanced, and then enable “Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off.”

Another option is to attach a tiny, inexpensive external display and set the same details as above. For instance, this $60 7-inch display designed for gaming and Raspberry systems would work.

It can seem a little ridiculous to attach a $100, 10-inch monitor to your multi-hundred or thousand-dollar-plus laptop to have it keep running, but if it does the trick for what you need, your problem is solved. Note you can’t just turn the power off on the external display: it will appear as unavailable to macOS and switch display control back to the internal screen.

This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Me.

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