How To Use the AirPlay (Screen Mirroring) On Your Mac

How To Use The AirPlay (Screen Mirroring) On Your Mac

All thanks to AirPlay, you can now wirelessly extend or mirror your Mac’s screen to an external display such as an Apple TV, and certain smart TVs, or other devices that are running AirPlay receiver software. Here’s how you can use it.

What Is AirPlay?

AirPlay is the name for Apple’s company proprietary wireless media streaming protocol. AirPlay lets Apple devices such as the Macs, iPhones, and iPads stream audio and video over a local network to any AirPlay-compatible receiver device without any need for audio or video cables. It’s similar to how Chromecast and Miracast work on Windows and on Android devices.

One of the most useful features of AirPlay is that you can use it to share (project) your Mac’s screen on to another display device. We’re going to explore more in this article.

You’ll Need An AirPlay-Compatible Receiving Device

Before we begin, we’re going to have an assumption that you already have at least one AirPlay-compatible receiver device connected to the same local network as your Mac. Compatible devices include the Apple TV, some certain brands of smart TV sets, and other devices running AirPlay receiver software.

How You Can Share Your Screen On macOS 11 Big Sur and Later

1. To share your screen using the AirPlay on a Mac running macOS 11 Big Sur or later, first, click the Control Center icon located in the upper-right corner of your screen (in the menu bar). It seems like it's two tiny toggle switches.

2. Click the Control Center icon in the macOS menu bar.

3. When Control Center appears, click “Screen Mirroring.”

4. In macOS Control Center, click "Screen Sharing."

5. Next, you’ll see a list of AirPlay-compatible devices that your Mac discovered on your network. Click one of them to begin the mirroring.

(You should note that you will see different AirPlay receiver names while searching for your receiver, just choose the one you are to connect to. Not compulsory: You can possibly make use of an Amazon Fire TV running third-party AirPlay receiver software.)

6. Select the device you'd like to share your screen with.

7. While you’re connected and you are actively sharing your screen, the Screen Mirroring icon in the menu bar will turn blue (It looks like one rectangle overlapping another.).

8. At any time, you can click the Screen Mirroring icon to view the status of your connection or to switch from the mirroring to “Use As Separate Display” mode, which will in turn treat the AirPlay display as if it were a second monitor hooked to your Mac.

9. Click the Screen Sharing icon in the menu bar and you'll see a menu.

10. To disconnect and stop sharing your screen, just click the Screen Mirroring icon (or click “Screen Mirroring” in the Control Center) and click the receiving device name whose icon is highlighted in blue.

11. To disconnect, click the highlight item in the Screen Sharing menu.

12. After that, you’ll stop screen-sharing. You can also control the screen-sharing in System Preferences using the Displays > AirPlay Display menu.