How to Adjust the Monitor Resolution on a Mac

The level of detail (resolution) that your monitor displays can be adjusted in either of two ways.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Multiscan Computer Monitors
• Macintosh Computers
• Mac OS 9.0

Using the Control Strip

1. Open the Control Strip by clicking its end.

2. Click the TV icon with a checkerboard pattern.

3. Select from the choices offered: Color LCD, 640 by 480, 800 by 600, and 1024 by 768. Not all Macs offer all choices.

4. Your screen resolution changes instantly.

5. Close the Control Strip.

Using the Monitors & Sound Control Panel

6. Click the Apple menu, select Control Panels, and choose Monitors & Sound.

7. Click the Monitor icon.

8. Select your resolution. Your screen resolution changes instantly.

9. Click the control panel's close box.

on 11/22/2005 There are a few ways to do so: Click on the Apple Menu, and select the System Preferences item or if you have not removed the icon from the Dock, select it or navigate to the Applications Folder ({boot_volume_name}/Applications/System Preferences).
In the System Preferences, select the Displays icon, a monitor.
When that loads, choose the resolution you want on the left side of the window.
The resolution changes immediately.

Note: your display does support all listed resolutions, however the grayed out entries are software driven, and may slow down the system, and they are not recommended. LCD displays run best at native resolution, i.e. the resolution in the preferences matches exactly the resolution on the screen's construction (e.g. laptops, and cinema displays).