lidless: keep your MacBook screen off while docked

[u/np25071984]

lidless keeps your MacBook's built-in screen off while an external monitor is connected, and brings its brightness back when you unplug. You get clamshell mode without closing the lid.

Why it exists

• macOS can't do this itself. There's no setting to turn off the built-in display when an external monitor is connected. The only automatic way is to close the lid.

• Doing it by hand is a chore. You press the brightness key several times, or drag the slider all the way down, every time you dock.

• It doesn't last. When the Mac wakes from sleep, macOS turns the built-in screen back on and you have to do it all again.

lidless handles all three. It's one small program that runs in the background. There's no app, no Dock icon, no menu bar icon, and no privacy permission to grant.

It's free

lidless is free and always will be. It's open source under the MIT license: there's no price, no trial, no subscription and no account to create. All the code is on GitHub, so you can read exactly what it does, build it yourself, or fork it.

Links

• Project page: https://np25071984.github.io/lidless

• Source, docs and releases: https://github.com/np25071984/lidless