RibbonVertical monitor on a Mac
Turn the monitor on its side, then open System Settings → Displays, select that monitor and set Rotation to 90° or 270° (whichever makes the picture upright). Arrange it beside your main screen in the same pane. A portrait monitor is excellent for code, documents, PDFs, chat and long feeds; the trick is fitting more than one window on a screen that's tall and narrow.
1. Rotate the display
- Physically rotate the monitor (it needs a stand that pivots, or a VESA arm).
- System Settings → Displays, and click the monitor in the row at the top.
- Set Rotation to 90° or 270°. Which one depends on which way you turned it; if the picture is upside down, pick the other.
- Click Confirm when asked.
The Rotation setting appears for external displays. MacBook built-in screens don't offer it.
2. Arrange it
Still in Displays, click Arrange. The rotated monitor now appears as a tall rectangle; drag it to sit beside your main display, and line up the tops or middles the way they sit on your desk, so the pointer crosses where you expect. The external monitor guide covers arrangement and the main display in more detail.
3. Pick the right scaling
A 27-inch 4K monitor in portrait is about 34 cm wide, so scaling matters. In Displays, choose a resolution option that keeps text comfortable at your distance. A 24-inch or 27-inch panel at 4K looks sharpest; see best monitor resolution for a Mac.
What works well in portrait
- Code: far more lines on screen, and most code is narrower than a portrait screen is wide.
- Documents and PDFs: a whole page at readable size. Great for reading papers and contracts.
- Chat, email and feeds: Slack, mail, social feeds, logs, news tickers.
- Trading: watchlists and Level 2 data. See Mac setup for trading.
What doesn't: video, wide spreadsheets, and design tools with side panels.
Fitting more than one window
A portrait screen is too narrow for side by side but has room for windows stacked top to bottom.
- macOS 15 and later: Fn⌃↑ and Fn⌃↓ tile windows to the top and bottom halves; Fn⌃⇧↑ arranges the front two windows top and bottom at once.
- Rectangle (free) adds more layouts, including thirds.
Ribbon on a portrait monitor
Ribbon gives each display its own strip, so the vertical monitor gets a strip of its own. On a narrow screen, the useful tools are:
- Full-width columns (⌃⌥F): one window per column, and a sideways swipe or ⌃⌥← / → flips between them.
- Stacks: put several windows in one column, one above the other, with ⌃⌥]. Chat on top, email below, for example. ⌃⌥⇧= / - makes one taller or shorter, and ⌃⌥0 evens them out.
- Tabbed columns (⌃⌥⇧T) to keep several windows in one column, one at a time.
- Send a window over from the main screen with ⌃⌥N.
Your main, landscape screen keeps its own strip with wider columns. Try the strip in the live demo; pricing is $9.99 once.
FAQ
How do I rotate my monitor on a Mac?
System Settings → Displays, select the external monitor, and set Rotation to 90° or 270°.
Why is there no Rotation option?
It appears only for external displays; built-in laptop screens can't be rotated. If an external monitor doesn't show it, try connecting it directly rather than through a dock or adapter.
Is a vertical monitor good for programming?
Yes. You see many more lines at once, and most code fits comfortably in a portrait screen's width.