Archive. This is an archive of the Apple Support Community. Discussions are being restored and soon you will be able to read and post here again.
ki109
User level: Level 1 (5 points)

Screen Saver pictures appear small and cut off on extended displays

With two external displays, extended displays now show small cut-off screen saver pictures after update to OS 27. Switching the external as the main display will resolve the issue, but this is not a true fix. OS screen savers (Sequioa, Big Sur, etc.) operate full screen on all displays, only photos are showing in the corner of the external displays.



Posted on Sep 28, 2026 9:34 AM

4 replies

kaz-k
User level: Level 9 (53,902 points)

Sep 28, 2026 10:28 AM in response to ki109

Hi,

To fix macOS screen saver pictures appearing small or cut off on extended displays, adjust the external monitor's resolution and scaling settings in System Settings > Displays to match its native aspect ratio.


ki109 Author
User level: Level 1 (5 points)

Sep 28, 2026 12:32 PM in response to kaz-k

Thanks Kaz-k, I tried your suggestion with no difference. This screen saver issue happened only after the OS update from 26.x to 27, the picture files, hardware, and resolution didn't change. The main display (MacBook) is always full screen and proper resolution. The area on both of the external displays has the photo in the lower left-hand corner, the screenshot (top) and the original photo (bottom) are below.


augdust
User level: Level 1 (8 points)

Oct 6, 2026 11:57 PM in response to ki109

I am also experiencing this issue, and it only started recently after a macOS update to Golden Gate, 27.0.1.


I am using the same photos, the same screensaver settings, and the same resolution settings on the external monitors as before. They are set to their native resolution, and the built-in monitor is not set to "more space" or similar, it is also set to its default setting.

djb2260
User level: Level 1 (14 points)

Oct 30, 2026 6:40 PM in response to augdust

I am experiencing the exact same issues as augdust. It was only after I updated to Golden Gate 27.0 did the problems with the screen saver not working on the secondary display. I have always used the same settings (photos on the vintage photo setting for screensaver on both displays) with no issues. Now the only thing that appears on the secondary display is the lower left quarter of the secondary display has a partial image of the screensaver. The primary internal display works just fine.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256366617