Support

righthook is a small app, and we read every message. Start with the quick fixes below, or write to us.

If your built-in display is dark and you can’t see anything

righthook is built so you can always get the built-in display back. Try these in order. Each one is enough on its own.

Press Control-Option-Command-D. This is your Comeback shortcut. It works from anywhere, even when you can’t see the menu bar, and it needs no special permissions. If the built-in display is already on, the same shortcut turns it off again, so press it once and give it a moment. If you changed the shortcut in Settings, press yours.
Unplug the external display. righthook brings the built-in display back as soon as the last external display disconnects.
Quit righthook. Choose Quit righthook from its menu-bar icon, on the display you can see. Quitting always brings the built-in display back.
Force quit righthook. If it isn’t responding, press Option-Command-Escape, choose righthook and click Force Quit. When the app ends, macOS lights the built-in display back up.
Restart your Mac with the external display unplugged. righthook only changes the display while it is running, and with no external display connected it leaves the built-in display on.

Contact us

Email contact@unnecessaryapp.com

It helps if you include:

your MacBook model and macOS version (Apple menu → About This Mac)
the righthook version (Settings → About)
your external display’s make and model, and how it’s connected: cable, dock, adapter or switch
what you expected, and what happened instead
a screenshot of the righthook menu-bar panel, if you can see it

We reply as soon as we can. We use your email address only to answer you; see the privacy policy.

Postal address: PLACEHOLDER: add your legal name and postal address if your country requires it, or delete this line

Common questions

What is Sight Check?

The first time a new external display would make righthook turn your built-in display off, righthook does it and shows “Can you see this?” on that display. If you can read it, choose Keep It Off, and leave Remember this display ticked so righthook doesn’t ask about it again. If you can’t read it, do nothing: by default your built-in display comes back on its own after 15 seconds. You can also press Esc or choose Turn It Back On to bring it back straight away.

You can change the delay in Settings → General, and review or forget displays in Settings → Displays.

My built-in display didn’t turn off

Click the righthook icon in the menu bar. The panel tells you why the built-in display is on. The usual reasons:

No external display is connected.
Automatic is off. Turn it on in the panel or in Settings → General.
That display is set to keep the built-in display on (Settings → Displays). This is handy for TVs and projectors.
You’re presenting. Your external display is mirroring the built-in display, so righthook stays out of the way.
The display wasn’t confirmed in Sight Check. righthook asks again later (the panel says when), or you can turn the built-in display off yourself.
You turned the built-in display on yourself. righthook won’t turn it off until your displays change.
Another app is adjusting display colors. Quit any dimming or color app, then try again.
The display keeps disconnecting, so Automatic is paused until the connection settles. Check the cable or dock.

My built-in display turned off when I connected a projector

When you present by mirroring, righthook leaves the built-in display on. A projector set up as a separate display is treated like any other external display, so the built-in display turns off and its windows move to the projector.

Press the Comeback shortcut (⌃⌥⌘D) to get the built-in display back right away. To keep it on whenever that projector is connected, open Settings → Displays and switch the projector off in the list.

righthook says my external display went dark

Your external display stopped showing anything, so righthook brought the built-in display back and paused Automatic. Check that the display is on, awake and set to the right input, and that the cable is firmly connected. When it looks normal again, choose Resume Automatic in the righthook panel.

The built-in display looks dark, but I can still see a faint glow

righthook makes the built-in display go dark and moves everything to your external display. It doesn’t cut power to the panel, so on some MacBook models you may notice a faint glow in a dark room. Closing the lid is the way to turn the panel fully off.

How do I change or reset the shortcut?

Open Settings → Shortcut, click the shortcut field and press the keys you want. Restore Default brings back Control-Option-Command-D. If the shortcut doesn’t respond while VoiceOver is on, record a different one, because VoiceOver uses some Control-Option-Command combinations. If another app is already using the shortcut, it starts working as soon as that app lets go of it.

Where is the menu-bar icon?

Your menu bar may be full, or righthook may be turned off in System Settings → Menu Bar → Allow in the Menu Bar (macOS 26). Open righthook again from the Applications folder or Spotlight to reach its Settings.

Does righthook work with my dock, adapter or KVM switch?

righthook works with the external displays macOS itself manages. We haven’t tried every dock, adapter and KVM switch. If yours behaves oddly, Sight Check and the Comeback shortcut keep you safe, and we’d like to hear about it: email us the details.

Can I control righthook from Shortcuts or a script?

Yes. righthook adds four actions to the Shortcuts app: Turn Built-in Display Off, Turn Built-in Display On, Toggle Built-in Display and Set Automatic Mode. It also understands these links: righthook://toggle, righthook://off, righthook://on, righthook://auto?enabled=1 (or 0) and righthook://settings. Settings → Shortcut → Automation lists them, with a Copy button for each.

How do I uninstall righthook?

If you turned on Open at login, switch it off in Settings → General first. Then choose Quit righthook from the menu-bar icon and drag righthook from the Applications folder to the Trash.

righthook keeps its preferences only inside its sandbox on your Mac; deleting the app and its container folder removes them. The container is the folder named com.unnecessaryapp.righthook inside ~/Library/Containers. In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder and paste ~/Library/Containers to find it.

Which Mac models and macOS versions does righthook support?

MacBook Air and MacBook Pro running macOS 14 Sonoma or later, including macOS 26 Tahoe, on Apple silicon and Intel.

What does righthook do with my data?

Nothing. It collects no data and has no network access. Read the privacy policy for the details.