Help with extending screen to external monitor on iPad Air 13-inch

I have an iPad Air 13-inch (M2) on iPadOS version 18.7.2. I am trying to extend my desktop to an external monitor, but the “arrangement” option is not showing under Displays & Brightness. Is anyone familiar with how to get this option to show? I don’t see an option to turn off screen mirroring either. Thanks for any help/guidence!

iPad Air, iPadOS 18

Posted on Dec 9, 2025 11:17 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 9, 2025 2:21 PM

You make no mention of your monitor's connection details or capabilities.


While seemingly undocumented, testing has demonstrated that 4:3 monitors with a display resolution of 1280x1024 and below are only usable with iPad screen mirroring; as such, associated settings to disable screen mirroring in favour of Stage Manager are not available in iPad Display settings.


When used with a 16:9 widescreen monitor, with a native display resolution of 1920x1080 or greater, the full set of Display settings - and access to Stage Manager - should become available.


The iPad User Guide lists the upper resolution limit as 6K - but the Guide offers no lower limit, or suggestion of aspect-ratio, being a factor for compatibility:


Connect iPad to a display with a cable - Apple Support


This discussion thread may be of additional interest:

iPad Extended Desktop not working - Apple Community


In conclusion, your monitor must be capable of 16:9 widescreen 1920x1080 (FHD) to support iPadOS16 Stage Manager extended desktop. Unless the monitor meets the minimum required specifications, you will not see the full range of controls in iPad settings.  


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 9, 2025 2:21 PM in response to Sktr2natls

You make no mention of your monitor's connection details or capabilities.


While seemingly undocumented, testing has demonstrated that 4:3 monitors with a display resolution of 1280x1024 and below are only usable with iPad screen mirroring; as such, associated settings to disable screen mirroring in favour of Stage Manager are not available in iPad Display settings.


When used with a 16:9 widescreen monitor, with a native display resolution of 1920x1080 or greater, the full set of Display settings - and access to Stage Manager - should become available.


The iPad User Guide lists the upper resolution limit as 6K - but the Guide offers no lower limit, or suggestion of aspect-ratio, being a factor for compatibility:


Connect iPad to a display with a cable - Apple Support


This discussion thread may be of additional interest:

iPad Extended Desktop not working - Apple Community


In conclusion, your monitor must be capable of 16:9 widescreen 1920x1080 (FHD) to support iPadOS16 Stage Manager extended desktop. Unless the monitor meets the minimum required specifications, you will not see the full range of controls in iPad settings.  


Help with extending screen to external monitor on iPad Air 13-inch

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