This Mac App Lets You Share Your Screen so No One Can See What’s Really on It

Presentations on video conferencing apps like Zoom and Google Meet work best when you share the entire screen, but anyone with a 4K display knows the lag this can cause. Plus, if you only have one screen, you won’t have much room to take notes. Of course, you can get around this problem by sharing only part of the screen, but this gets tricky if you accidentally move the window.

Deskpad (which I found through Lou Plumber ) is a free Mac app that creates a virtual second monitor located in a window. The idea is that you move your presentation software onto this display and share it, and then use the rest of the actual display to see your notes and thread chat.

Using the app is simple: just install and open it and you’ll see a window with your full Mac desktop. It’s a simulated display – you can even customize it in System Preferences.

Credit: Justin Poth

Here you can adjust the display resolution – set it lower if your presentations tend to lag. You can also click the Arrange button to decide which side of the screen you need to move your mouse to enter the virtual display. Sure, it’s a little confusing, but you have to imagine that the DeskPad window is another monitor on your desk. Play with it and you will feel it.

Now you can prepare for the presentation. Place your presentation software on the DeskPad virtual display and set it to full screen mode. Then, when sharing your screen in Zoom or similar software, select the DeskPad display.

Credit: Justin Poth

Zoom will share the entire virtual display as if it were real. Now you can organize your screen the way you like. When the presentation is displayed full screen in the DeskPad window, you can place your notes and everything else in separate windows next to it. Sure, it’s a bit of a hack, but it works.

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