Mac Studio Screen Turns Black During Screen Sharing? Here’s Why and How to Fix It

Summary:

If your Mac Studio’s physical monitors (such as the Studio Display) turn black when you connect remotely via Screen Sharing, this post explains why it happens, what setting causes it, and how to control the behavior depending on your needs.

Problem:

When remotely connecting to my Mac Studio using Apple’s built-in Screen Sharing app from another Mac (in my case, a MacBook Air), I noticed that the Mac Studio’s physical displays—including my Studio Display—would suddenly go black. Restarting the Mac Studio didn’t seem to solve the problem unless I disabled screen sharing during boot. Strangely, once connected via Screen Sharing, the System Settings would show only virtual displays, not my physical monitors.

After careful experimentation, I discovered that this is not a hardware issue and not a malfunction. It is actually intentional behavior by macOS under certain Screen Sharing settings.

Here’s What’s Really Happening:

When initiating a Screen Sharing session from a remote Mac, there are two modes you can choose:

1. Standard Screen Sharing

• Chosen when Screen Sharing Type = Standard.
• Mac Studio’s physical displays stay active.
• You can remotely view and control the existing displays without interrupting anyone sitting at the Mac Studio.
• In the remote session window, you can select which physical monitor to view if you have more than one.
• Best if you want to occasionally manage your Mac Studio and keep its screens visible.

2. High Performance Screen Sharing

• Chosen when Screen Sharing Type = High Performance.
• Mac Studio’s physical displays are turned off.
• macOS creates 1 or 2 Virtual Displays instead.
• In System Settings > Displays on the Mac Studio, you’ll now see "Screen Sharing Virtual Display" entries.
• Locally connected monitors (Studio Display and others) go black and are effectively deactivated.
• Best if you want maximized speed for heavy remote work (e.g., video editing, graphic design) and don’t care about someone sitting at the Mac Studio seeing the screen.

Why This Behavior is Confusing:

• macOS does not currently warn the user that choosing High Performance mode will deactivate physical monitors.
• The black screen on the Mac Studio looks like a crash, hardware failure, or cable issue — but it's not.
• Physical monitors automatically reappear once you end the Screen Sharing session or reboot without reconnecting remotely.

How to Control This Behavior:

• If you want your Mac Studio displays to stay active during a remote session:

In the Screen Sharing app on the remote Mac, set Screen Sharing Type = Standard when connecting.

• If you need the best possible speed for heavy remote work, and you’re fine with the Mac Studio’s screens going dark:

Set Screen Sharing Type = High Performance.

You can also select whether you want one or two Virtual Displays when using High Performance mode.

Final Thought:

This is a case where macOS is working as designed, but the design isn’t clearly communicated to users. Knowing how Standard and High Performance modes affect physical displays can save you hours of troubleshooting — and a lot of unnecessary worry!

Optional Bonus Tip:

Before shutting down or rebooting the Mac Studio, avoid having an open High Performance screen sharing session. Otherwise, at the next boot, the physical screens may appear black until you fully restart without reconnecting.

Acknowledgment:

This clarification was written after detailed side-by-side experimentation with a Mac Studio, Studio Display, and MacBook Air using Apple's Screen Sharing app. Hoping this helps others avoid confusion!