Your Mac and iPad already make an incredibly powerful pair. With the Sidecar feature in macOS and iPadOS, they do even more – together.

Sidecar-optimised apps bring out the best in both devices: annotate a PDF or screenshot on your iPad with your Apple Pencil, then insert that into a document on your Mac. Or use your iPad screen to draw, sketch, write and edit directly in a Mac app.

Here’s a quick guide to using Sidecar – and the apps that make the most of this powerful new feature.

To enable Sidecar, open Control Centre on your Mac, click Display and choose your iPad. (In macOS Catalina, choose your iPad from your Mac’s AirPlay menu.)

That’s it!

The feature works wirelessly over Wi-Fi. To charge your iPad while you work, connect it to your Mac with a cable.

By default, your iPad shows your Mac’s desktop and menu bar, the Sidecar sidebar and a Touch Bar for apps that support it. To move or disable these, choose Sidecar Preferences from Control Centre’s Display section. (In macOS Catalina, choose Open Sidecar Preferences from the AirPlay menu.)

Want to move a window from your Mac over to your iPad – or vice versa? Hover over the window’s green circle, then select the appropriate option.

You can also move your Mac’s Dock to your iPad. Just tap the Dock button at the top of the iPad sidebar.

When a Mac app is displayed on your iPad screen, you can use familiar gestures like pinch-to-zoom, or use your Apple Pencil in lieu of a mouse or trackpad for drawing, clicking, dragging and more.

Or use your iPad’s onscreen keyboard to type in Mac apps – to bring it up, tap the keyboard icon in your iPad’s sidebar.

Use your Apple Pencil and iPad to draw, sketch or mark up documents in any Mac app. Just mirror your Mac’s screen on your iPad by choosing Mirror in Control Centre’s Display section. (In macOS Catalina, choose Mirror from the AirPlay menu.)

All Mac apps work with Sidecar, but some offer specific features and Apple Pencil support. Here are a few to take for a spin: