Sidecar not working on macOS Big Sur for many, but there may be a workaround

Sidecar was introduced a couple of months back which you can use to turn your iPad into a display that mirrors your Mac desktop. However, this new feature isn’t working for some on macOS Big Sur.

And as a result, there have been plenty of complaints about it on the official Big Sur forums.

Same issue. On macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 and trying to connect to an iPad Pro 12.9 (3rd generation). This was working for me in Catalina through AirPlay before I updated, but now it won’t work wired or wireless.
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Mine is not working with Big Sur, too. It used to work perfectly with Catalina. Apple only presents simple instructions and no fixes! Frustrating!
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As apparent from the above complaints, attempting a connection through “System Preferences > Sidecar > Connect to” does not work as the iPad fails to show up on the list of devices.

Users report that this issue began only with the Big Sur update and was non-existent previously on macOS Catalina.

Moreover, the mode of connection does not seem to matter as users report that they face the issue both when connected wired or wirelessly.

Fortunately, there is a couple of things you can try that have done the job for several users and may work for you as well.

If you’re trying to use your iPad as a 2nd monitor with a MacBook and Sidecar, sign out of iCloud on your iPad and sign back in. You’ll receive prompts on your Apple devices to confirm the sign-in on the iPad. Afterwards, go to your MacBook where you should see a notification badge on your System Preferences. Click into Apple ID where you’ll be prompted to enter your iPad passcode as well as your MacBook password. Once everything goes through, you should be able to go back to Sidecar in System Preferences and see your device as an option.
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Or in short, just sign out of iCloud on your iPad, then sign back in.

Hopefully, the above workaround fixed the Sidecar not working issue on macOS Big Sur for you. We also hope that Apple will address the matter soon.

For now, be sure to check out our dedicated macOS Big Sur update bugs/issues tracker for further coverage on issues like these.

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