Fortunately, for the curious and impatient among us, a clever person has figured out how to enable the hidden feature. Let’s look at the process.
What Is Universal Control?
Universal Control expands on Apple’s current Continuity tools, such as Sidecar, Handoff, and Auto Unlock. These all allow you to quickly transition between devices.
macOS Monterey’s new feature aims to enhance that feeling of seamlessness by allowing you to use the same keyboard, mouse, or trackpad on multiple products simultaneously. Initially, that may sound messy, but Apple executes the concept well and has crafted a valuable tool for those working across multiple devices at once.
In action, the feature resembles a multi-monitor setup that allows you to swiftly switch focus to the screen you want to use. In reality, Universal Control is much more than that.
Once enabled, Apple’s new Continuity tool lets you move files from one device to another with a simple drag and drop motion. You can even use keyboard commands on your Mac to access apps and other functions of your iPad.
Apple has stated that Universal Control will work with up to three devices running macOS 12 or iPadOS 15, and the feature requires no additional setup. In the Monterey public beta, however, you’ll need to follow a strict set of instructions to enable this useful tool.
How to Enable Universal Control in the macOS Beta
First, we must note that at this time, Universal Control only works with Mac products. There’s currently no way to enable the feature in the iPadOS 15 beta. Therefore, if you don’t have access to two or more Apple computers, enabling this tool probably won’t be useful to you yet.
Second, Apple does not officially support or endorse the following steps, and you should always back up your data with Time Machine or a similar app before making any changes—no matter how minor—to your system. With that said, we can move on to the fun part.
The first step to enable Universal Control is to ensure your Mac is running the Monterey public beta, which you can sign up for on the Apple Beta Software Program website. Naturally, software that’s still in the testing phase often comes with unresolved issues, so installing Monterey on a secondary hard drive is an ideal, mostly risk-free way to experience the new operating system.
Once your OS is in order, you’ll need to download a copy of the preference file user zhuowei has created and posted on GitHub.
Next, locate this file in your Downloads folder, extract the contents, and move Ensemble.plist to the following location: /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain/.
Inside Preferences, FeatureFlags may not yet exist, so you’ll need to create a new folder with the correct name in that case. It’s the same for Domain.
Lastly, you should restart your Mac for the changes to take effect. Repeat these steps for each product you want to test with Universal Control, then configure your devices from the Displays panel in System Preferences.
For the sake of clarity, we’ll restate the steps here in list form:
Ensure your Mac is running the macOS Monterey public beta. Download the Ensemble. plist from GitHub. Locate the . zip file in your Downloads folder and extract the contents. Navigate to /Library/Preferences/ and create a new folder named FeatureFlags, if that entry isn’t already there. Open FeatureFlags and create another folder named Domain, if it’s not already present. Move or copy Ensemble. plist to /Library/Preferences/FeatureFlags/Domain/. Restart your Mac. Open System Preferences and select Displays. Click Add Display and choose the devices you wish to connect.
The majority of people report success after following these steps. Some, however, have been unable to activate the feature. Because Apple doesn’t officially support enabling Universal Control at this time, results will vary. If it doesn’t work for you, you’ll need to wait until the final release of macOS Monterey.
Universal Control Will Be Worth the Wait
If you’re someone who uses multiple Apple products, Universal Control could be the killer feature you’ve been waiting for. Although macOS Monterey is still in the public beta phase, the clever individual who discovered how to enable the hidden tool has gifted us an early sample of what’s to come.
By downloading the preference file posted on GitHub and dropping it in the correct location, you may be able to activate Universal Control on some or all of your Macs running Monterey now.
If the steps didn’t work for you, or you don’t wish to enable the feature at this time, Apple will eventually release a fully realized version of Universal Control that functions exactly as the designers intended. By then, the feature will be worth trying for anyone who uses more than one Apple device.
