Cracked MacBook screen? Keep using it with CrackMac

Before and after

Drag it. That's the whole pitch.

The same screen on a panel with a dead strip down the left and along the bottom. Left: how macOS lays it out. Right: with CrackMac running.

Before: the Finder window, the menu bar and the Apple menu run into a dead strip on the left, and a document runs into a dead band along the bottom.

After: the dead strips are black, both windows sit on working glass, and the menu bar, Apple menu included, starts just inside the good area.

Without With CrackMac

Drag the handle. Built from real macOS windows; the damage is drawn in, because a camera can't capture a dying panel cleanly. The photos above are the real thing.

Try it on your screen first.

Every crack is different. The free trial is the full app for 30 minutes of use, so you can calibrate your dead zone and see whether it works on your Mac before you pay.

Every feature
Time only counts while it's working
Your settings carry over when you buy

Download the trial

The one nobody else fixes

Your  menu,
moved out of the crack.

The Apple menu lives in the top-left corner — the first thing most cracks take. macOS will not move the menu bar. So CrackMac draws a working one where you can actually see it.

Before: the Apple menu is completely lost inside the damaged strip and Finder is unreadable.

Without CrackMac. No at all, and “Finder” is shredded.

After: the Apple menu and all app menus are redrawn to the right, fully readable.

With CrackMac.  Finder File Edit View Go Window Help — all of it.

It behaves like the real thing

Click a title and slide across — the menus follow your pointer, exactly like the system menu bar. Every item works, because they are the real menu items.

Follows whichever app is frontmost
Keyboard shortcuts shown, exactly as macOS lists them
⌃⌥⌘M searches every command by name

The mirrored menu bar in use, with the Apple menu clear of the damaged area.

The rule

Nothing crosses the line.

You mark the broken bands once. After that, nothing you open is allowed into them — not a window, not a menu, not a dialog, not the pointer.

A Finder window running off the left edge of a damaged screen, with its sidebar unreadable.

Without CrackMac, a window opens wherever macOS puts it — including on top of the damage.

▣

Works across your apps

Works with accessible windows in native apps, Electron apps and other toolkits. Apps with fixed window sizes may need extra setup; CrossOver support uses a virtual desktop in the selected bottle.

⤢

Full screen, redirected

Native full screen always covers the entire panel, damage included. CrackMac can turn it into a window that fills your safe area instead, so video stays watchable. Some players drop back to their windowed view.

◐

The damage goes black

The damaged region is painted black where the panel still responds to content. Screenshot tools may include the mask; capture behavior varies with macOS and the tool used.

➤

The pointer stays home

Optionally fence the cursor inside the working area, so it never disappears into a region you can't see.

▤

Dock and widgets too

CrackMac attempts to move accessible widgets onto intact glass. Some need a manual drag. Optional controls adjust Dock size and position; these changes persist until you change them back.

⎋

An instant way out

⌃⌥⌘Esc disables live features while the app is responsive. There is no login item. Window positions and optional system-setting changes remain after restart.

Made for macOS

Tune it to your crack.

Every screen breaks differently, so nothing is hardcoded. Drag the edge of a band and the black mask moves on your real screen as you drag, so you can see the moment it covers the damage.

Four independent edges, to the point — or the millimetre
Every behaviour is a switch you control
Saved per display — your external monitor is untouched
Survives resolution changes, stored as proportions

▣ Display

◧ Behaviour

▤ Dock

◎ Screenshots

◈ CrossOver

⌘ Shortcuts

▣

Keep windows out

Moves and shrinks windows onto intact glass

▤

Mirror the menu bar

Redraws  and the app menus

⤢

Redirect full screen

Fills the safe area instead

➤

Keep the pointer out

Stops the cursor entering the dead zone

◐

Black out the dead zone

Reads as bezel, not noise

A native Mac settings window — sidebar, grouped panes, real controls.

Why this exists

I built this because
my own Mac broke.

A band down the left edge of my MacBook Air’s screen died, and another along the bottom. The machine itself was untouched — fast, silent, still the one I wanted to use every day. But macOS had no idea anything was wrong. It kept putting things exactly where I could no longer see them: the  menu, the traffic lights on every window, half of every Finder sidebar.

Every answer I found online said the same thing — lower the resolution. It doesn’t work. macOS always renders to the entire panel and scales to fit, so you get a smaller picture inside the same broken frame. Nothing actually moves out of the way.

So I wrote something that moves everything out of the way instead. It keeps windows on the glass that still works, redraws the menu bar where I can reach it, blacks out the damage so it reads as bezel, holds the pointer inside the good area, resizes the Dock until it clears the crack, and even talks fixed-resolution Windows games into behaving.

I still use that MacBook every day. Every photo on this page is that machine — cracked screen and all. If yours broke too, this is the thing I wish had existed the week mine did.

CM

CrackMac

Maker of CrackMac

Keep the Mac you already own.

A screen replacement runs into the hundreds. CrackMac costs less than lunch.

Try it free See pricing

Read this before you buy

Opening it takes
one extra step.

CrackMac isn't signed with an Apple Developer ID or notarised yet, so the first time you open it, macOS's Gatekeeper blocks it and says Apple couldn't check it for malware. That means Apple hasn't scanned it, not that it found a problem. Only open a copy you downloaded from crackmac.app. Here's exactly what you'll see, and what to click.

1

Click Done. Not Move to Trash.

Open CrackMac from Applications. This dialog appears. Click Done — the app stays put, and macOS remembers you tried.

macOS dialog: “CrackMac” Not Opened. Apple could not verify CrackMac is free of malware. Buttons: Move to Trash, Done.

2

Open Anyway, in System Settings.

Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll to Security. You'll find this row. Click Open Anyway, enter your password, and click Open on the last dialog. That's it — macOS never asks again.

System Settings, Privacy & Security: “CrackMac” was blocked to protect your Mac, with an Open Anyway button.

3

Turn on Accessibility.

CrackMac moves windows and reads menus through macOS's Accessibility permission. It asks on first launch and takes you to the right pane; flip its switch on. Without it, only the black mask works.

System Settings, Accessibility list: CrackMac with its switch turned on.

Why not just get notarised? Apple's developer programme is $99 a year. The plan is to pay it after the first sales — and this section gets deleted the day that happens.

Pricing

One price. Lifetime access.

One-time payment. No subscription. Yours for good. The first 100 licences go for $9.99 instead of $14.99.

One licence, one Mac

^$9.99 $14.99

Launch price · first 100 licences

Every feature, nothing held back
All current features included
macOS 13 Ventura or later

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No account needed · pay on one screen · refund within 7 days

Secure checkout with Paddle. One-time payment.

One-time payment · no subscription · billed in your local currency

Not sure it'll work on your crack? Try it free for 30 minutes first.

First launch needs one extra step — read it before you buy.

Questions.

Is there a free trial?

Yes: the full app for 30 minutes of use, free to download. The clock only runs while CrackMac is actually working. It needs an internet connection, because the time is kept on our server against an anonymous fingerprint of your Mac (a one-way hash, never the hardware ID itself), so reinstalling doesn't reset it. If it works for you, buy the full version and install it over the trial; your dead-zone settings carry over. One step people miss: macOS remembers the trial's Accessibility permission, not the full app's, so after installing, remove CrackMac from System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility with “−” and switch it on again when CrackMac asks. Until you do, the full version looks as if it isn't working.

Does this repair my screen?

No — nothing in software repairs a panel. CrackMac makes the working part of your display behave like the whole display, so a damaged Mac stays useful instead of being replaced. Weighing repair against the alternatives? Here's what each option costs.

My damage is in the middle of the screen.

Then CrackMac isn't for you, and we'd rather say so before you pay. It reserves rectangular bands along the edges. Damage in the centre can't be excluded without cutting your usable area in two.

What happens to full-screen video and games?

Native full-screen windows cannot be resized into the safe area. CrackMac can exit full screen and fit the window instead; a video may return to its windowed player. CrossOver support uses a Wine virtual desktop and depends on the game and bottle configuration.

Will the black mask hide all screen damage?

No. If damaged rows display noise regardless of the image sent to them, software cannot hide it. CrackMac can still help keep supported windows off that part of the panel.

What permission does it need?

One: Accessibility. Moving another app's window is a privileged operation on macOS, and the same permission covers mirroring the menu bar and holding the pointer inside the safe area. The app does not request Screen Recording or Full Disk Access. Once a day it checks a small version file on crackmac.app for updates, sending nothing about your Mac, and you can switch that off in Settings, About. The trial also checks in with our server once a minute to count its 30 minutes. Optional tools read or change Dock and screenshot preferences and CrossOver bottle settings. This website loads its font from Google Fonts.

What if something goes wrong?

⌃⌥⌘Esc disables live features while CrackMac is responsive. If it stops responding, quit it in Activity Monitor or run “killall CrackMac” in Terminal. CrackMac has no login item. Window positions and optional Dock, screenshot and CrossOver changes persist until changed again; this version backs up settings before changing them and provides Restore controls. Older changes made without backups cannot be recovered automatically.

How will I install the app?

Drag CrackMac to Applications, launch it, then grant Accessibility in System Settings → Privacy & Security. Current development builds are not notarized and macOS may block them. For a build you trust, Apple's manual exception is Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. A clean downloaded-install test is still pending.

Does it work with an external display?

Yes. Calibration is stored per display, and the constraints only apply to a screen you've actually marked as damaged. An external monitor is left completely alone.

Will it slow my Mac down?

CrackMac reacts to window events and periodically checks windows, widgets and menus. Optional pointer confinement polls more frequently. Performance depends on your apps and setup; compatibility and energy-use testing are still in progress.

How do I get the download again later?

After you buy, your download link is emailed to you. It's yours alone, never expires, and always points at the newest version. Lost the email? Enter your address on the re-download page and we'll send it again.

Guides for a cracked MacBook screen.

Straight answers, whether or not CrackMac is the right fix for you.

Make the good half
of your screen
the whole screen.