Force Sidecar to use usb connection

Solution 1:

I struggled with the same problem and just now finally solved it. The issue was for me that I didn't earlier "Trusted my iPad" on my Mac, and "Trusted my Mac" on my iPad.

Here's a how-to: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202778

After doing this, it finally connects via cable and is hopefully less buggy.

Solution 2:

For anyone stuck with the same problem, I figured out that I needed to Trust the ipad on my Mac by opening a Finder window, click the ipad on the left bar and finally "Trust" with the appropriate button on the right.

Solution 3:

You can use a direct USB-C to Lightning cable (I used an MFi cable by Aukey). Turn off the iPad's wifi, make sure you are signed in to the same apple ID, have iOS13 and Catalina installed. It is much faster than the wifi connection for me (and I also have less lag on my mac this way).

Solution 4:

For me, it wasn't a cable issue and the "Trust this Computer" fix didn't work either. I finally found an answer on the Apple Support Communities that fixed the issue for me. Here's an excerpt of the relevant section:

Following the instructions, I noticed there were two .plist files in particular that looked suspicious:

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration

preferences.plist contained a reference to "iPad USB" (even though I didn't see iPad USB in my "Network" settings).

NetworkInterfaces.plist contained multiple references to "iPad".

I made a backup of the two .plist files, deleted them from the SystemConfiguration folder, and rebooted. Voila! Now Sidecar works over USB.

Note: Both my Mac and iPad have WiFi completely turned off. Both have Bluetooth turned on. Mac is on Ethernet. iPad is connected to Mac using USB cable. That's it.

I am not a Mac expert, so I can't advise on the two .plist files I deleted. It worked for me, but your mileage may vary, and I am not sure if there is any danger related to deleting these files. Another thing I am not sure of, is whether it was necessary to uninstall ExpressVPN AND delete the .plist files. I wonder if doing the latter is sufficient to get USB Sidecar to work.