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# displayMode

The current arrangement of the split view interface.

```
var displayMode: UISplitViewController.DisplayMode { get }
```

## Discussion

This property reflects the arrangement of the child view controllers in a split view interface. The value in this property is never set to [`UISplitViewController.DisplayMode.automatic`](/documentation/UIKit/UISplitViewController/DisplayMode-swift.enum/automatic). To change the current display mode, change the value of the [`preferredDisplayMode`](/documentation/UIKit/UISplitViewController/preferredDisplayMode) property. If you just want to change which columns are shown, consider using [`show(_:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UISplitViewController/show(_:)) or [`hide(_:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UISplitViewController/hide(_:)) and the split view controller will determine how to update the display mode to display the desired columns.

When [`isCollapsed`](/documentation/UIKit/UISplitViewController/isCollapsed) is <doc://com.apple.documentation/documentation/Swift/true>, the value of this property is ignored. A collapsed split view interface contains only one view controller, so the display mode is superfluous.

---

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