An apparatus for recognizing a pupillary distance for three-dimensional (3D) display includes a display configured to output a 3D image corresponding to a reference pupillary distance, a controller configured to control a viewing cone included in the 3D image, and a user inputter configured to receive a user feedback indicating whether an artifact is viewed in the 3D image in response to the controlling of the viewing cone. The controller may move the viewing cone within a margin corresponding to the reference pupillary distance, and change the reference pupillary distance or determine the reference pupillary distance to be a desired pupillary distance of the user based on the user feedback.