Docs / Monitors
Monitor Management
BetterStage treats your entire multi-monitor setup as a single workspace. Stages span all connected displays, so switching a stage hides and shows windows on every monitor simultaneously.
Multi-Monitor Behavior
A stage is not tied to a single display. When you switch stages with Opt+1 through Opt+9, BetterStage hides every window belonging to the outgoing stage and reveals every window belonging to the incoming stage — across all monitors at once.
- Windows stay on the monitor where you placed them. Switching stages never moves a window to a different display.
- Tiling layouts (Bento Box) are computed per-monitor, so each display gets its own independent grid.
- Snap zones work on every connected monitor. Drag a window to the edge of any display to trigger a snap zone.
Pinned DisplaysPro
Sometimes you want a monitor to stay untouched — a dedicated reference screen, a video call display, or a monitoring dashboard. You can pin individual monitors so they remain visible across all stages.
- Open Settings > Pinned Displays.
- Click a display in the layout preview or choose Pinned in the per-display controls.
- Windows on pinned monitors remain visible regardless of which stage is active.
Unpinned displays are staged: they follow stage switches and only show the current workspace. Pinned displays stay visible all the time. When you pin a display, BetterStage merges its windows into one always-visible workspace. When you unpin it, BetterStage re-attaches those windows back into stage management.
Display ID Persistence
BetterStage tracks displays using a stable hardware identity, not just the temporary display ID assigned by macOS. This helps monitor settings survive disconnects, reconnects, sleep/wake cycles, and port changes.
- Unplug a monitor, reconnect it, and your settings are restored automatically.
- BetterStage uses display model, serial, resolution, and position to recognize a monitor even when macOS assigns a new display ID.
- In rare cases where a display cannot be matched confidently, you may need to reconfigure that monitor in Settings.
Display Layout Memory
BetterStage remembers your stages and pinned displays separately for every monitor arrangement you use — laptop on its own, docked to a single external, docked to a multi-monitor desk setup, and so on. When you switch between arrangements, the layout that matches comes back automatically with no prompt needed.
Missing Monitor Recovery
If a monitor disconnects unexpectedly (cable yanked, dock unplugged, display goes to sleep), BetterStage shows a small prompt at the bottom of the active screen instead of silently shoving every window onto your remaining monitors.
The prompt lists the missing display(s) and offers two choices:
- Wait for Monitor — keep windows pinned to the missing monitor while you reconnect it. Default action.
- Move to New Stage — pull every window that was on the missing monitor into a temporary recovery stage so you can keep working.
A countdown auto-moves windows if you don't dismiss the prompt, so an unattended Mac doesn't end up with windows stranded on a disconnected screen.
Returned Monitor Prompt
When a previously missing monitor reconnects, BetterStage offers to restore the windows that were on it before the disconnect.
- Move Back — return the windows to the monitor that just came back, restore their original stage membership, and close the recovery stage.
- Keep Stage — leave the recovery stage alone so the windows stay where you've been using them.
Hot-Plugging
BetterStage detects monitor connect and disconnect events in real time. There is no need to restart the app when you plug in or remove a display.
- Monitor connected: BetterStage picks up the new display, restores any saved settings for its display ID, and begins managing windows on it.
- Monitor disconnected: Windows that were on the removed display are reassigned to remaining monitors by macOS. BetterStage updates its internal state and continues managing the active displays.
- Tiling layouts are recalculated automatically when the monitor configuration changes.