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 (TabStack) are computed per-monitor, so each display gets its own independent grid.
  • Snap zones work on every connected monitor, from the keyboard, the Snap Wheel, or the menu bar.
  • Displays can sit edge to edge in System Settings > Displays > Arrange. BetterStage 2.2 no longer needs gaps between them.

Move to Display

Since 2.2, you can send a window to another monitor without dragging it:

  • Keep pressing the move shortcut toward a screen edge. Once the window reaches the edge, the next press carries it onto the neighboring display. This also works with displays stacked above or below each other.
  • Use the Snap Wheel the same way: flick toward the edge again to continue onto the next display.
  • Pick a display by name from the Move to Display menu in the BetterStage menu bar. Free-floating windows are centered on the destination; managed windows join that display's layout.
  • When the window lands in a TabStack, it goes into the pane facing the display it came from, not the first or emptiest pane.

Per-Display SpacingPro

Open Settings > Window Modes > Appearance and, under Layout Style, use Per-display spacing to give a display its own screen padding and gap between panes; other displays keep the shared values. Click Identify Displays to label every connected screen for a few seconds, so you know which one you are editing.

Hidden Windows

In BetterStage 2.2.0, inactive Stage windows and TabStack tabs stay in a private Space while hidden. They retain their size and position. You can arrange your displays normally; no gaps or special hide corners are needed, and there is no parking setting to configure.

Each Stage keeps a separate layout for every display and desktop. If a window becomes unreachable, use Rescue Windows…from the menu bar to gather eligible windows onto the chosen display.

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.

  1. Open Settings > Displays.
  2. Click a display in the layout preview or choose Pinned in the per-display controls.
  3. 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.

App Routing can also send newly opened apps directly to a Pinned Display. That route stays independent of regular Stages, so it never switches your current workspace or creates a new Stage.

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 stage layouts and display identities across the monitor arrangements you use — laptop on its own, docked to a single external, docked to a multi-monitor desk setup, and so on. Workspace Continuity restores the matching stages, windows, and per-display layouts after that arrangement settles.

Wake and Reconnect Behavior

Workspace Continuity waits for the Mac's display topology to settle, then restores the latest local checkpoint. This covers app restart, wake from sleep, docking, undocking, and display reconnects.

What happens today:

  • Wake from sleep — BetterStage resumes restores stages, window positions, and layouts from the latest checkpoint.
  • Display disconnected — automatic recovery moves its windows to the displays that remain and joins them to TabStack panes, while remembering their original arrangement.
  • Display reconnected — the display is matched by hardware identity and, when BetterStage can match it confidently, its windows and layout are restored automatically. Layouts you already changed elsewhere are left as they are.

Recovery is automatic and stored locally. Open Settings > Workspaces to review automatic recovery options or manage named Saved Workspaces.

Missing Monitor Behavior

Offline Display Shelf has been deprecated. With automatic recovery on, windows from a disconnected monitor become usable on connected displays, including their TabStack panes. Their remembered display arrangement is protected while you continue working.

When the display returns, its layout comes back automatically. You are asked only when BetterStage needs confirmation:

  • Restore Workspace or Keep Current Layout when the displays matched but moving windows needs your go-ahead.
  • Restore Saved Layout or Keep My Changes when you changed the workspace before recovery finished.
  • Review Displays when the display setup could not be matched safely.

Returned Monitor Behavior

When a previously missing monitor reconnects, BetterStage identifies it from hardware details and restores its staged or pinned display setting. If a choice is needed, it appears as a nonblocking prompt; BetterStage remains usable while you decide.

  • Staged displays rejoin normal stage switching.
  • Pinned displays stay visible across stages again as soon as BetterStage recognizes the monitor.

Windows that were stranded when the display disconnected return to a remaining display. If one is still missing, use Rescue Windows… from the menu bar.

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: With automatic recovery on, windows move to connected displays and join their TabStack panes. BetterStage remembers their original arrangement and keeps managing the screens that remain.
  • Tiling layouts are recalculated automatically when the monitor configuration changes.
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