Window Modes
TabStack
TabStack is BetterStage's unified managed Window Mode. Each display can have a resizable pane tree, and each pane can hold one window or a stack of windows you switch between with tabs. It replaces the old separate Bento Box and Tabbed Layout modes.
Pane actions and app launching
Click a pane's + button or right-click inside the pane and choose Launch App Here. BetterStage opens a new window in that pane when the app supports it, and otherwise moves a suitable existing app window into the pane. Pane menus also provide split, remove, Zoom Pane, and Restore Panes actions.
Tab, zoom, and app lifecycle
- When you close the selected tab, BetterStage selects the tab to its right, or the tab to its left when the closed tab was last.
- Closing a non-selected tab removes it from the tab bar immediately.
- Right-click a tab to quit its app. Hold Option to show Relaunch App; the normal quit respects unsaved-work prompts.
- Switching between tabs in the same zoomed pane keeps the pane zoomed. Selecting a tab in another pane restores the full layout first.
Apps with native tabs
Native tabs from apps such as Terminal and Ghostty stay inside their assigned pane: no phantom duplicate tabs, no tab jumps during Stage switches, and tab state remains intact when you return. Closing Electron windows also removes stale tabs promptly before the remaining layout reflows.
Start with TabStack
- Switch the current display from the Snap Wheel's Window Modes submenu or the BetterStage menu.
- Choose a layout when prompted, or set a default in Settings > Window Modes > Defaults.
- Drag windows onto panes. Drop on a pane to join it as a tab, or drop on an edge to split the pane.
Enhanced Native remains the default Window Mode. Enabling TabStack as the default does not change existing Stages.
Panes and tabs
Organize directly
Drag a window onto another to join its pane, onto a pane edge to split, or across displays to move it. Pane menus also let you split, remove, zoom, restore, or launch an app into that pane.
Keep window groups together
Tabs switch the visible member without changing pane geometry. Move the tab itself to move one window, or drag the tab-bar background to move the complete stack.
Choose where new windows go
In Settings > Window Modes > Defaults, choose Automatic, Active Pane, Adjacent Pane, or Own Pane. Adjacent Pane also lets you choose left, right, above, or below. App Routing, workspace restore, Launch App Here, and native-tab identity keep precedence over this general new-window rule.
Layout Styles
Open Settings > Window Modes > Appearanceto choose a starting style. Any manual pane, tab-bar, screen-padding, or pane-gap change switches the selection to Custom. The selected tab can use BetterStage's neutral glass or your macOS accent color.
Comfortable
4 px pane and tab-bar padding, fully opaque pane and tab backgrounds, 8 px screen padding, and a 6 px pane gap.
Compact
0 px pane and tab-bar padding, an opaque pane background, a transparent tab-bar background, 4 px screen padding, and a 4 px pane gap.
Custom
Keeps your own pane, tab bar, screen-padding, and pane-gap values.
Resize adjacent panes
Dragging a divider changes only the panes immediately beside that divider. Separate rows and columns can keep independent divider positions. You can drag the divider handle or a managed window's thin outer border; only the neighboring panes linked to that boundary change. Dropping a window onto a pane edge inserts it as a new left, right, top, or bottom neighbor. Resize Interaction under Settings > Window Modes > Defaults controls the visible handle width and whether BetterStage shows ghost-frame previews or resizes the real windows live.
Save and reuse layouts
Built-in and custom layouts store pane geometry without binding the layout to particular windows. Manage them in Settings > Window Modes > Preset Layouts, then use them as the default or apply them from the Snap Wheel.