Workspaces & Continuity

Workspace Continuity

BetterStage regularly keeps a local checkpoint of your stages, window positions, display assignments, and TabStack structure. It uses that checkpoint automatically when BetterStage restarts, your Mac wakes, or your display topology settles after docking.

• Recovery waits for displays to finish connecting before it moves windows.
• Stages and per-display Window Modes return together, instead of as unrelated windows.
• Continuity data stays on your Mac; it is not uploaded to BetterStage.
• Turn off Show Workspace Continuity toasts in Settings > Workspaces to keep recovery running silently.

Disconnected displays

Offline Display Shelf has been deprecated. With Automatic workspace recovery enabled, windows from a disconnected display become available on the remaining displays and join their TabStack panes. BetterStage remembers their original display and layout while you continue working.

• Control automatic recovery in Settings > Workspaces.
• On reconnection, the display's windows and layout return automatically when BetterStage can match it confidently.
• If confirmation is needed, a nonblocking prompt offers Restore Workspace or Keep Current Layout. Tabs remain usable while you decide.

Saved Workspaces Pro

A Saved Workspace is a named, reusable snapshot you choose to create. It can include multiple monitors, stages, window positions, Window Modes, TabStack panes, and the apps they use. Loading is handled as one operation with a continuous progress indicator. Turn on Open missing apps for this load (off by default) and BetterStage also opens apps that aren't running and asks running apps for any windows the snapshot still needs, so multi-window and multi-tab layouts can return more completely.

1. Arrange your displays, stages, and windows.
2. Choose Save Workspace from the menu bar or Snap Wheel.
3. Name the workspace and confirm the displays to include. New Workspaces capture every Stage by default; choose Current Stage only when you need a one-Stage snapshot.
4. Choose Load Workspace later, review its preview, and confirm.

Manage, rename, or delete snapshots in Settings > Workspaces. A Saved Workspace is different from automatic continuity: it is an intentional restore point, while continuity quietly protects your latest working state.

Assign a keyboard shortcut to a specific Saved Workspace to load it directly. Single keys are allowed; modifiers are optional. BetterStage checks conflicts with other shortcuts. Previews label each display's saved Window Mode, and loading skips empty saved Stages.

Optional Clean Load quits apps and removes Stages outside the selected Workspace before loading. Apps are never force-quit: if an app stays open, loading stops. This option resets after each use. Hover the information icon for details before enabling it.

Saved Desktops and upgrades

Saved Workspaces in 2.2.0 remember separate layouts for each macOS Desktop on each display. Saved Space numbers reflect the Desktop order when the Workspace was saved; reordering Desktops in Mission Control does not change their saved destinations.

When a saved Desktop is missing, loading creates its replacement through Mission Control before restoring windows. If that step is interrupted, load the Workspace again. The recovery dialog lets you select an existing replacement or explicitly create another Desktop. Cancel keeps the saved Workspace unchanged.

Workspaces and AI Staging Recipes from earlier versions remain readable. Existing Recipes keep their text, names, and default selection. Older Workspaces without Desktop information use their saved display layouts. BetterStage preserves an original backup before upgrading Workspace storage; the new format is read-only in older clients that enforce its version guard.