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Beginner

Separate Work and Personal Apps with Stages

When work and personal apps share one screen, it's hard to focus and harder to log off. Stages give each context its own named workspace, so clocking out is one keystroke away and Slack isn't staring at you during dinner. This tutorial sets up a clean work/life split.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Create a Work stage and a Personal stage

    Open the Stages Bar (Opt+Up) and name two stages — Work and Personal. If you do focused and communication work separately, add a third Comms stage for Slack, Mail, and Messages so chat never bleeds into deep work.

  2. 2

    Assign each app to its context

    Switch to the Work stage (Opt+1) and open your work apps there — editor, terminal, work browser profile. Switch to Personal (Opt+2) for everything else. Use Opt+Shift+2 to send any stray window to the right place.

  3. 3

    Use separate browser profiles per stage

    Put your work browser profile on the Work stage and your personal profile on the Personal stage. Because stages hide the other context's windows, you won't see personal tabs while working or vice versa.

  4. 4

    Make 'clocking out' a single keystroke

    At the end of the day, switch to your Personal stage. Work apps — including their notifications-heavy windows — are hidden until you come back. No quitting apps, no closing windows; everything is exactly where you left it tomorrow morning.

Tips

  • Pair this with a Comms stage so notifications live in one place you visit intentionally, instead of interrupting every stage.
  • On a shared or family Mac, a Personal stage keeps your apps out of sight without separate macOS user accounts.

Frequently asked questions

Do work apps keep running when I switch to Personal?

Yes. Switching stages hides windows, it doesn't quit apps. Downloads, builds, and background tasks keep running on the hidden stage.

Can I have the same app on both stages?

Yes. An app like a browser can have different windows on different stages — for example a work profile window on Work and a personal one on Personal.

How many stages can I create on the free tier?

The free tier supports up to three stages, which is enough for Work, Comms, and Personal. Pro removes the limit.

Try it yourself

BetterStage is free for up to three stages with full snap zones, and includes a 10-day trial of every Pro feature — AI Staging, Bento Box auto-tiling, Tabbed Layouts, and Pinned Displays.

Download BetterStage

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