Mac display guides
Why your windows move when you plug in a monitor, how to set up displays so they behave, and honest comparisons of the apps that fix it. Every fix uses settings built into macOS.
Fix a problem
Why macOS moves your windows around, and what actually helps.
- Why windows move when you plug in a monitorUnplug a monitor and macOS piles its windows onto your laptop. Plug it back in and they often stay there. Here's why it happens and how to stop rearranging by hand.
- Windows on the wrong display after sleepYou wake your Mac and every window is crammed onto one screen. Here's what's happening during sleep, how to stop it, and how to get your layout back fast.
- Display arrangement keeps changingYour monitors swap sides, the menu bar jumps to the wrong screen, or the mouse exits the wrong edge. Here's how to set the arrangement properly and make it stick.
- External monitor not detectedYour Mac doesn't see the monitor, or the screen stays black. Work through Apple's checks: cables, direct connection, Detect Displays, accessory permission and updates.
How to
Set up and use more than one display on a Mac.
- Move a window to another displayThe quickest ways to move windows between monitors on a Mac, make apps open on the right screen, and arrange them once they're there.
- Set up two or more monitorsConnect external monitors to a Mac, arrange them, choose the main display and set up Spaces, plus how to check how many displays your Mac supports.
- Use a MacBook with the lid closedClosed-display (clamshell) mode on a MacBook: what you need, how to set it up, why the screen goes dark, and what happens to your windows when you open the lid.
Best apps
Roundups where every fact comes from each app's own page.
Anchor compared
Honest side-by-sides with apps like Anchor.
- Anchor vs StayBoth put your windows back when displays change. Stay is free and you store layouts yourself; Anchor learns them automatically. An honest side-by-side.
- Anchor vs Display MaidDisplay Maid saves window positions per display configuration and restores them on connect. Anchor learns them automatically. How they compare on price, macOS and features.