Mac restore window positions. This last item, display or screen, is the question.
Mac restore window positions Save & Restore Window Positions in macOS - CodePal Free cookie consent management tool by TermsFeed Dec 7, 2023 · In the unlikely event someone from Apple ever sees this, the one thing I have hated about macOS literally since the Cheetah PB is arbitrary window placement, and yet the inability to restore them to where they just were. Not only that, but I shut down. When the computer starts, all windows are on the iMac monitor. SUPER handy. Ok, I found a solution that's working for me, and now my application windows doesn't switch Desktop randomly on restart. go to desktop 1, open the application on this desktop, How do I make windows save their position on screen after re-attaching a display? I'll often move around in the course of a work day, from my basement office where I have a second external monitor, to the patio and so on. Y position and width/height of the Sep 30, 2022 · Hi all, My app, which needs to run on Mac, Windows, Linux needs to remember and restore the location of various windows and it should restore the display the window was on if possible if the user has multiple displays. Jun 19, 2021 · Disable the Remember Window Locations feature. The window view preferences are saved in the DS_store files. • Windows can be saved/restored globally, or by individual app. exe and powershell to monitor 2. Tried all different connection methods - mac still forgets settings every day. Windows can be saved/restored globally, or by individual app. eGPU seemed to make things worse. Jul 11, 2015 · Aah I see what you mean, sorry I had opened it with XCode without realising. Sep 22, 2019 · BTW, this won't just reset window positions, it will also reset such as which files were open, etc. set_window_positions. Replace "/path/to/savedFile. The feature is enabled by default, however you can turn if off in: Jump Desktop -> Preferences -> Restore window positions. Nov 24, 2021 · The Mac ought to do this by default. 7. Learn how to save and restore the position of every macOS opened window using a JavaScript function. Why I use tabs. Mar 10, 2020 · For an easier approach, use Magnet’s mouse-based window positioning, which snaps windows into several positions and sizes: Dragging a window to the display’s left or right edge triggers half-screen resizing. Select the application and configure the window position and size. Why doesn't cmd-Z work for an accidental window move, resize, or (worst of all) inadvertent touch against a column width. " Run the workflow by clicking on the "Run" button Mar 28, 2023 · For the monitor resolution, I found a solution, but not for the windows. Test on my Mojave. I've tried using Display Maid to save and restore window positions, and while this helps somewhat, it can only restore windows to their previous coordinates on the current screen. Yep, this. Jan 28, 2025 · You can even do things like disable the standard Mac full-screen window button if you find yourself hitting it when you intended to minimize a window. plist files in prefs with a text editor, it appears to make it unreadable if you save it back. When I have a giant Thunderbolt monitor plugged into my MacBook, I want windows arranged a certain way. This last item, display or screen, is the question. Off "Group windows by application" 4. 712 using the predefined action " Save / restore specific window layout" Jan 30, 2022 · I use this declare to save and restore a window position and size. Open a new window and move it to your preferred location, resize it if needed. If you know a way to access the accessibility settings of a different space, let me know. You can set the number of imaginary divisions of your screen the. But you seem to want a shortcut. Jul 24, 2019 · "Stay" is also a nice and free way to save and restore window positions with short cuts. Has tons of options for saving window positions and sizes across multiple displays. It actually doesn’t provide a way to interact with spaces at all so it’s space “agnostic”. Dec 28, 2023 · Discover simple methods to reset an app’s window size and position on your Mac effortlessly. I like the functionality of the "Stay" utility, which lets you 'snapshot' window positions on your monitors, and then if you undock/dock the windows are repositioned back to their remembered place on your external monitors (automatically). I don’t remember if the window size and position is saved there as well but you can check easily. Animation: D. What controls this, and is there a way to make it save and restore the positioning? I use breeze for window sizing/positioning but I don't know if that affects multi-monitor stuff. Same with other apps. Jan 29, 2018 · Restore Window Size and Position on Mac-Stay Mar 14, 2014 · In Terminal you can change the default window size from Preferences > Settings > Window: You can also use window groups to set a default position and size for the window opened when you launch Terminal (but not for new windows opened later). Save the workflow with a descriptive name, such as "Recall Window Positions. They play nice together. I want to find out which app in my title does the best job locking in window positions. Aug 9, 2019 · Where locations get messed up, from what I notice, is if opening multiple windows: usually same size, but location gets remembered for the new window(s). You can also save hot key combos for specific window sizes, locations. The drawback is that it seems to be a old app and the restore process takes all windows away for 5 seconds or so. Windows does not store the size and position of application Windows, it is the individual application developer that programmed the application to store that data, it may be stored in an ini file in the program folder, or in the AppData folder or in the registry, each developer uses different methods to store the X. exe file. Feb 19, 2025 · WindowManager is another tool that helps you remember and restore window positions and sizes. Also works for Finder windows: close Finder window, re-open Finder window, adjust, close window. Automatically restore window positions when an app is I'm a Windows user and was looking how to switch off the new Windows 7 feature to move all windows away from the unplugged external monitor. • Automatically restore window positions when a display is connected/disconnected. ) However, it may be possible to functionally do what you are trying to do, but it's a research project, the problem has not yet been solved, to my knowledge after asking similar questions for years. It disables the automatical check if the monitor is switched off. I'm not certain of the entire list of what's saved, but it's not in any way 'dangerous' to delete the saved states, if you don't need specific files to auto-open at next launch. @Adam: If you want to manually run the funtions via hotkeys, no Trigger rules are needed. We recommend SmartWindows. Just like in Windows on a PC, the Mac now lets you tile windows by Hey I have a somewhat less serious question, but it still bothers me. I use that as well, and am helping the developer with some bug stomping at the moment. To make it easy to run, create a task bar short cut for it. Run the app. Jump Desktop for Mac will now remember your connection's last window position and will automatically restore it the next time you connect. I have not found how to set that when creating a new window. Moom can save and restore window positions. dunno Nov 5, 2024 · set position of window i to {x, y} set size of window i to {w, h} end repeat end tell end tell. txt" with the actual file path where you saved the window positions in the previous workflow. In Windows XP or Windows 7, you can click the top left, then a menu appears, click Move. If it doesn't. Oct 17, 2014 · It did restore the windows position and size but left them all on the one Space that I relaunched the app in. Visit the WindowManager website and download the software. There are also a ton of built-in templates. Dive into step-by-step solutions through PLIST file editing or Terminal commands. Click on Display on the left. I was wondering if it’s possible to reset the window size for let’s say safari. Display Maid restores all saved window positions across all apps with one command. Props to Tetsujin and his helpful comment below. Press Win + I on your keyboard to open the Settings app. On "When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application" 3. On "Displays have separate Spaces" I've just switched (2) to off to see if that corrects the issue. I’d been looking for a tool like this for a long time, but nothing really worked the way I needed — especially when it came to saving window positions Feb 17, 2022 · switching inputs between pc's sometimes makes mac OS revert open window sizes, which is a pain. Why? Especially when Spaces come into play, it does not even remember the "display on all spaces" option if you checked it. Jul 15, 2009 · Usually, window size and position values are saved in the application’s preference file. Or you can click the title bar and drag the window from there. I found the receipt (for ATI video cards) to set all DMMEnableDDCPolling values in registry to 0. This is especially frustrating if you have set up your machine to open up a specific set of windows on a large display. Open the program and go to the Rules tab. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac. Eventually annoyed me enough to look for alternatives. • Restore the last saved set of window positions with a single click, or keyboard shortcut. You have to identify the preference file of the app and delete the key that stores the values, most Nov 20, 2022 · How do you get windows to remember the exact position and size on screen after closing them and then re-opening them as you can in Windows 10/11? Hi Paul Mindolovich, There's no available setting for macOS to remember the positioning of apps. Being a mac user, I have dongle hell. I made it a bit larger for a website but now It’s not the default size/position which I just prefer to use for the most part. Is there a way to maintain or save the window arrangement? I bring my laptop around often and find it tedious to rearrange windows when I bring the computer back to my desk where the second Spaces/desktops management (apps that (re)store window sizes/positions) Stay - Allows to save all windows/apps and restore them across all spaces/desktops. Automatically restore window positions when a display is connected/disconnected. No full-screen apps, some apps are shown on my small laptop screen, other apps are shown on my Thunderbolt display. Apr 26, 2025 · The main idea is simple: with one click, you can save the exact position of all your open windows across all spaces (virtual desktops), and later restore everything just the way it was. I've used Display Maid for some time, with mixed results. Restore Window Position and Size #if TargetCocoa then Declare function setFrameAutosaveName lib “cocoa” selector “setFrameAutosaveName:” ( NSWindowHandle as Integer, AutosaveName as CFStringRef ) as boolean call setFrameAutosaveName( me. I have 3 different dell ultrasharp monitors, all have hdmi, DP and one has Dual link DVI. If you want the window to open at a specific size and location Contribute to Alives/macos_window_positions development by creating an account on GitHub. Stay user for about 2 years, but it would swap window positions for multi window apps like Chrome. I use Sequential and Skim as alternatives to Preview and iTerm 2 as an alternative to Terminal. In the realm of macOS, altering the dimensions or position of an application window is a straightforward drag-and-drop affair. I would also like to avoid manually clicking something in the menu-bar or keyboard shortcut to restore a windows position. Apr 26, 2024 · (My goal is to be able to restore at least one app window in each of 21 or more desktops, so the app has to be able to handle that many open windows. Limitations: Currently, Memmon restores windows in other spaces only if the space is activated. Download and install SmartWindows. Handle, self. To disable Remember Window Locations in Windows 11, do the following. The only setting I know of that can prevent this is in System Prefs > General > Close windows when quitting an app. In Windows 7 the keys you mention, I see what you mean, they move the window between far left, a restored position, and far right. At another office I have a 27” monitor with other arrangements. • Create profiles and save multiple window position sets. For the two desktop setup as in the question, first I go to the desktop where I want to stick an application window. Dec 16, 2020 · Save windows position on Windows 10. Open a new finder window, now it's in the last preferred location. exe and powershell restore to monitor 1. I have plenty of windows opened on both monitors. . This is a technical limitation, MacOS doesn’t provide a way to interact with windows that are in hidden spaces unfortunately. 2 Nov 21, 2010 · You can tell Display Maid to save the positions of your open windows across many apps and later restore those positions when things become a mess. Feb 10, 2015 · Close all the existing windows. I'm looking for an alternative because: May 12, 2015 · To save current window positions on multiple monitors: winLayout save To restore window positions: winLayout restore It's no frills, just a single . May 14, 2013 · Want to have your WM push a window to the back, or type in a window while keeping it in the back, or track the day/night cycle in its menu colors, use radial menus, auto-create menus for all the hosts you SSH to, tile, not tile, use window groups, default windows of a certain types or titles of any of your virtual displays, pan your monitor to Closing and restarting the app doesn't seem to help (as the app is helpfully remembering where my window previously was) and all I end up doing is shutting down the Mac, unplugging the second monitor and restarting it, opening the application again and this seems to persuade the Mac to rethink the main window position, and all is well. I also use AquaSnap Pro, which is sorta similar for snapping and defining window areas. For the ones in Prefererences, this is typically managed (and cached) by the defaults command. Window positions, currently open documents etc should all be restored at relaunch or after a shutdown/reboot. All of Feb 6, 2019 · Available starting with BetterTouchTool 2. Most of these should, at the very least temporarily, fix the issue of offscreen windows. When I unplug my external monitor, any windows I have on it gather on my MacBook Pro's screen -- this is great. On the Settings > Functions tab, set key combinations on the "Save Window Positions" and "Restore Window Positions from Last Save" functions. Dec 31, 2023 · Hi, I am Dave, I will help you with this. Oct 8, 2012 · As soon as you go back to normal-window-mode, the window will resume its offscreen position. Title ) #endif This works for macOS until release 11 like this: With Jan 24, 2024 · Here is the problem: When you restart your mac, Finder does not remember the positions of its windows. Update: The simple solution was to put the mac to sleep before disconnecting, and reconnect before waking. Click on the System icon. A profile can be ‘restored’ and it will restore the layout of your windows. Hope that helps! Apr 24, 2020 · In other words, if I click Restore Window Positions from Last Save (this will be the second time it is run), all windows except cmd. With a hot key quickly highlight (drag select) on a small pop up representation of your desktop where the window will go. Create profiles and save multiple window position sets. My concern is more about keeping windows in their positions on their Spaces across a reboot, which Stay does not seem to solve. Say, we want to stick web browser to desktop 1, we . And drag the window. Mar 7, 2022 · If it helps, I use two large external displays on a MacBook Pro with the lid closed. Advantages: If you like an app to always open full screen you don't have to click the full screen button each time. Jul 26, 2013 · After arranging the windows on both monitors, disconnecting the second monitor and reconnecting it will cause all windows to be on the first display. I have a MacBook Pro that I use at different places. any caches to clear out or parameters I can change somewhere to get mac OS to remember window positions and sizes when connected to an external display ? No. Dec 19, 2004 · 2. Press Cmd + Alt + Esc to launch the Force Quit window, select the Finder to relaunch it. Feb 24, 2011 · How many of us would like to have this ability: Request that a specific app remember window size and location. Right-clicking to restore the window to the previous size and position. Mar 22, 2025 · More Mac features; Drag a window to the edge of the screen Just like Windows Vista. Apr 20, 2023 · Now you were able to locate the preferences file for your app’s window location, you can reset it! There’s a few ways. Disclaimer: I am the author. Been using Display Maid as of 2 weeks ago and it remembers positions exactly. I would like to have an app that recognizes the title of the window and moves it to the position where I closed it the last time. Install and open the program. Create profiles and save mutilple window position sets. Just to make this seem even more twisted, it looks like DF is trying to restore cmd. It allows users to save windows positions as profiles. In this tutorial, I walk you through a powerful AppleScript for macOS that saves and restores your Google Chrome window layouts with ease. With Display Maid you don t have to restore windows on at a time, or even one app at a time. Arrange your windows the way you like then and then save the positions of those windows. js will restore the saved positions from the same file. I'm not sure how you can edit the . Here’s the result: Left-clicking the green button once to almost maximize. Jan 12, 2012 · How can I restore all window positions on my Mac, just like they were after installing Mac OS X? OS: 10. Dragging a window to the top maximizes it (but does not take it full-screen). I had hoped that just setting the top and left would do it Mar 9, 2024 · I repeated the previous steps, this time with ‘Rightclick Green Window Button’ as the trigger, and the keyboard shortcut I assigned to Raycast’s ‘Restore’ command as the action. Lasso, if you need lots of flexibility for window shapes and sizes. To save your windows position in whatever layout you’ve set up, you need to use a third-party app. Apr 4, 2022 · I am looking for an app that reposition my windows and apps, depending on where I am. On the right, disable (uncheck) the Remember window location based on monitor connection which is enabled by default. Leave this unchecked for the Mac to remember its last-used settings for apps. Instead of manuall Display Maid can’t save or restore window positions for windows that are not in the currently active space. Eg, at my home office I am connected to a 35” ultrawide monitor, and have my windows arranged in a special way. Click Add to create a new rule. I have an M1 iMac and a UHD TV serving as a second monitor. Restore the last saved set of window positions with a single click, or keyboard shortcut. Mac Always forgets this monitors scaling, always defaults to 4k, and I have to change it several times a day. Memmon remembers what your Mac forgets – A simple deamon that restores your window positions on external monitors. vveedsyuhbfmtrettjpqesdrotlqhqgucpiivvfpyopvwspquorvjjwahh