Display scaling guide
To keep your Mac window layout after you change display scaling, pick one scaled mode in System Settings → Displays and leave it when you can, use Window, Zoom or Window, Move to if a window shrank or went off screen, then restore a layout you saved at the mode you actually work in. Built-in macOS options let you change the scaled resolution and drag windows back by hand. They do not remember the size and position each window had before you clicked the new mode. The steps below start with what macOS gives you for free, then cover where that stops and how SnapState (2.7.14) fits in.
On a Retina MacBook display or many 4K and 5K monitors, System Settings → Displays offers scaled modes rather than a simple native resolution. Larger Text, Default (sometimes Default for display), and More Spacechange how many points the desktop uses. The panel's native pixels stay the same. If Show all resolutions is on, you may also see a list of "Looks like" sizes.
macOS places and sizes windows in those points. When the logical display shrinks, it fits windows into the smaller area, which can stack them, shrink them, or leave one hanging off the edge. When the logical display grows, windows often keep the same point size, so they look small on a wider canvas. macOS does not grow them back later. That is the same "fits to what it sees, then leaves them there" behavior as the brief resolution drop in windows getting smaller after sleep, except this change is one you made and it lasts until you change scaling again.
If you do not need the new scaled mode, switch back to Default and leave it. That is the most reliable free fix, but it will not automatically restore the previous window sizes. Use Window, Zoom or Window, Move to a display to pull a shrunk or off-screen window back, or find it in Mission Control (Control and the Up Arrow). Those steps are also in how to get a Mac window back on screen.
For a temporary need to read small text, try Accessibility Zoom or Hover Text in System Settings instead of changing the display's scaled mode. Those enlarge what you are looking at without rewriting the desktop's point size, so your window frames are more likely to stay put.
macOS has no window layout per scaled mode. If windows were shrunk to fit Larger Text, they usually stay small when you return to Default or More Space. A quit and reopen can also miss, because many apps only loosely remember the last frame, and that memory goes stale after a resolution change. See Mac apps reopening in the wrong position. There is no system setting that locks every app to the size and coordinates you chose.
SnapState is a Mac menu bar app that saves a named workspace: every window with its display, position and size, the apps to relaunch, the Space each app was on, full screen windows, and all open tabs in Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc and Chromium. Arrange your windows at the scaled mode you actually work in, then save the workspace. After you change scaling and the display has settled, restore that workspace from the menu bar or press Control-Command-1 through 6.
On restore, SnapState matches saved displays by identity, name, resolution, and layout, then remaps window frames to the current topology, so the saved layout can be translated when the scaled resolution is different. Optional triggers can restore on wake, when a monitor connects or disconnects, or when a matching saved display layout appears. Resolution is part of that match, so a matching-layout trigger may not fire after you change scaling. Restore the workspace yourself in that case. SnapState does not change Displays settings, and it does not stop windows from resizing at the moment you pick a new scaled mode.
If you regularly work in two scaled modes and want a different arrangement in each, save a workspace after you have arranged the windows in that mode, then restore the matching one after you switch.
SnapState does not tile or snap windows. It cannot split one app's windows across several Spaces. Tab groups are not restored. Firefox is not supported yet. Space moves use private macOS APIs, so behavior can vary by macOS version. It requires macOS 15.7 or later on Apple Silicon and Intel. There is no free trial; $9.99 once covers up to three Macs with a 14-day refund. An app that enforces its own window size may resize again after a restore.
Larger Text, Default, and More Space are scaled (HiDPI) modes. They change how many points the desktop uses, not the panel’s native pixels. macOS then fits windows to the new visible area. A smaller logical display can shrink windows or push them off screen. A larger one often leaves them at the same point size, so they look small on a wider canvas.
They are the scaled-resolution options in System Settings, Displays, on a Retina built-in screen or many 4K and 5K monitors. Larger Text uses fewer points, so interface elements look bigger. More Space uses more points, so you see more of the desktop and everything looks smaller. Default, sometimes labeled Default for display, is Apple’s recommended setting for that screen. Show all resolutions may also list “Looks like” sizes.
Usually not. If macOS shrank windows to fit a smaller logical display, they stay at that size when you return to Default or More Space. macOS does not keep a separate window layout for each scaled mode. Some apps resize themselves; most do not grow back on their own.
No. There is no built-in command that restores the size and position each window had before you changed scaling. Reopen windows when logging back in only applies after a restart or a quit, not after you click a different scaled mode.
Save a workspace once at the scaled mode you actually work in. After the displays have settled on the new mode, restore that workspace from the menu bar or with Control-Command-1 through 6. SnapState matches saved displays by identity, name, resolution, and layout, then remaps window frames to the current topology. It does not change Displays settings, and it does not stop windows from resizing at the moment you pick a new scaled mode. There is no dedicated scaling-change trigger, so restore the workspace yourself after you switch.