How to manage multiple monitors on a Mac

1. Arrange your displays

Open System Settings, Displays, Arrange. Drag the screens to match where they sit on your desk and drag the white menu bar to the one you want as main. Matching the real layout makes the cursor and windows move the way you expect.

2. Decide on Spaces per display

In Desktop and Dock, Mission Control, keep "Displays have separate Spaces" on so each monitor has its own desktops and full screen apps. Turn off "Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use" so the order stays put.

3. Move windows between screens

Drag a window, or on macOS 15 and later use Window, Move to the display from the menu bar, or the green button menu. Built-in tiling (Fn-Control plus arrow keys) snaps on whichever screen the window is on.

4. Keep apps on the right monitor

Right click an app in the Dock, Options, then This Desktop to pin it to the current Space on that display.

5. Stop losing the layout

The real pain is that sleep, unplugging, a dock or a restart scrambles everything. SnapState saves every window on every Space and display, plus browser tabs, and restores it from the menu bar, with Control-Command-1 to 6, or automatically on wake or monitor connect. See restore windows after unplugging a monitor and windows move to one screen after sleep.

What are the honest limits?

SnapState does not tile windows, Firefox is not supported yet and it needs macOS 15.7 or later.

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