How to open all your apps at once on Mac.

Free ways to open several apps at once

Login Items. System Settings > General > Login Items opens apps every time you log in, but not on demand and not in any position.

Shortcuts. Make a shortcut with several Open App actions and run it from the menu bar. Windows open wherever the app decides.

A shell script. open -a Mail; open -a Safari in a script or Automator app does the same thing. Fast, but no layout.

Select and open. In Finder's Applications folder, Command-click several apps and press Command-O.

Open the apps and the layout together

SnapState is a native macOS menu bar app that saves named workspaces. Each one keeps the windows on every Space with position and size, the apps needed to relaunch them, the display layout, full screen windows, and all open tabs in Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc and Chromium once Automation permission is granted. Restore from the menu bar, with Control-Command-1 to 6, or automatically on wake from sleep, when a monitor connects or disconnects, or when a matching display layout appears.

Save your morning setup once as a workspace. Next time, one click relaunches the apps and restores each window's size, display and Space, so you start working instead of dragging windows.

What are the honest limits?

SnapState does not tile or snap windows, it cannot split one app's windows across several Spaces, Firefox is not supported yet, tab groups are not restored, and it requires macOS 15.7 or later. There is no free trial.

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