Keyboard shortcut guide
A multi-monitor desk is great until the layout falls apart. A monitor sleeps, you undock for a meeting, an app relaunches in the wrong place, and suddenly windows are scattered or stacked on one screen. Rebuilding a two or three monitor layout by hand takes a few minutes each time, and macOS has no built-in command to save a layout and put it back.
Short version: save your multi-monitor arrangement as a SnapState workspace, then press Control-Command-1 (or 2 to 6 for other workspaces) to put every window back on the right monitor. The menu bar and automatic triggers work too.
When a display disconnects, sleeps deeply, or drops its signal, macOS generally moves its windows onto a display that is still available. When the display returns, macOS re-detects it but does not reliably send each window back to its earlier display and position. With more monitors there are more chances for this to happen: after sleep and wake, after switching a monitor input, or after unplugging a monitor.
SnapState is a native macOS menu bar app. Unlike per-display position memory, each workspace is a named snapshot you choose to recall, so the same three monitors can have a coding layout on Control-Command-1 and a meetings layout on Control-Command-2. Restoring relaunches missing apps and reopens the active tab URL of each window in Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, and Chromium once Automation permission is granted. For more on building good workspaces, see how to save a window layout on Mac.
| Shortcut | Workspace | What it restores |
|---|---|---|
| Control-Command-1 | Coding | Editor on the center monitor, terminal and docs on the left, chat on the laptop screen |
| Control-Command-2 | Writing | Document centered, research browser windows on the side monitors |
| Control-Command-3 | Calls | Video call on one monitor, notes and calendar on another |
| Menu bar | Any workspace | Pick any saved workspace, including ones without a shortcut |
SnapState costs $9.99 as a one-time purchase, with a lifetime license for up to three Macs and a 14-day refund. Version 2.5.2 requires macOS 15.7 or later on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs and ships as a signed, notarized DMG rather than through the Mac App Store. It needs Accessibility permission to move windows, and workspace data stays local on your Mac as JSON in ~/Library/Application Support/SnapState/.
SnapState saves and restores only the visible windows on the current desktop, so it does not save or restore macOS Spaces. Firefox is not supported, and only the active tab URL per supported browser window is restored, not full tab sets. Global shortcuts cover up to six workspaces; others are restored from the menu bar. It is not a tiling or snapping window manager, and it requires macOS 15.7 or later.
macOS does not include a built-in shortcut that restores a saved multi-monitor window layout. SnapState adds global Control-Command-1 to 6 shortcuts, one per saved workspace, that move every saved window back to its monitor, position, and size.
Up to six workspaces can have a global shortcut, Control-Command-1 through Control-Command-6. Any workspace can also be restored from the SnapState menu bar menu.
SnapState remaps saved window frames onto the displays you have now when the display setup differs, so windows stay on screen. When the full setup is back, press the shortcut again or arm the matching display layout trigger to restore the complete layout.
You can drag windows back by hand, and keep the display arrangement consistent in System Settings > Displays. Stay by Cordless Dog is free since version 1.5.1 and restores window positions per display setup automatically, and it also documents hot keys. If it covers your needs, it is a good free choice.
It restores only the visible windows on the current desktop, so it does not save or restore macOS Spaces. Firefox is not supported, only the active tab URL per supported browser window is restored rather than full tab sets, it is not a tiling window manager, and it requires macOS 15.7 or later.