Monitor unplugged guide
Unplug an external monitor and the windows that lived on it generally gather on the remaining laptop screen. Reconnect the monitor later and those windows often stay where they landed instead of moving back on their own. macOS keeps the windows reachable, but it does not reliably restore the previous arrangement for you.
Short version: macOS moves windows off a disconnected display to keep them visible, then usually leaves them there. SnapState remembers the docked and laptop-only arrangements so you can put either one back in a click.
macOS moves windows from a disconnected display onto a display that is still available. That behavior tends to keep every window on screen, which is useful in the moment. When the external monitor reconnects, however, macOS does not reliably send each window back to its earlier display and position, so the layout can remain bunched on the laptop screen or split across displays in an order you did not choose.
If you prefer not to add an app, the built-in path is manual. After reconnecting, drag windows back to the external display one by one. Some apps also offer Window menu items for moving a window to a particular display, so check the Window menu in the apps you use. Mission Control can help you spot windows that ended up hidden behind each other on the crowded laptop screen.
That routine works, but it repeats every time you dock and undock. If you move between a desk and a laptop-only setup often, a saved snapshot removes the repetition.
SnapState is a native macOS menu bar app. Each workspace captures the visible windows on the current desktop with position and size, the apps needed to relaunch them, the monitor and display layout, and the active tab URL of each window in Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, and Chromium once Automation permission is granted. Restoring launches missing apps, remaps saved window frames onto the displays you have now, and reopens the saved active tab URL in each supported browser window.
The simplest setup is two workspaces with opposite triggers. Arm the docked workspace for monitor connect or for when a matching display layout appears, and arm the laptop-only workspace for monitor disconnect. If the Mac wakes from sleep into a different display situation, the wake trigger can run the matching workspace too. For days when you want control, skip the triggers and restore from the menu bar or with global Control-Command-1 to 6 shortcuts.
SnapState needs Accessibility permission to read window positions and move windows back into place. Workspace data stays local on your Mac as JSON in ~/Library/Application Support/SnapState/. 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.
SnapState saves the visible windows on the current desktop, so it does not save or restore macOS Spaces. It restores only the active tab URL per supported browser window, not full tab sets, and there is no Firefox support. It is not a tiling or snapping window manager: it recalls an arrangement you already made rather than arranging windows into grids as you work.
When a display disconnects, macOS generally moves windows from that display onto a remaining display so they stay reachable. When the monitor reconnects, macOS does not reliably move every window back to where it was, so windows can stay stacked on the laptop screen until you move them again.
With built-in tools you can drag windows back to the reconnected display by hand, use Window menu items such as Move to a display in apps that offer them, and use Mission Control to find and organise windows that ended up stacked together.
SnapState saves each named workspace with window positions and sizes, the apps needed to relaunch them, the monitor and display layout, and the active tab URL of each window in Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, and Chromium after Automation permission is granted. A workspace can restore automatically when a monitor connects or disconnects, when a matching display layout appears, or on wake from sleep, and saved frames are remapped onto the current displays when the setup differs.
Yes. Save one workspace while docked and a second workspace for laptop-only use, then restore from the menu bar or with global Control-Command-1 to 6 shortcuts, or arm each workspace for the matching connect, disconnect, matching-layout, or wake trigger.
SnapState saves the visible windows on the current desktop, not macOS Spaces, and restores only the active tab URL per supported browser window rather than full tab sets. Firefox is not supported, and SnapState is not a tiling or snapping window manager.