How to save & restore window layouts on Mac

macOS won't remember your window arrangement on its own. Here's how to save one and drop every window back into place in a click. Updated August 2026.

You set up your windows just right — editor on the left, terminal bottom-right, browser on the second display — and then a call, a restart, or an unplugged monitor scatters them. macOS doesn't have a built-in "save this arrangement and restore it later" button, so the fix is a small dedicated app. Here are the honest options, from the free one to the all-in-one. Full disclosure: I make DockApp, the last one on the list.

Does macOS save window layouts by itself?

Not really. Individual apps often reopen their own windows where you left them, and Stage Manager and Spaces help you group and separate windows. But there's no system feature that snapshots the position of every window across every app and puts them all back on demand. The green-button snapping added in recent macOS is per-window and doesn't persist as a named layout. For that, you reach for one of the tools below.

The tools that actually save layouts

Stay: free, and great when displays change

Stay by Cordless Dog is now free. Position and size your windows how you like, save them from the menu bar, and Stay puts them back — automatically when your monitor arrangement changes, or on demand. It does that one job well and nothing else. If all you want is your windows restored to where they were, start with Stay, and this page won't push you off it.

Moom & Rectangle Pro: the paid specialists

Moom ($15, one-time) is the app people name for saved layouts — it snaps via a grid popover and can save the positions of all your windows to restore from the menu bar or a shortcut. Rectangle Pro (about $10) adds saved workspace layouts on top of its keyboard-first snapping. Both are excellent, focused picks if layouts-plus-snapping is the whole of what you want. See DockApp vs Moom →

DockApp: named layouts, re-applied in one click

DockApp saves a whole arrangement as a named layout — build a coding layout, a writing layout, and a review layout once — then drops every open window back into place in one click, like switching desktops. It snaps to halves, thirds, quarters, sixths, eighths, or a grid you draw. And because it's a Dock app first, the same $9.99 also gives you a real ⌘Tab switcher that flips through every window, live window previews on hover, and a Dock you can make transparent, tinted, or bordered with custom icons, groups, badges, a shelf, and widgets.

It's built entirely on public Apple APIs and notarized, with no SIP disabling and no code injection, and nothing leaves your Mac — no accounts, no tracking. One-time $9.99 (launch price), up to three Macs, 14-day refund, on macOS 26+.

Which should you pick?

• Just restore my windows, for free → Stay.
• Saved layouts plus strong snapping, keyboard-first → Moom or Rectangle Pro.
• Named layouts I re-apply in one click, plus a switcher, previews, and a customizable Dock in one app → DockApp.

Comparing the whole field? See the best Mac window managers (Rectangle, Magnet, Moom and more) or the DockApp vs Rectangle head-to-head, and the best Mac Dock apps roundup.