How to use Stage Manager on your Mac | Apple Support

Learn how to turn on Stage Manager on your Mac, and how to switch between windows and app sets.

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[THmrBROWN]

Still don’t understand it’s purpose, seems incredibly redundant considering we already have swipe up for multitasking and multiple desktop options… 🤔 feels very clunky when using, not slow, just too much fiddling around with open apps.

[Commander_HW]

To be honest I have no idea how to use this Stage Manager thing even after watching 4 videos on it! And I am an IT guy! It is just so not intuitive.

[moranmono]

I would really appreciate the option to switch between the same window in an app using alt tab and not cmd + ~. This would be way more useful to me than stage manager

[kurosenpai]

if you have big screen to work with i can say this MIGHT be useful. Im using macbook air m1 and so accustomed with the traditional way of swipping 4 fingers up and cmd+tab to multitask so Stage Manager is so not for me. Im glad apple gives option to switch it off

[therealcaldini]

I want to love this on macOS but it isn’t working in the intuitive fashion I would expect Apple software to function. I hope Apple continues to develop this feature over time.

[ReviewswBryz]

Ever since I started using my Docks on the right side and Stage Manager on the left...it's quite similar. So I turned Stage Manager off. I think it's better on iPads but it's cool that we now have more options for multitasking. 😁

[Happymonday]

Glad we have even more options for multitasking! The more choice, the better.

[KitCanada]

This is superb. I can switch between Applications quickly using Command-Tab and the Windows (in that App) using Command ~ (the tilde).
Plus I get to keep a uncluttered interface. Thank you Apple!

[lenoohpuls]

You can do the exact same thing with virtual desktops. You can also assign keyboard shortcuts to switch to a specific desktop, so you can quickly switch between desktops with a group of windows.

[sososong]

I love this feature as it provides an alternative to the prohibited renaming of desktops. Now, each desktop functions as a distinct topic, fostering organized, hierarchical content management. However, a drawback is Stage Manager's deactivation of the window edge collision effect.

[HansEisenman]

Seems to work for some apps but not others. E.g.: Chrome, Evernote, Finder and Reminders don't play along with it. Or I'm not doing something right. But Spotify and Music do work. Really need this to work with all apps.

[ArthArmani]

Been using a mac for over 10 years now, not a big fan of Stage manager, but for some people maybe really good:)

[sreed]

This feature renewed my love of MacOs. It allowed for focused concentration on task. I’m in Stage Manager 100% of the time.

[_modiX]

This feature is so underrated. It's the hidden window manager from Apple and it can boost productivity a lot. Using spaces can be hindering when there are too many desktops. The full screen tiling is also fairly limited (2 apps max). The State Manager seems to be the best of both worlds and it places nicely with Rectangle to adjust windows on a grid. The grouping functionality makes the state manager very useful, you have a better overview of all your states by giving up some little screen estate. I came to the conclusion that I have max 4 apps per state, but sometimes only 1 or 2. I don't feel the need to clutter things, because I can peak their contents in the state manager overview. Unfortunately, the feature is still lacking a lot of useful settings and key bindings. I can't navigate between my states using the keyboard, I can't move the state overview to the right (unless I want the dock on the left, so the functionality is already there). Please give us more options to customize this feature and navigate it properly via keybindings.

[lehman_]

I think stage manager still needs optimization from Apple because sometimes the motion fluidity of switching between app stacks is not so smooth with creative softwares like Adobe and blender in my use case.

[ValeriiSynenko]

In general - amazing feature!
(BUT)
When you have a stack of splited different apps the preview isn't works.
This means that when I have calendar and email apps as a stack, and for example I click on the one of the appd icon I see just slited apps but I expect to see preview each of the app separately.

[DrAnimePhD]

There needs to be more stacks as one you open more than five windows it becomes a mess. Also app centric notifications like Steam notifications are treated as windows and end up in a stack instead of functioning normally

[howarddeane]

Thank you. I've been using Stage Manager for a while. I've been frustrated with it. I checked this two minute video and you solved my problems. Specifically, how to group apps into one window, and how to list out the windows open for a particular app. Concise. I'm gong to subscribe to your channel now.

[dodgeguy]

Keep in mind that if you have multiple displays (I have a Mac Mini with two displays) you need to enable “Displays have separate Spaces” in settings. Stage Manager is not in the Control Center nor will it display in the menubar if you do not do this. In Ventura, it is: System Settings - Desktop & Dock - Mission Control. Enable the separate spaces option. You have to log out/in for it to work. Was frustrating for me after I upgraded because I could not even find this feature to use it. Hope this helps others.

[rehthro]

I don't know how this happened but I've spent over a year doing things like adding space margins between my multiple windows to mimic exactly what stage manager solves here. I love this feature so much, took a few trials go get the hang but wow; everything feels even more organised now.

Even media keeps playing when I switch to a new tab, making it superb for some sort of PIP mode.. I just love this; thanks to the teams at Apple.