Mac Stage Manager: Keep Your Open Apps Tidy While You Work

Stage Manager is a feature Apple introduced in macOS Ventura. It changes how open apps appear on your screen so things feel less cluttered. Instead of every open app piling up on the desktop, Stage Manager puts the app you are currently using in the center of the screen — large and in focus — while your other open apps sit in a neat strip on the left side, ready to be called back with one click.

Why it helps

If you tend to have many windows open at once and find yourself constantly hunting for the right one, Stage Manager can make switching between tasks feel more deliberate and organized. Each "group" in the sidebar is a task you can step away from and return to with a single click.

How it looks

With Stage Manager on, your active app takes up most of the screen in the center. The left side of the screen shows small previews of other open apps and app groups. Clicking a preview in the sidebar brings that app forward instantly.

App groups

You can drag one app onto another in the Stage Manager sidebar to create a group — for example, your browser and your notes app together. Clicking the group opens both apps side by side, which is useful for tasks you always do together.

Turning it on and off

Stage Manager can be turned on from Control Center (the icon in the top-right corner of your menu bar) or from System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Stage Manager. It can be turned off if you do not like it — your apps will go back to behaving normally.

Quick Tip: Stage Manager works best on a monitor that is 27 inches or larger. On a smaller laptop screen the sidebar eats up screen space. Try it and see if it suits your screen size before committing.