Screen DividerStage Manager on Mac: what it is, how to use it, how to turn it off
Stage Manager is the macOS feature that puts one app in the middle of the screen and shrinks everything else into a strip on the left. Some people love it; plenty of people turned it on by accident and want it gone. Here’s how it works, where every setting lives, and when another way of arranging windows fits better.
Checked against Apple’s Mac User Guide (macOS Ventura 13 through macOS 27) on October 22, 2026.
What Stage Manager does
Apple introduced Stage Manager with macOS Ventura (macOS 13, released October 24, 2022), and it’s in every version since. Per Apple’s Stage Manager guide:
- The window you’re working with sits in the center of the screen.
- Your recently used apps line up as thumbnails along the left side. Click one to switch to it.
- Inside the center area you can still move, resize and overlap windows however you like.
- You can group apps so they come forward together, which is handy for, say, a browser and a notes app you always use side by side.
Stage Manager is a switching tool more than a layout tool: it keeps one task in focus and tidies the rest away. It doesn’t place windows into halves or zones for you.
How to turn Stage Manager on or off
There are two ways, and both work in either direction:
- From Control Center: click Control Center in the menu bar, then click Stage Manager.
- From System Settings: Apple menu › System Settings › Desktop & Dock (you may need to scroll the sidebar). Go to Desktop & Stage Manager and turn Stage Manager on or off.
On macOS Ventura (13) the switch is in a different section: Desktop & Dock › Windows & Apps, with a Customize button next to Stage Manager. From macOS Sonoma (14) on, it’s under Desktop & Stage Manager.
If the Stage Manager switch is dimmed
Apple’s fix: System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Mission Control, then turn on “Displays have separate Spaces”. Stage Manager needs that option on (Desktop & Dock settings).
How to use Stage Manager
Once it’s on, these are the moves Apple lists:
| To do this | Do this |
|---|---|
| Switch apps | Click an app on the left side of the screen |
| Arrange windows | Move, resize and overlap windows in the center as usual |
| Group apps | Drag an app from the left side into the center |
| Ungroup an app | Drag it from the center back to the left side |
| See hidden recent apps | Move the pointer to the left edge of the screen |
When you switch to a group, every app in it opens in the center together. Apple’s guide doesn’t list a keyboard shortcut for turning Stage Manager on or off; Control Center is the quick route.
Stage Manager settings, explained
All of these are in System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Desktop & Stage Manager (macOS 14 and later):
- Show Items › In Stage Manager. Shows your desktop files when Stage Manager is on. If it’s off, desktop items are hidden until you click the desktop.
- Show recent apps in Stage Manager. Turn it off to hide the strip on the left; it slides back in when you move the pointer to the left edge.
- Show windows from an application. All at Once brings every window of an app forward when you switch to it. One at a Time shows only the most recent window; click the app on the left again to get the next one.
- Show Desktop. Always on Wallpaper Click moves all windows aside when you click the wallpaper; Only in Stage Manager on Click does that only while Stage Manager is on. If windows keep vanishing when you click the background, this is the setting.
To put a Stage Manager button in the menu bar, Apple’s steps on recent macOS are: click Control Center in the menu bar, click Edit Controls, go to Desktop & Finder, hold the pointer over Stage Manager, click the add button and choose Add to Menu Bar, then click Done. On Ventura it’s a pop-up in System Settings › Control Center instead.
Stage Manager vs Split View vs tiling
macOS has three built-in ways to deal with lots of windows, and they solve different problems:
| Stage Manager | Split View | Tiling (macOS 15+) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | One app or group in the center, the rest on the left | Two apps side by side, full screen | Snaps windows to halves, quarters or full |
| Stays on the normal desktop? | Yes | No, it makes its own space | Yes |
| Windows can overlap? | Yes | No | Yes, until you tile them |
| Best for | Switching between tasks | Two apps, no distractions | Quick side-by-side layouts |
For the details on the other two, see how to split screen on a Mac and how to tile windows on a Mac. To fill the whole display with one app instead, see the Mac full screen shortcut.
When you want fixed places for your windows
Stage Manager is about focus, not position: it won’t keep your editor on the left two-thirds and your browser on the right every time. If that’s what you’re after, turn Stage Manager off and use a layout tool. macOS’s own tiling handles halves and quarters, and apps like Rectangle and Magnet add thirds with keyboard shortcuts.
Screen Divider takes a different approach: you draw a grid in its layout editor, merge cells into the zones you want (say one wide main zone and two narrow ones), and then drag any window into a zone to snap it to that size. Each display keeps its own layout. It’s a $12 one-time menu-bar app for macOS 13 and later. More ways to arrange windows: how to snap windows on a Mac.
FAQ
What is Stage Manager on a Mac?
A way of organizing windows that Apple added in macOS Ventura (13). The app you’re using sits in the center of the screen and your recently used apps line up as thumbnails on the left; click one to switch.
How do I turn off Stage Manager on my Mac?
Open Control Center in the menu bar and click Stage Manager, or go to System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Desktop & Stage Manager and turn Stage Manager off. On macOS Ventura the switch is under Windows & Apps.
Why can’t I turn on Stage Manager?
Apple says to turn on “Displays have separate Spaces” in System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Mission Control. If that option is off, the Stage Manager switch is dimmed.
How do I group apps in Stage Manager?
Drag an app from the strip on the left into the center of the screen. It joins the app already there as a group, and the group opens together when you switch to it. Drag an app back to the left to remove it.
Is Stage Manager the same as Split View?
No. Split View puts two apps side by side in their own full-screen space. Stage Manager keeps one app or a group in the center of a normal desktop, and windows can overlap and be any size.