Stage Manager on a Mac explained: how it works and how to turn it off
· 6 min read
Stage Manager is a macOS window mode, added in macOS 13 Ventura, that keeps the app you’re using in the center of the screen and lines up your other recent apps as thumbnails along the left edge. To turn it off, click Control Center in the menu bar and click Stage Manager so it’s no longer highlighted. Because that’s one click in Control Center, it’s also easy to switch on without meaning to.
What it does
Apple’s introduction screen for it says: “With Stage Manager, you can create your ideal workspace and multitask with ease. Resize app windows, see multiple overlapping windows in a single view, and quickly switch between apps.”
The app you’re working in sits in the middle. Your recently used apps wait on the left, and clicking one swaps it into the middle. How many of an app’s windows come forward when you switch to it is a setting, covered below.
You can also make a group. Drag an app from the left side into the middle of the screen, and it joins the app already there; switch to that group later and all its apps open together. Drag an app back to the left to take it out of the group.
What it doesn’t do is lay windows out for you. You still move, resize and overlap each window yourself. Stage Manager decides which windows are in view, not where they sit.
Turn it on or off
Both routes work the same on macOS 15 Sequoia, macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27.
- Control Center. Click Control Center in the menu bar, then click Stage Manager. The panel also has “Stage Manager Settings…”, which opens the options below.
- System Settings. Open System Settings, click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar, go to Desktop & Stage Manager, and turn Stage Manager on or off.
If Stage Manager won’t turn on, Apple says to go to Mission Control in the same Desktop & Dock settings and turn on “Displays have separate Spaces.”
Stage Manager can also have its own icon in the menu bar, which makes an accidental click more likely. On macOS 15, that’s the Stage Manager pop-up menu in System Settings, Control Center, set to Show in Menu Bar or Don’t Show in Menu Bar. On macOS 26 and later, the icon is managed with Edit Controls in Control Center, where Stage Manager is listed under Desktop & Finder.
There’s also a keyboard shortcut entry, “Turn Stage Manager on/off”. Open System Settings, click Keyboard, click Keyboard Shortcuts…, and choose Mission Control. It has no key combination until you give it one.
The settings that change how it feels
All of these sit in System Settings, Desktop & Dock, under Desktop & Stage Manager.
- Show recent apps in Stage Manager. Turn this off and the thumbnails on the left are hidden; move the pointer to the left edge of the screen to show them briefly. This is the one to change if the strip feels cluttered.
- Show windows from an application. All at Once shows every window of an app when you switch to it. One at a Time shows only the window you used last; click the app on the left again for the next one.
- Show Items. Two checkboxes, On Desktop and In Stage Manager, decide whether desktop files and folders show. With In Stage Manager off, desktop items stay hidden while Stage Manager is on until you click the desktop.
- Clicking the wallpaper. This choice decides whether a click on the wallpaper moves your windows aside to show the desktop. On macOS 15 it’s the “Click wallpaper to reveal desktop” menu, with Always and Only in Stage Manager. On macOS 26 and later it’s the “Show Desktop” menu, with Always on Wallpaper Click and Only in Stage Manager on Click. If windows slide away when you click the desktop, this is the setting, and windows sliding away on a desktop click covers it in full.
Who it suits, and who it doesn’t
It tends to suit people on a laptop screen who keep returning to the same few apps, because one task stays in front and everything else is a click away on the left.
It tends to frustrate people who want two apps visible side by side, or who keep many apps open and expect the strip to hold them all. Windows appear and disappear as you switch, which can feel unpredictable if you navigate by where things were. If window animations feel slow in general, see Mission Control feeling slow. If desktops seem to shuffle themselves, see stopping a Mac rearranging spaces.
Dragging files between windows while it’s on has its own guide: drag and drop with Stage Manager.
If you want windows side by side instead
Stage Manager leaves sizing and placement to you. If what you want is two windows splitting the screen, turn it off and tile them. On macOS 15 Sequoia and later, macOS tiles windows itself: drag a window to the left or right edge or a corner of the screen and let go when the highlighted area appears, or choose Window, then Move & Resize.
Trill is a menu bar app for people who want more control over snapping. Drag a window to an edge for a half or to a corner for a quarter, and a preview shows where it will land; hold Shift while dragging to see every zone. With the Hyper Key switched on (it’s off until you turn it on), shortcuts place windows in halves, thirds and quarters. It’s free for 24 hours, then $29 once, for up to 3 Macs, on macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
Trill doesn’t replace or change Stage Manager, and it needs Accessibility permission to move windows.
Questions
How do I turn off Stage Manager on a Mac? Click Control Center in the menu bar and click Stage Manager so it’s no longer highlighted. You can also open System Settings, click Desktop & Dock, and turn Stage Manager off under Desktop & Stage Manager.
Is there a keyboard shortcut for Stage Manager? Not until you set one. In System Settings, click Keyboard, then Keyboard Shortcuts…, choose Mission Control, and give “Turn Stage Manager on/off” a key combination of your own.
Why did Stage Manager turn on by itself? Usually a click on Stage Manager in Control Center or on its menu bar icon switched it on, or a shortcut you set was pressed. Turn it off in Control Center, remove the menu bar icon if you don’t use it, and check Keyboard Shortcuts if it keeps coming back.
How do I hide the thumbnails on the left in Stage Manager? Turn off “Show recent apps in Stage Manager” in Desktop & Dock settings. The strip then appears only when you move the pointer to the left edge of the screen.