Your browser belongs on the external display. Your editor belongs beside it. Then you unplug the MacBook, spend an hour elsewhere, and come back to windows piled onto the laptop screen. You can put everything back by hand. Saving the arrangement first gives you another way to get back to work.
Save your desk layout while the monitor is connected
Open the apps and windows you want to keep, then move and resize them on the displays where they belong. In LayoutLock’s menu bar menu, choose Save Current Layout and give it a name you will recognize, such as “Desk”. You can check the saved windows in the dashboard preview.
LayoutLock requires macOS 14 or later and Accessibility access. macOS uses that permission to let it read and move other apps’ windows. The saved layout stays on your Mac.
Reconnect the monitor, then restore
Wait for the display to appear in macOS, then restore “Desk” from LayoutLock’s dashboard or menu bar. If you assign a global shortcut to the layout, you can use that instead. LayoutLock matches the saved windows, applies their positions and sizes, and asks macOS to relaunch saved apps when possible.
Positions are saved relative to each display. A window that occupied the left half of a screen can be mapped to the corresponding part of the target display when its resolution or scaling changes. An app’s minimum window size can still affect the result.
Keep a separate layout for the laptop screen
A desk arrangement may have room for five windows. The laptop screen may only have room for two. After disconnecting the monitor, arrange the windows for the smaller screen and save a second layout, such as “Laptop”. Restore the layout that fits the displays you are using.
If you restore a layout while one of its displays is missing, matching windows can move to a fallback display. That keeps them accessible, but a layout made for the laptop will usually give you a better starting point. Here is how to keep a few useful workspaces.
What happens automatically?
With Pro, LayoutLock can suggest matching layouts when your display setup changes. You choose the layout to restore. The suggestion does not silently rearrange your windows. Free includes manual restore and global shortcuts for up to three saved layouts.
If a window does not return where you expect
- Check that LayoutLock still has Accessibility access in System Settings.
- Make sure the expected monitor is connected and available to macOS.
- Review the saved windows in the dashboard and any issues reported after restoring.
- Save a new arrangement if your workflow or display setup has changed.
Some apps restrict window resizing or do not expose enough information to restore every window. LayoutLock works with one macOS desktop at a time; a layout does not recreate a collection of Spaces. If something still looks wrong, contact support with the app and display setup you were using.
Download LayoutLock to save your first three layouts free.