How to switch between displays?

[J.A.K.]

I got an external display for a MacBook and I'm using it as an extended display. However I'm also using the display as a screen for a PS5 and when I'm in game, some applications will only open windows in the extended display and there doesn't seem to be any way to 'bring them back' over to the MacBook.

This seems... I don't know... bad? I realise there's an option to 'Move' a window but that requires you be in the display where the application currently 'lives'. And even then, there can be a weird thing where the application can be opened on one display but send its windows to the other and without access to that display, there's no way to switch it back as the application then decides it can only be accessed from that display.

It's all very odd and I can't be the only one who has this problem. Surely there's a way to make this work so I don't have to constantly play a game of tennis with applications?

 

[Bigwaff]

How is your Mac connected to the external display? HDMI? USB-C? How is your PS5 connected to the display? Sounds like your external display is keeping the connections active even when you switch inputs. One way to address this is to use the external display in “mirroring” instead of extended desktop. Otherwise, disconnect the Mac from the display.

 

[smirking]

I got an external display for a MacBook and I'm using it as an extended display. However I'm also using the display as a screen for a PS5 and when I'm in game, some applications will only open windows in the extended display and there doesn't seem to be any way to 'bring them back' over to the MacBook.

My situation is slightly different, but what you described is one of the reasons I don't like using multi-display setups. I've tried 2 and 3 display setups and I prefer using one screen at a time for the issues you described because one of my screens is my laptop. If I unplug and leave my desk, my screens all become a jumbled mess. When I plug back in, those windows don't return to the screens they were previously on. Since I also use Spaces, space 2 that was previously on my laptop may have moved over to one of the external displays so my shortcuts get screwed up.

I've had this problem for over a decade. I don't think help is coming.

 

[J.A.K.]

How is your Mac connected to the external display? HDMI? USB-C? How is your PS5 connected to the display?

MacBook is connected via USB-C. PS5 via HDMI.

One way to address this is to use the external display in “mirroring” instead of extended desktop. Otherwise, disconnect the Mac from the display.

Mirroring seems to negate the point of having two displays but at least that might fix this issue. Unplugging, however, is just... ugh. I mean, thanks, this isn't a dig at you, but if that's a 'solution' to this issue then geez, Apple, get to work 'cause that's just ridiculous if anyone is required to do that to have some basic functionality.

I've had this problem for over a decade. I don't think help is coming.

😭

 

[tis100]

Yeah, this is unfortunately a long running bug in MacOS. The way to get the window to go back to your internal display is to go the top menu bar and click on Window->Zoom for every app stuck on the other monitor.

 

[Bigwaff]

Im not sure how this is a macOS bug. If the external display is keeping the display connection active (like a KVM), how is macOS supposed to know you switched inputs? It actually seems like the behavior is a feature of the display.

 

[J.A.K.]

Im not sure how this is a macOS bug. If the external display is keeping the display connection active (like a KVM), how is macOS supposed to know you switched inputs? It actually seems like the behavior is a feature of the display.

If I'm opening an application on one display then I don't see how it's far fetched to want that application to open on that display. And not only that, I don't see how it's unreasonable to want to have a means to switch an application from one display to another when the other display isn't 'available'.

I swear the only reason we have problems like this is because there are people who blame users instead of the billion or trillion dollar companies who make these things.

 

[tis100]

Im not sure how this is a macOS bug. If the external display is keeping the display connection active (like a KVM), how is macOS supposed to know you switched inputs? It actually seems like the behavior is a feature of the display.

It happens to me too when I physically unplug the thunderbolt cable going from my MacBook Pro to my external display. MacOS seems to think the monitor is still attached.

Here is someone with the same issue 14 years ago on Mac OS X Snow Leopard:

Move an off-screen window back on-screen on Mac OS X

It seems that Mac OS X 10.6.1 Snow Leopard has a tendency to leave some windows off-screen at times, especially when I disconnect an external monitor from my MacBook. How can I move the window back...

superuser.com

 

[FreakinEurekan]

macOS just doesn’t handle it smoothly - and as others pointed out, it’s a long-lived issue so not likely to be resolved any time soon. I have run into it in the past but currently it’s not an issue that bothers me.

There are third-party window management apps that apparently help a lot; I’m sure someone here can recommend one.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

My situation is slightly different, but what you described is one of the reasons I don't like using multi-display setups. I've tried 2 and 3 display setups and I prefer using one screen at a time for the issues you described because one of my screens is my laptop. If I unplug and leave my desk, my screens all become a jumbled mess. When I plug back in, those windows don't return to the screens they were previously on. Since I also use Spaces, space 2 that was previously on my laptop may have moved over to one of the external displays so my shortcuts get screwed up.

I've had this problem for over a decade. I don't think help is coming.

I drive three 4K displays, first with a loaded 2016 MacBook Pro 16 GB RAM and now using an M2 Max MBP with 96 GB RAM. The 2016 MBP performed as you described "If I unplug and leave my desk, my screens all become a jumbled mess." However the M2 Max MBP with 96 GB RAM is relatively stable when disconnected/reconnected from the displays. Not perfect but it works reasonably well.

The 2016 MBP was retired from the desktop due to the limiting 16 GB RAM. It is often still used in the field for undemanding work.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

If I'm opening an application on one display then I don't see how it's far fetched to want that application to open on that display. And not only that, I don't see how it's unreasonable to want to have a means to switch an application from one display to another when the other display isn't 'available'.

I swear the only reason we have problems like this is because there are people who blame users instead of the billion or trillion dollar companies who make these things.

Are you trying this on a low end MBA not made for dealing with multiple displays, or with a loaded MBP designed for multiple displays?
Do not blame the companies who make these things if you sre not using the heavier duty boxes.

 

[J.A.K.]

Are you trying this on a low end MBA not made for dealing with multiple displays, or with a loaded MBP designed for multiple displays?

A 13" M2 MBA 24GB RAM (8 CPU/10GPU).

But this has nothing to do with whether or not it can 'handle' multiple monitors and everything to do with how the software manages what is and isn't displayed on which monitor.

 

[smirking]

I drive three 4K displays, first with a loaded 2016 MacBook Pro 16 GB RAM and now using an M2 Max MBP with 96 GB RAM. The 2016 MBP performed as you described "If I unplug and leave my desk, my screens all become a jumbled mess." However the M2 Max MBP with 96 GB RAM is relatively stable when disconnected/reconnected from the displays. Not perfect but it works reasonably well.

I also have spaces. That totally mucks things up even further. I can handle the jumbled mess part. The part that really drives me batty is when things I assigned to space 3 ends up in space 1 after plugging in or unplugging. Sometimes what I previously set to monitor 1 is now on monitor 2.

I swap spaces furiously when I'm developing and I do a lot by muscle memory. If I have to stop and think, it completely takes me out of my flow so I've since gotten used to a one screen, but many spaces workflow.

I'm really hoping for a 30"+ monitor to come back on the market so I don't have to swap spaces as much. 27" is good enough, but 30" would be so much better.

 

[smirking]

I swear the only reason we have problems like this is because there are people who blame users instead of the billion or trillion dollar companies who make these things.

I know it sounds easy, but keeping displays consistent across a wide panopoly of devices that can link into your computer in many different ways and then also be able to automagically understand how to reconfigure everything when the expected configuration is altered is a very tall task, especially if you expect it to "just work."

 

[J.A.K.]

I know it sounds easy...

So the system doesn't know that the cursor is on one screen or another? Yeah, it does sound like a complex thing to have a menu being clicked on in one screen to actually activate a window on the same screen. Super complex. Very difficult. Much hard.

 

[Bigwaff]

So the system doesn't know that the cursor is on one screen or another? Yeah, it does sound like a complex thing to have a menu being clicked on in one screen to actually activate a window on the same screen. Super complex. Very difficult. Much hard.

Unhelpful, spiteful sarcasm aside…
Give this a go.. perhaps it will help…

GitHub - waydabber/BetterDisplay: Unlock your displays on your Mac! Flexible HiDPI scaling, XDR/HDR extra brightness, virtual screens, DDC control, extra dimming, PIP/streaming, EDID override and lots more!

Unlock your displays on your Mac! Flexible HiDPI scaling, XDR/HDR extra brightness, virtual screens, DDC control, extra dimming, PIP/streaming, EDID override and lots more! - waydabber/BetterDisplay

github.com

 

[smirking]

So the system doesn't know that the cursor is on one screen or another? Yeah, it does sound like a complex thing to have a menu being clicked on in one screen to actually activate a window on the same screen. Super complex. Very difficult. Much hard.

Try being a developer. Maybe you'll understand how difficult it is to code things like this someday. It all looks easy from far away.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Try being a developer. Maybe you'll understand how difficult it is to code things like this someday. It all looks easy from far away.

If you want to make a dev grit their teeth - say something is "Just software, it'll be easy" 🤣

 

[Allen_Wentz]

So the system doesn't know that the cursor is on one screen or another? Yeah, it does sound like a complex thing to have a menu being clicked on in one screen to actually activate a window on the same screen. Super complex. Very difficult. Much hard.

We were just trying to be helpful, not be the recipients of whiny sarcasm. You appear to be finding it Super complex. Very difficult. Much hard.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

I also have spaces. That totally mucks things up even further. I can handle the jumbled mess part. The part that really drives me batty is when things I assigned to space 3 ends up in space 1 after plugging in or unplugging. Sometimes what I previously set to monitor 1 is now on monitor 2.

I swap spaces furiously when I'm developing and I do a lot by muscle memory. If I have to stop and think, it completely takes me out of my flow so I've since gotten used to a one screen, but many spaces workflow.

I'm really hoping for a 30"+ monitor to come back on the market so I don't have to swap spaces as much. 27" is good enough, but 30" would be so much better.

Yes on larger size displays. I now have two 32" and one 27" Viewsonics, all 4K, and find the 32" to be a sweet spot for me. I would not want larger because I like controlling resolution differently on different displays, based on what is being viewed. Also bigger than 32" would really need to be curved.

 

[J.A.K.]

Edit.