How to Use Stage Manager on Mac

Learn to enable, configure, and master Stage Manager on macOS Ventura and later. Organize windows efficiently with Apple's new multitasking feature.

1. Enable Stage Manager. Open System Settings and click Control Center in the sidebar. Find Stage Manager and set it to Show in Control Center. Click the Control Center icon in your menu bar, then click Stage Manager to activate it. You can also enable it directly by opening Mission Control and clicking the Stage Manager icon in the top-left corner.
2. Understand the Stage Manager interface. Your active app appears large and centered on the desktop. Other open apps stack as thumbnail groups on the left edge of the screen. The desktop background becomes visible around your centered app window. Click any thumbnail group to bring those apps forward and send your current app to the left side.
3. Create app groups. Drag one app thumbnail onto another app thumbnail on the left side to create a group. Both apps will appear side by side when you click the group. You can add more apps to an existing group by dragging them onto the group thumbnail. Groups persist until you manually separate them or quit the apps.
4. Navigate between app groups. Click any thumbnail group on the left to switch to it instantly. Use Command-Tab to cycle through individual apps as normal. Swipe left or right with three fingers on your trackpad to move between app groups. The most recently used group always appears at the top of the left sidebar.
5. Adjust Stage Manager settings. Open System Settings and click Desktop & Dock. Scroll to Stage Manager and configure options like showing recent apps in the Dock and allowing desktop items to show through. Turn on Desktop items to see files on your desktop around your centered app window. Disable Recent applications in Dock if you prefer a cleaner dock appearance.
6. Remove apps from groups and disable Stage Manager. Drag an app away from its group thumbnail to separate it into its own group. To completely remove an app, drag it down toward the dock until you see the Remove option, then release. Disable Stage Manager by clicking its icon in Control Center or Mission Control, or by unchecking it in System Settings > Desktop & Dock.