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Last active June 2, 2023 02:18
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How macOS treats Spaces with multiple displays
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README.md

How macOS treats Spaces with multiple displays

👷‍♀️ Under construction... 🚜

TL;DR: Leave the first space on your monitor empty forever and just have a second space. The empty first space on the monitor will merge with the first space on the laptop when you unplug the monitor. The 2nd through Nth spaces on the external monitor will move onto the laptop with thier windows. When you plug the monitor back in, the 2nd through Nth spaces will move back to the monitor as expected.

☝️ This assumes the monitor is the main display (has the menu bar on it when looking at Display preferences), that the "Displays have separate Spaces" checkbox in Mission Control preferences is checked, and that there is only one Space on the laptop.

NOTE: If there are multiple spaces on the laptop, it seems like the 2nd through Nth spaces get appended to the end of the list of spaces (after the 2nd through Nth from the monitor) once you unplug.

TODO: If there are windows on the first space on the monitor, and then you unplug (so those windows are merged), what happens when you plug back in? Are the windows unmerged in the same way as they were before? Are they alll grouped together on the laptop, or on the monitor?

TODO: Can we achieve the same outcome by keeping one blank space on the laptop? Are there any advantages or disadvantages?

Sources:

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