Stage Manageris fresh to the latest versions of iPadOS and macOS , bring a windowed , background - style experience to your iPad and ( in hypothesis ) a more visceral and commodious way of multitasking on both iPads and Macs . If you ’re yet to change over from your normal way of working to the Stage Manager experience , here ’s what ’s involved .
What is Stage Manager on macOS?
Stage Manager is an alternate way of organizing your computer programme windows on Mac . There are two way to on-off switch Stage Manager on or off on the Mac : Either flick the Control Center ikon ( two toggle switch ) on the menu measure and then Stage Manager , or start the Apple menu and pick System preferences , Desktop & Dock , and Stage Manager . The Customize clit lets you break up specific elements of Stage Manager to enable or disable .
In the stock Stage Manager layout , the program window you ’re currently using is front and center , with other open apps shown as thumbnails down the left — you’re able to penetrate on these to throw to them , without having to expend the dock ( which is still uncommitted ) . Note that these thumbnail are ‘ springy ’ , and will show updates like incoming content .
Multiple window from the same app appear under the same thumbnail on the left , and can either appear separately or all at once when you cluck on the thumbnail , depending on the mise en scene you hold under the Customize choice we ’ve already mention . you’re able to still use Cmd+Tab or the dock to switch between apps as normal , too .

Stage Manager on the iPad.Image: Apple
get through on the desktop and all your open windows vaporize off to the thumbnails on the left , and your desktop cutoff and file become visible . To go back again , dawn a thumbnail , and your desktop item are hidden ( again , this can be changed under Customize if needed ) .
you’re able to also make groups of window from different programs , if you ’d like to . With one windowpane surface , fall into place and drag a second windowpane from the thumbnail control board into the middle to add it to the radical — the next time you switch to another practical app , this chemical group of windows will derogate to the left hand as a collective . To remove a windowpane from a radical , trail it to the thumbnail dialog box on the left .
To hide away a windowpane or group of window that are currently in the center spot , press Cmd+H. The diligence wo n’t close , but you wo n’t see the program in the marrow of the screen or on the left . To get these programs back , use Cmd+Tab or the sorrel ( the same go for apps that fall down off the goal of the thumbnail list ) .

Windows can be grouped together.Image: Apple
If you make an app full covert , it moves to its own space outside of the Stage Manager system . On a Mac , Stage Manager is a simplified path of managing open programs , which may become you if you ’re perpetually switch between a small survival of apps , or want to keep your apps group in a specific way .
How to Use Stage Manager on iPadOS
Stage Manager is a moment more useful on iPad than Mac , as it ’s the only mode to get a window - style experience . To utilize Stage Manager on your iPad , sneak down from the top correct turning point of the screen to get to the Control Center , then tap the Stage Manager icon ( a rectangle with three dit by it ) . Alternatively , open up the main iPadOS preferences screen , then choose Home Screen & Multitasking and Stage Manager to find the on/off switch switch and related selection .
As on macOS , you get your current app in the center of the screen , and recent apps as thumbnail on the left . The dock stays visible down at the bottom of the sieve as well , though you’re able to hide the recent apps list and the dock if you favor , via the place setting screen that we just bring up .
To switch to a unlike app , just solicit on its thumbnail on the left hand , and it swaps place with the app in the shopping mall . All of the common way of life of switching between apps are still available , whether that ’s tap on an app ikon in the dock or sneak up from the bottom of the screen and then pausing in the nerve center to see all of the recently used apps .

Stage Manager settings on macOS.Image: Apple
you may group unlike apps together , which means they ’ll jump in and out of the thumbnail listing as a group . To add together an app to the one in the centre of the screen and produce a group , tip and hold on a thumbnail in the late apps list or on an icon in the dock , and drop behind the second app into the center .
you’re able to also drag on apps in from the App Library — again , intercept and carry on an app icon . eventually , you could wiretap the three Elvis at the top of the app when it ’s in focusing and opt Add Another Window . That same three pane menu can be used to close up windows , and if the window is part of a group , it gets removed from it .
When you ’re working with multiple apps in groups , you’re able to rearrange and overlap them in a few different shipway . you’re able to tap the three dots at the top of app window to retrieve options for minimizing them or switch to a full screenland modality , and you’re able to resize a window by dragging the corner marked with a darker curve .

The Stage Manager button in Control Panel.Image: Apple
Note that your iPad has to be in its landscape orientation before Stage Manager can be enable . you’re able to also use it if your iPad is hooked up to an outside display : Drag app icons or the top of app windows to move them over to the 2d screenland . On the iPad , Stage Manager is perhaps more useful for its app grouping abilities , but it ’s a handy alternative for multitasking .
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , scientific discipline , and culture news in your inbox daily .
word from the future , deliver to your present .
You May Also Like

Working with windows on iPad.Image: Apple















![]()