The short answer
macOS has no equivalent of Windows 11's "Remember window locations based on monitor connection". Two Mission Control settings get you part of the way on many Macs. For the full behaviour, a layout remembered for each set of monitors and put back when you reconnect, you need an app such as Putback.
What the Windows setting does
On Windows 11 it lives in Settings > System > Display > Multiple displays, next to a second option, "Minimize windows when a monitor is disconnected". Microsoft's own description of the behaviour is short: when you undock, the windows on your external monitor are minimised, and "when you re-dock your computer to your monitor, Windows puts everything back exactly where you had it before." (From How to use multiple monitors in Windows, Microsoft Support.)
If you used a laptop with a dock on Windows, you probably never thought about it. You plugged in, and your windows were where you left them. Then you moved to a Mac, plugged in, and found everything piled on the laptop screen.
What macOS does instead
When a display goes away, macOS moves its windows onto the screens that remain. There is no option to minimise them instead. When the display comes back, macOS restores the arrangement of your screens, which one sits where, but on many Macs the windows stay where they were dropped. We go through why in why Mac windows move when you unplug a monitor.
| Remember window locations based on monitor connection | No built-in equivalent. Nearest: the two Mission Control settings below. |
|---|---|
| Minimize windows when a monitor is disconnected | No equivalent. macOS always moves the windows to the remaining screens. |
| Snap layouts | Built-in tiling since macOS Sequoia. See window snapping on Mac. |
The closest built-in setting
In System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Mission Control, turn on "Displays have separate Spaces" and turn off "Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use", then log out and back in. On a Mac we tested, that was the difference between windows never returning to a reconnected display and always returning to it.
It is not the same thing as the Windows checkbox, though. A window can no longer span two displays, each display gets its own Spaces and menu bar, and scrambles can still get through when a dock is slow to come back. More to the point, it keeps no memory of separate setups: there is no notion of "how my windows sit at the office" versus "how they sit at home".
Getting the real thing on a Mac
What you are after is a layout remembered for each set of monitors, put back whenever that set returns. That is exactly what Putback does.
It remembers a layout per setup. Every set of displays gets its own memory: laptop only, the desk at home, the desk at work, the desk with the lid shut. Putback learns each one as you work in it, so there is nothing to save by hand.
It puts windows back when you reconnect. When you plug in, macOS reports a display change. Putback waits for it to settle (half a second by default), recognises the setup, and moves every window back to where it was there. Unplug again and the laptop-only layout comes back the same way.
It does not need the Mission Control tradeoffs. Spaces and full screen keep working however you have them set, and Command-Shift-R (the default) puts the current setup back on demand.
It also covers the cases the Windows setting was never about: a scramble after the Mac sleeps, and closing the lid at a desk. And if you liked Windows' snap layouts, Scenes let you name an arrangement and call it up with one hotkey, apps and all.
Putback runs on macOS 14 and later and has a free seven-day trial with no card.
