When we’re working on something on our Macs, the number of windows that are open on our screens generally end up getting out of hand. And while there have been tools like Mission Control and Spaces to better streamline your workflow, neither of them helped with the mess on your desktop.

With macOS Ventura, Apple has introduced another tool to manage your apps – Stage Manager. And Stage Manager can truly help rein in the chaos on our screens, especially when there are a large number of apps open.

One of the best features of Stage Manager is that it lets you group the apps that you want to use simultaneously. There’s a lot to unpack within the Stage Manager and you can find it all in our detailed guide on the topic.

How Do Grouping Apps with Stage Manager Work?

The way Stage Manager works is that it only leaves the current window you’re working on in the center as soon as it is activated and organizes the rest of the open apps and windows on the side. To switch the active apps, all you have to do is click the thumbnail for another app from the side and they switch places instantly.

But when you need more than one app for whatever you’re working on, switching between apps again and again will induce a headache. That’s where grouping the apps comes in.

In Stage Manager, you can group certain apps on the screen. You can arrange them on the screen in whatever way you want. These apps retain their grouping even when you bring another app to the front and center. Not only do they retain their grouping, but they also retain their positioning on the screen. Whenever you’re ready to go back to them, you can restore the group simply by clicking its thumbnail.

Grouping apps is a feature of Stage Manager and you can only group apps when Stage Manager is active.

How to Group Apps

To group apps on your Mac running macOS Ventura, go to the Control Centre from the menu bar in the top-right corner.

Then, click the option for ‘Stage Manager’ if it isn’t already active. If it’s already on, you can skip these steps since Stage Manager stays active until you turn it off. Even after you shut down your Mac and turn it back on, it’ll stay active if it was soon before.

Now, bring one of the apps that you want to be a part of the group to the center by clicking its thumbnail from the left.

Then, go to the thumbnail of the other app you want to include in the group. But instead of clicking it, simply drag it to the screen. You’ll see that both the apps are in the center of the screen despite Stage Manager being active.

Drag all other apps from the left that you want to be a part of this group and arrange them however you like on the screen.

To switch to another app, simply click its thumbnail from the left. The group of apps will go to the left and you’ll see that even the thumbnail will have the grouping preserved.

Click the group thumbnail again to restore the group on your screen.

You can even include different windows of a single app in different groups. To remove an app from the group, drag the window for the app from the screen and towards the thumbnails on the left.

Stage Manager is a handy tool in macOS Ventura for managing your open windows and boosting productivity. It ensures you’re not spending your precious time hunting down windows among the horde of apps on your screen.