Windows Gather to Primary Monitor After Monitor Sleep

Question

Windows Gather to Primary Monitor After Monitor Sleep

I recently replaced my late 2012 iMac, which had a single additional display, with an M1 Mac Mini running Monterey 12.3, powering dual displays. Both are HP U27 4k monitors. In the old days, I would put my iMac to sleep or the displays would sleep on their own and all of my windows/apps would be positioned right were I left them upon waking the displays. With the mini, I have noticed that upon waking the screens, all of my windows/apps gather to the primary display. I do not have Spaces enabled, nor did I with my old iMac. I have checked the box to "Prevent your Mac from automatically sleeping when the display is off". Monitory 1 (left) is set as my primary, while monitor 2 is set to extend. Both monitors are set for auto-sleep mode. It doesn't seem to matter wether I have locked my machine manually, invoked screensaver manually, or allowed screensaver to come on automatically. Is this expected behavior? If so, it is very inconvenient, as I have to re-order all of my windows on the desired monitor almost every time I return to my desk. If not, what can I change to make it stop?

Mac mini, macOS 12.3

Posted on Apr 5, 2022 1:39 PM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 10

82,450 points

Apr 5, 2022 7:55 PM in response to prymyg4pboutamycolddeadhands

Ah' sorry I was on my iPhone earlier and only saw your first image.

You mentioned the Mission control settings. These are what I use.

Plus I never use the Screen Saver and it is disabled.

I use Auto Login in the User Preferences and no Required Password after Sleep or Screen Saver begins.

Then even with all of that said and done the windows still default to the Primary Screen on a Restart and cold Startup, so you are not alone when it comes to this problem.

My best work around to this problem is to sleep at the end of each day from the dropdown menu, then only restart when required to by a macOS update.

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Answer 2

Apr 7, 2022 6:14 PM in response to den.thed

I tried a Sabrent Thunderbolt 3 to dual HDMI adapter, which didn't even light up the second display. Such a bummer.

Anyway, this is not acceptable. I can't believe that Apple would intend for the M1 Mac Mini to forget the window position of applications when the displays go to sleep.

I am going to open a case on this, but feel free to comment if you've had success in fixing this behavior.

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Answer 3

Apr 7, 2022 8:30 PM in response to prymyg4pboutamycolddeadhands

An Apple support tech told me to try switching the primary monitor to a Thunderbolt port and the secondary to the HDMI port. This seems to be working pretty consistently. It seems like the windows still gather to the primary when the Mini comes out of sleep, but they hold, most of the time, when the monitors powered off due to power settings. We'll see.

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Answer 4

Apr 8, 2022 6:11 PM in response to hcsitas

I don't always sleep my mini, but really doesn't matter. The windows gather to the primary display no matter how the monitors are put to sleep... manual sleep, screen timeout, or after locking the machine.

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Answer 5

Apr 12, 2022 1:11 PM in response to prymyg4pboutamycolddeadhands

I've resigned myself to this just being an irritant that I will have to live with. I only hope that Apple will fix this with a future software update. It's a bummer because, with my iMac, I just got used to things working as expected. This is not expected behavior, and is a shortcoming of the M1 Mac Mini. If I could, I would return it and just live with my old iMac a little longer. 🤷

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