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Apps move to External Display on wake from Sleep

I have a 2021 MBP (M1) running Monterey 12.6 with an LG Monitor (24MP59G) connected via HDMI. The external monitor is set up as the main display with both the Dock and Menu on it. When the MBP wakes from sleep, the apps which had been on the MBP display move to the External monitor. I have installed the latest LG software in hopes that would fix this issue. No luck so far. Any advice?


I have read the advice concerning the disconnect between the wake from sleep time and the monitor wake up time. In my case, it is the MBP display that is losing its' Apps rather than the external monitor. Does Monterey not know how to wake up its internal display before waking everything else up???

MacBook Pro Apple Silicon

Posted on Sep 18, 2022 12:00 PM

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Posted on Sep 19, 2022 1:08 PM

Problem solved.

First a preface: I have never used Spaces or Mission Control before, so all settings are blank in System Preferences/Mission Control.

I tried turning on just "Displays have separate Spaces" in System Preferences/Mission Control and that seems to make the Apps stick to their assigned windows on waking up from Sleep.

This has the added benefit of placing a menu bar at the top of each Display.

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Sep 19, 2022 1:08 PM in response to steve626

Problem solved.

First a preface: I have never used Spaces or Mission Control before, so all settings are blank in System Preferences/Mission Control.

I tried turning on just "Displays have separate Spaces" in System Preferences/Mission Control and that seems to make the Apps stick to their assigned windows on waking up from Sleep.

This has the added benefit of placing a menu bar at the top of each Display.

Sep 18, 2022 1:23 PM in response to tom in yvr

I am not familiar with that monitor so am sort of guessing but trying to do it logically. If, hypothetically, the monitor never actually goes to sleep (even if its screen goes dark), when the laptop screen does sleep the windows might move to the only screen that is still "live" e.g. the external monitor. Then that is what is remembered when the entire system wakes up later.


There might be two ways this can happen. The first is that the external monitor never actually sleeps, just goes blank, or maybe very dim. Perhaps you can look for this somewhere in the settings or preferences for the monitor. The second is that both the monitor and the laptop display do in fact go completely asleep but the external monitor sleep is timed to happen AFTER the laptop is sleeping. Then, for the time that the laptop screen is asleep but the external monitor is not, the windows shift the the only live screen.


You can see how there are different combinations possible as the laptop has a timer (a) for screen sleep and (b) for computer sleep, and (a) and (b) can be different. Then there is (c) which is the timer for sleeping the monitor, probably can be set in multiple ways (e.g. from the laptop or from a monitor separate setting). These are all items you could explore further to learn more and possibly fix the behaviors you do not want.

Sep 18, 2022 7:11 PM in response to steve626

What I'm trying to understand is why the computer would ever wake up from sleep and not bother to wake up its own display and then decide that its own display is not connected so all windows need to be dumped onto the external display. Something is just not right with either the computer hardware or Monterey. This apparently has nothing to do with the external monitor.

Sep 18, 2022 7:23 PM in response to tom in yvr

I was trying to convey another possibility.


Laptop display sleep and laptop computer sleep are separately set, and external monitor sleep MIGHT be separately set (I'm not there to check this). If the laptop display sleeps first (I can't tell because I don't have access to your Mac to see how you have configured it), and if the external monitor is configured to sleep later, then during that time, if the computer is still awake, the laptop internal display is off, so all windows will be moved to the external display (if it is still on -- again I can't tell, I am just providing a scenario that could result in what you see) before the computer itself sleeps. Then when it wakes up it will look to restore everything to the external display.


You could check how all three (laptop computer, laptop display, external display) are configured for sleep to see if this scenario might be possible.

Sep 18, 2022 9:17 PM in response to steve626

Under Systems Preferences/Battery/Power Adapter, the display is set to turn off after 15 minutes. There is no indication which display this panel is talking about, though I'll assume it is the MBP internal display. I have not been able to find any way to control when or whether the MBP itself goes to sleep. Nor have I found any way of influencing when the external display goes to sleep. The LG software has 2 features, both are off, called Automatic Standby & Smart Energy Saving. There is of course no help providing in understanding exactly what either feature actually does. The monitor goes blank within a few seconds of the computer going to sleep.





Sep 18, 2022 9:36 PM in response to tom in yvr

On my MacBook Pro, there is another box "Prevent your Mac from automatically sleeping when the display is off" for that option.


The external monitors I use have some buttons on the side or underside of the monitor to change the timing of all these things.


I am almost certain that tis is related to your specific model/make of external monitor because I am using different external monitors in two offices with my MacBook Pro and neither has the undesirable behavior you are seeing.

Apps move to External Display on wake from Sleep

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