macOS Monterey – How to Stop Windows Moving to Single Space When Monitors Change

You can only be in one space at a time. There are too many variables to consider when given the possibility of multiple spaces simultaneously, like monitor size, orientation of screens and spaces, and what number to actually display in the menubar for the current space (if you use that feature).

What you can do is assign two spaces worth of applications to one space and just arrange them in the two monitors. On 10.6 and before, I did this by having a space layout of four rows by one column, using two monitors side by side. Moving up and down by space changed the content in both monitors simultaneously, which was very usable.

Lion is a little limited in terms of flexibility between multiple monitors and spaces, and I anticipate that this will get more streamlined with future updates, but it's actually a little more like having a different space for each monitor at this point. When you activate Mission Control, you should see different spaces at the top of each screen.

Unfortunately, I don't think you'll find the flexibility you're looking for when changing numbers of monitors. If you set yourself up with two and assign different applications to different screens within one space, they will likely collapse into one screen when you detach the monitor.

I "solved" this problem using https://github.com/jakehilborn/displayplacer. If I connect my hub and the monitors are incorrect, instead of having to rotate screens or reconnect cables, I can now run a script (via a hotkey) to resolve this.

First, make sure your monitors are in the correct configuration. Then install displayplacer and run it.

brew tap jakehilborn/jakehilborn && brew install displayplacer
displayplacer list

At the bottom of the output you'll see that it generates the command which will place your monitors back into the current configuration. Example:

displayplacer "id:C00DE6B5-2BF1-D707-8452-14BD6BFAAC84 res:1920x1080 hz:60 color_depth:8 scaling:off origin:(0,0) degree:0" "id:D0823E00-B252-0F5C-DE87-D142F95D0CB4 res:1680x1050 color_depth:8 scaling:on origin:(-1680,0) degree:0" "id:1A13BBCA-7176-912E-4048-7E7E22D786C2 res:1080x1920 hz:60 color_depth:8 scaling:off origin:(1920,-386) degree:90"

I then created a service/action and set a keyboard shortcut for this item. Now a quick keystroke will resolve the issue.

More info: The answer by Dan is the root of this problem for me. I have two identical monitors, both being connected to a hub via Displayport. That hub is connected to my mac via one USB-C connection. Randomly, the dock will load the settings in a different order which causes this issue. Since my 3rd monitor is rotated, this makes two screens now improperly rotated.

For months I have been disconnecting both DisplayPort connections on the hub, and then reconnecting in the reverse order. This solves the problem, but it was really annoying.