Monterey seems to not remember which display should show which windows after sleep wakeup

I previously said that it happens after a while. I can now define it: it happens when the displays go to sleep. If I lock the screen and login again immediately, no problem. If I lock the screen and the displays are allowed to sleep (20-30 seconds), then it happens.

Also, if the windows are minimized, during the activation of this bug, they restore to the correct place.

This seems like a pretty trivial bug to reproduce. It's hard to believe it hasn't been fixed before now.

This is how I solved it. Your mileage may vary.

I have two identical LG monitors and a 2021 M1 Macbook Pro runing Monterey 12.4.

Initially both monitors were connected by thunderbolt<->DisplayPort cables. No matter what I tried when I restarted or came back from sleep, which monitor would be my main would be randomly chosen.

Once i changed one of the monitor cables to thunderbolt<->USB-C my mac seems to be able to distinguish them apart and could successfully retain my monitor arrangement.

This is an incredibly annoying bug Apple. One that I had to spend money on to fix.

-josh

Here is a dopey workaround:

caffeinate -s -w 1

This will forbid the Mac from going to sleep while it is connected to an A/C supply.

Displays will sleep and wake as usual, which helps conserve a little energy when the machine is left idle. It seems the display sleep/wake events are not the problem.

In theory, a MacBook should sleep if disconnected from an A/C supply, though I have not tested this case. Be careful when packing a MacBook in a bag or backpack. If left to run, without sleeping, the machine may generate too much heat. If in doubt, terminate that process before you take the Mac off a well ventilated desk. This is obviously not a concern if you are using a Mac Mini.

My MacBook seldom leaves my desk -- and is almost always on an A/C supply -- so I just leave that running permanently. This bug was driving me nuts.

Hey pommarg, and anyone on Monterey on M1 using an external display.

I may have have found a solution by accident which seems to work for me to prevent this disaster. However this is on my MacBook Pro M1, so I am not sure how that will show up on a M1 mini.

Go to system preference. Then click Battery. In the Battery section there is an option "Power Adapter". In here there is an option "Prevent your Mac from automatically sleeping when the display is off". Check this option.

I think on the M1 Mini this is in the section Energy Saver.

But I think it is a poor mans solution. When the computer is put to sleep it will have a bout of amnesia and can't remember where those windows belong, so it puts it all on the default display.

Update, I don't know if I remember seeing it in this thread, but the issue doesn't occur if the laptop goes to sleep while plugged into power. So maybe it's some weird interaction with the port(s) losing power in battery mode when the computer goes to sleep?

The monitor is obviously powered on its own, but just spitballing here

So I just installed Magnet from the App Store and that "seems" to have taken care of the problem. The only app that still seems to get lost when I wake the laptop is Music which always wants to go back to the main screen.

I had the same problem, updating Rectangle seemed to fix it

i have a solution. i set my energy settings to never go to sleep, and my screen saver to the least inoffensive i could find (flurry). i may create my own screen saver of a black picture and therefore have a blank screen saver. but, all the windows come back correctly from the screen saver.

[Edited by Moderator]

I have the same problem, but it seems like if I wake up the Mac, and wait for every monitor to light up before I write the password, then the windows stays in place!😄

Hey there pommarg,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. We understand you're having issue with using multiple displays on your Mac mini with macOS Monterey. We'd be happy to help.

Let's be sure you're on the updated version of macOS Monterey 12.0.1 Here's how you can update if you're not: Keep your Mac up to date

Make sure to check this as well: Connect a display to Mac mini

If you're still having an issue after checking those links, contact our Apple Support team here: Contact Apple Support

All the best.

Not sure if Apple even considers this a "bug". I'm thinking the only shot we have of getting any kind of resolution is reporting it as such.

if you are a software beta tester....

https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/

otherwise

https://www.apple.com/feedback/

Please reference this thread (and others via google search so they realize this is an issue.

I did as well. This is the only way it is going to get on Apple's radar, if at all. Because it is apparent only with multiple monitors in Monterey, not many will notice it so I'd also encourage everyone experiencing the issue to report the issue as a bug in the OS.

Jon Hitchcock wrote:

It might be because the external monitors turn on after the Mac does, I think that causes the OS to get confused.

This is kind of a fix for app windows:

Before you put your Mac to sleep go to Finder/Hide Others, then after wake click on each app in the dock and they'll be in the place where you left them. It works for me anyway.

This tip seemed to be the solution, but I'm a "hide others" freak. I always did that, even before Monterey and this annoying bug, and I'm still having it.

Apparently, like someone said, most of the time, the MacBook wakes up and doesn't "know" it is connected to an external monitor. Then it shows the windows in the position they'd be in the integrated monitor (always positioned in the bottom left corner). Occasionally, the windows will show where I left them before the MacBook went to sleep, which probably happens because the computer "realizes" it is connected to an external monitor. Couldn't figure out why it's not persistent.

I have this problem too. iMac M1 24", Monterey 12.3.1.

Every time the computer goes to sleep, upon wakeup, all windows revert to the screen with the menu bar.

Very frustrating.

This never happened on my old Mac mini Intel i7 running OS 11.x.x and earlier.

Clearly, a bug by Apple. Probably, upon re-start from sleep, the OS looks at what motors are available, does not (yet) see the second external monitor), and then places all the windows onto the main screen. Perhaps 0.5 seconds, later, the OS "wakes up" the external monitors, but by that time, the window locations have been reset.

It would seem that NOBODY at APPLE gives a **** about software QA on Macs with multiple monitors, beyond ensuring that they turn on (which is not always the case with the Mac mini... another long time bug over the past 3+ years for 100s / 1000s of mini owners, covering both i7 and M1 chips)

Another way to get visibility is to tweet at @AppleSupport and @Apple. I recommend doing this and calling support, for people that recently purchased computers or their computer is still under warranty.