Layoutish

Layoutish Help

Every feature and setting, step by step. Updated 2 October 2026, for Layoutish 1.3.6.

On this page

Getting started#

What Layoutish does#

Layoutish saves where your windows are, across all your displays, and puts them back later. Each saved arrangement is a layout, and you bring one back with a click, a shortcut, a schedule, or by itself when you connect your displays.

Installing and first launch#

Layoutish needs macOS 13.5 or later.

  1. Download Layoutish from appish.app/layoutish.
  2. Open the downloaded zip file.
  3. Drag Layoutish into your Applications folder.
  4. Open Layoutish from Applications.

No window opens. Layoutish's icon appears in the menu bar, at the top right of your screen. Click it to open Layoutish's menu.

The first time, the top of the menu says Setup Required and a red banner says Permission Needed. Layoutish needs one permission before it can read or move windows. The steps are under Permissions. When the permission is on, the top of the menu says Active.

Your free trial of 7 days starts the first time you open Layoutish. A banner in the menu shows the days remaining.

Keep Layoutish in the Applications folder. macOS ties the permission and the menu bar icon to one copy of the app.

Where Layoutish lives#

Layoutish lives in the menu bar, as a group of three small rectangles. It has no Dock icon. Click the icon to open Layoutish's menu, and click anywhere else to close it.

The menu lists your Saved Layouts (the app shows the heading in capitals, with the number of layouts). Under them are Save Current Layout, Export and Import, and along the bottom Settings, Schedule and Quit. The bottom row also names the display profile that matches your displays, or the displays themselves.

Opening Layoutish again, from Applications or Spotlight, opens the same menu in a small window at the top right of the screen. Use that when you can't see the icon (the menu bar is full, the notch hides it, or a menu bar manager has tucked it away):

  1. Press Command-Space.
  2. Type Layoutish.
  3. Press Return.

The window has a close button of its own. A click on the menu bar icon closes it too, and opens the menu under the icon.

To quit Layoutish, click Quit at the bottom of the menu. Your windows stay where they are.

Launch at Login#

With Launch at Login on, Layoutish opens by itself when you log in. It's off until you turn it on.

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Turn on Launch at Login, at the top of the page.

If macOS wants your approval first, Check Layoutish says "Launch at Login needs your approval". Click Open Login Items there and allow Layoutish.

Opening Layoutish applies no layout by itself, at login included. Your layouts are ready for a click, a shortcut or the Quick Switcher.

Permissions#

Device Control and Data Access (called Accessibility before macOS 27)#

This permission lets Layoutish read where other apps' windows are and move them. System Settings calls it Device Control and Data Access on macOS 27, and Accessibility on earlier versions. Layoutish names it the way your Mac does.

To turn it on:

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click the red Permission Needed banner.
  3. The first time, macOS shows its own message. Choose the button that opens System Settings.
  4. In Privacy & Security, open Device Control and Data Access (Accessibility before macOS 27).
  5. Turn on Layoutish.

Layoutish notices the change by itself, and the top of its menu says Active. You don't need to reopen it.

You can also start in Settings: under Permissions, click Allow Access.

If Layoutish isn't in the list, click + and choose it from Applications. This happens after a tool has reset the permission. The banner then reads "In System Settings, click + and add Layoutish again."

Without this permission Layoutish opens and keeps everything you've saved. You can still rename, duplicate, remove, export and import layouts. It can't save or apply a layout: Save Current Layout, Update and Apply are dimmed and don't respond, a layout's shortcut plays the alert sound, and display profiles and schedules apply nothing.

If you turn the permission off while Layoutish is running, Layoutish notices and shows the banner again.

To check it, open Check Layoutish (see Check Layoutish). Its first line reads "Device Control and Data Access is on" when all is well, or "Accessibility is on" before macOS 27.

Automation, for Finder#

On macOS 27, Finder doesn't give a window's folder to the accessibility interface, which is how Layoutish reads windows. With this permission Layoutish asks Finder itself and saves each Finder window's folder with the layout, so a closed Finder window can open again at that folder.

macOS asks for it the first time you save or update a layout that holds a Finder window. Choose Allow. It doesn't ask when Layoutish opens, or when a layout is applied. On macOS 26 and earlier Layoutish doesn't need it, and macOS doesn't ask.

To turn it on later:

  1. Open System Settings.
  2. Open Privacy & Security.
  3. Open Automation.
  4. Under Layoutish, turn on Finder.
  5. In Layoutish, click the layout's name to open its card.
  6. Click Update.

If Layoutish isn't listed under Automation, macOS hasn't asked yet. Save or update a layout that holds a Finder window, and choose Allow when it asks.

Without it everything else works. Open Finder windows are saved and put back like any other window. Closed ones can't open again, and the layout's card says so.

To check it, open Check Layoutish. Its line reads "Automation for Finder: allowed", or "Automation for Finder: not needed" while no layout needs it. While it reads "Automation for Finder: not asked yet", Ask Now has macOS ask you.

Saving a layout#

A layout is a snapshot of your windows: which apps, where each window sits, how big it is, and which is in front.

Save your windows#

  1. Arrange your windows the way you want them.
  2. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  3. Click Save Current Layout.
  4. Type a name under Layout Name, such as Work.
  5. Under Icon, click a picture for the layout.
  6. Click Save Layout, or press Return.

The layout joins Saved Layouts, with a small picture of its windows and a line such as "12 windows • 5 apps". Until you save one, the list reads "No saved layouts".

Cancel closes the sheet without saving. If Layoutish can't read your windows, the sheet says so in red and saves nothing.

On macOS 27, the first layout with a Finder window makes macOS ask whether Layoutish may control Finder. The sheet waits for your answer. See Automation, for Finder.

Save one display only#

With more than one display connected, the sheet has a Capture menu. It starts at All Displays.

  1. Click Save Current Layout.
  2. Type a name under Layout Name.
  3. Under Capture, choose a display.
  4. Click Save Layout.

The layout holds only that display's windows, and Update keeps it that way.

What a layout holds#

  • Each window's app, title, position and size, on every display.
  • Windows on your other Spaces.
  • Minimized windows, as minimized.
  • Windows of apps you've hidden with Command-H.
  • Which windows were in front of which.
  • For each Finder window, the folder it shows. See Finder windows.

Good to know

  • Layoutish saves where windows are, not what's in them. It doesn't reopen documents, browser tabs or web pages.
  • Windows smaller than 100 by 100 points are left out, and so are the windows of apps that have no Dock icon, such as menu bar apps.
  • You choose a layout's icon when you save it. It can't be changed afterwards.
  • A name made only of spaces isn't accepted.
  • Clicking outside Layoutish's menu while the sheet is open closes both, and nothing is saved.
  • Save Current Layout is dimmed while Layoutish can't save: the permission is off, or neither the trial nor a license is active. The banner at the top of the menu says which.

Applying a layout#

Apply a layout#

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Apply beside the layout.

The button reads Applied! for a moment, then Active for as long as it's the last layout applied since Layoutish opened. Click Active to apply the layout again.

You can also apply a layout:

What applying does#

  • Each window in the layout goes back to its saved position and size.
  • Layoutish checks that each window landed where it was saved, and tries once more for those that didn't.
  • Windows are stacked as they were saved, and the app that was in front comes to the front.
  • Windows saved minimized are minimized. Windows saved open are taken out of the Dock and put in place.
  • Apps you've hidden with Command-H stay hidden. Their windows are put in place without showing them.
  • With Launch Apps on Restore on, apps in the layout that aren't running are opened first.
  • Closed Finder windows are opened again at their folders. See Finder windows.
  • Windows of apps that aren't in the layout stay where they are.

If every window is already where the layout has it, applying changes nothing.

Apply one display only#

For a layout saved across more than one display:

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Right-click Apply beside the layout.
  3. Choose Apply only to followed by the display's name.

Only the windows saved on that display move.

When a layout can't be applied#

When a layout was tried and nothing was applied, the card says why under the layout's name for a few seconds. The Quick Switcher says it on its bottom line, and stays open. A layout's shortcut plays the alert sound.

What the messages mean, by how they begin:

  • "Not applied: another layout is still being applied": one layout is applied at a time. Try again in a moment.
  • "Not applied: this layout has no saved windows on that display": you chose Apply only to for a display whose apps are all excluded.
  • "Nothing to apply: none of this layout's apps are open": open the apps, or turn on Launch Apps on Restore in Settings.
  • "Nothing to apply: none of this layout's apps could be opened": the apps may have been removed from your Mac.
  • "Nothing to apply: its windows are all on other Spaces": see What macOS allows.
  • "Nothing to apply: all of its apps are excluded": include an app again. See Leave an app out.
  • "Nothing to apply: none of this layout's windows are open": the apps are open, but the layout's windows are closed.
  • "Nothing to apply: this layout's display isn't connected": connect the display, or update the layout on the displays you have.
  • "Not applied: none of this layout's windows could be placed": the apps didn't let their windows be moved. Try again, and if it stays, email support with your Diagnostics file.

While the permission is off, or neither the trial nor a license is active, Apply is dimmed and doesn't respond, and the banner at the top of the menu says why. The Quick Switcher then shows one of these on its bottom line as soon as it opens:

  • "Not applied: allow Layoutish in System Settings": the permission is off. See Permissions.
  • "Not applied: the trial has ended": enter a license key. See Your license.
  • "Not applied: your license couldn't be confirmed": see License Not Confirmed.
  • "Not applied: your license key was refused": check the key in Settings, or email hello@appish.app.

Good to know

  • If a display the layout was saved for isn't connected, its windows stay where they are, and the card names the display.
  • If you rearrange your displays in System Settings, a layout's windows follow their display the next time it's applied. A layout saved in an earlier version of Layoutish needs one Update first.
  • Windows you opened after saving stay where they are. After an app has been quit and opened again, Layoutish matches its windows by title and place, so a new window can be taken for a saved one.
  • When Layoutish opens an app, it waits up to 10 seconds for the app's first window. A window that appears later may stay where the app puts it.
  • Some windows can't be moved by any app. See What macOS allows.

Changing a layout#

Click a layout's name to open its card. Click it again to close it.

Update a layout#

Update saves your windows as they are now into the same layout.

  1. Arrange your windows.
  2. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  3. Click the layout's name to open its card.
  4. Click Update.

The layout keeps its name, icon, shortcut, excluded apps, display profiles and schedules. A layout saved for one display stays a one-display layout, and the card says which display it updated.

If Layoutish can read no windows, the layout is kept as it was and the card says so.

Rename, duplicate or remove a layout#

All three are on the layout's card.

  • Rename Layout…: the name turns into a field. Type the new name there, then press Return or click the green tick. The grey cross keeps the old name, and so does a name left blank.
  • Duplicate: adds a copy at the end of the list, with "(Copy)" after its name. The copy has no shortcut, and no display profile or schedule uses it.
  • Remove: the card asks Delete? Click Yes to delete the layout, or No to keep it. If schedules use the layout, the card says they're deleted with it.

Leave an app out#

  1. Click the layout's name to open its card.
  2. Click Apps in this layout. Each app is listed with its number of windows.
  3. Click Exclude beside an app.

Applying the layout now skips that app's windows. Click Include to bring it back.

Saved for#

Saved for names the displays that hold the layout's windows. A green tick means the displays connected now match the ones the layout was saved with. An orange warning means they don't.

When one of those displays isn't connected, a grey note under it says so, for example that the display "isn't connected, so its windows stay where they are."

Change the order#

Drag a layout up or down in the list. The Quick Switcher lists your layouts in the same order.

Good to know

  • Update replaces the saved windows without asking, and it can't be undone. Duplicate the layout first if you want to keep the old arrangement.
  • A removed layout can't be brought back, unless you exported it. See Moving layouts to another Mac.
  • Update is dimmed while Layoutish can't save: the permission is off, or neither the trial nor a license is active.

The Quick Switcher#

The Quick Switcher finds and applies a layout from the keyboard, without opening the menu.

Use the Quick Switcher#

  1. Press ⌘⇧L (Command-Shift-L), in any app. The Quick Switcher opens in the middle of the display you're working on.
  2. Type part of a layout's name, or of an app in it.
  3. Press ↑ or ↓ to choose a layout. The first one is chosen already.
  4. Press Return to apply it. A click on a layout applies it too.

The panel closes shortly after the layout is applied.

To close it without applying anything, press Esc, press ⌘⇧L again, or click its close button.

Good to know

  • The Quick Switcher searches layout names and the names of the apps in each layout. With nothing found it reads "No matching layouts".
  • The small cross in the search field clears what you typed.
  • Each layout shows its shortcut, if it has one, and Active if it's the last one applied.
  • Its bottom line reads "↑↓ to choose, Return to apply" and "Esc to close". If a layout can't be applied, the panel stays open and that line says why.
  • You can drag the panel by its background.
  • ⌘⇧L can't be changed. If another app uses it, Check Layoutish says "⌘⇧L doesn't open the Quick Switcher".

Display profiles#

A display profile is a named set of displays, such as your laptop alone, or your laptop with a desk monitor. A profile can apply a layout by itself when those displays connect.

Save a display profile#

When your displays change to a set that matches no profile (you connect or disconnect a monitor), Layoutish's menu shows a banner, New Display Configuration, with the displays' names.

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Save as Profile in the banner.
  3. Under Profile Name, keep the name Layoutish suggests, such as "Desk Setup", or type your own.
  4. Under Auto-Apply Layout (optional), click the layout to apply when these displays connect. Click it again to choose none.
  5. Click Save Profile.

Dismiss hides the banner without saving.

The banner shows only after your displays change, and only while the permission and the trial or a license are active. It doesn't show when Layoutish opens, and after Dismiss it waits for the next change.

At any time while your displays match no profile, you can save one from a layout instead:

  1. Click the layout's name to open its card.
  2. Click Display Profile.
  3. Click Save Current Displays as Profile, at the top of the list.

Layoutish names the profile and sets it to apply that layout. The offer goes once a profile matches your displays.

Choose the layout a profile applies#

  1. Click a layout's name to open its card.
  2. Click Display Profile.
  3. Under Apply Automatically, turn on the switch beside a profile.
  4. Click Done.

Each profile's line says what it does now: "Applies this layout when these displays connect", "Applies nothing automatically", or the name of another layout it applies.

A profile applies one layout. If it already holds another, Layoutish asks before changing it and names both. Turning a switch off asks too: click Stop Applying to confirm.

Once a profile applies a layout, the card shows the profile's name as a badge, and the Display Profile button reads the profile's name. When several profiles apply the same layout, both show the first one.

Rename or delete a profile#

  1. Click a layout's name to open its card.
  2. Click Display Profile.
  3. Click the button with three dots beside the profile, or right-click the profile.
  4. Choose Rename Profile… or Delete Profile….

To rename, type the new name in the field and press Return. To delete, click Yes when Layoutish asks.

The bottom row of Layoutish's menu names the profile that matches your displays now. Right-click it and choose Rename Profile to rename it there.

When a profile applies its layout#

A profile applies its layout when your displays change to that profile's set: when you dock or undock, or connect or disconnect a monitor. Layoutish waits about two seconds for the displays to settle first, and a little longer just after the Mac wakes.

All of these must be true:

  • Auto-Apply on Display Change is on in Settings. It's on unless you turn it off.
  • The profile's switch is on for a layout.
  • The permission is on, and the trial or a license is active.
  • The layout was saved at the display sizes in use now.

Good to know

  • Opening Layoutish applies nothing, at login included. The displays connected then count as already dealt with.
  • Waking the Mac with the same displays applies nothing.
  • A profile matches the same monitors, by their names and full resolutions. Changing the text size in System Settings › Displays doesn't stop a profile from matching.
  • If you change a display's size setting after saving a layout, its profile stops applying it by itself. The card says "Display sizes have changed since this layout was saved. Apply it by hand, or save it again."
  • An automatic apply follows Launch Apps on Restore too. With it on, connecting your displays opens the layout's apps that aren't running.
  • If one monitor takes several seconds longer than the others to come on, Layoutish can see the displays that are already on as a set of their own. If a profile matches that set, its layout is applied first, then the full set's layout when the last monitor comes on.
  • Layoutish shows no notification when a profile applies a layout. The layout's button reads Active the next time you open the menu.
  • Deleting a layout clears it from any profile that applied it.

Schedules#

A schedule applies a layout at a set time, on the days you choose.

Turn scheduling on#

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Schedule.
  3. Turn on Auto-Switch Layouts.

Auto-Switch Layouts is off until you turn it on. While it's off, your schedules stay listed, each marked PAUSED, under the note "Paused: your schedules are kept, and none runs until this is on."

Add a schedule#

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Schedule.
  3. If Auto-Switch Layouts is off, turn it on. Add Schedule appears under it.
  4. Click Add Schedule.
  5. Type a name in the field, such as Work Hours.
  6. Choose a layout beside Layout:.
  7. Set the start and end beside Time:. Times use the 24-hour clock, with minutes in steps of 5.
  8. Click the days it runs on (M T W T F S S, Monday first), or click Weekdays, Weekends or Every day.
  9. Click Add.

The form starts at 09:00 to 17:00 on weekdays, with your first layout chosen. Add can't be clicked until there's a name, a layout and at least one day, and the start and end differ.

Each schedule in the list has a tick on its left to turn it on or off, and a cross on its right to delete it. The schedule in charge now is marked ACTIVE. With none yet, the page reads "No schedules yet".

How schedules run#

  • A schedule applies its layout once, when its time starts.
  • If two schedules cover the same time, the one higher in the list is in charge. When it ends, the next one takes over and applies its layout.
  • If the end is earlier than the start, the schedule runs overnight, from the start on each day chosen to the end the next morning.
  • The start and end must differ.

Good to know

  • Opening Layoutish in the middle of a schedule's time doesn't apply its layout.
  • Turning on Auto-Switch Layouts, adding a schedule, or turning a schedule's tick on in the middle of its time applies its layout then.
  • Deleting or turning off the schedule in charge hands over to the next one running, which applies its layout then.
  • If your Mac sleeps through a start time, the layout is applied when the Mac wakes, if the schedule is still running.
  • Schedules follow Launch Apps on Restore, like every other way of applying a layout.
  • Schedules follow your Mac's clock. After a change of time zone they run at the new local time.
  • Schedules are listed in the order you added them, and can't be reordered.
  • A schedule can't be changed once it's added. Delete it and add it again.
  • The cross deletes a schedule without asking.
  • Deleting a layout deletes its schedules. The card says so before you confirm.
  • A schedule left by an earlier version for a layout you've since deleted reads "Deleted layout". It applies nothing: delete it.
  • Add Schedule can't be clicked until you have a layout.
  • The Schedule button at the bottom of the menu is tinted while scheduling is on.

Finder windows#

Layoutish puts open Finder windows back in place like any other window. It can also open a closed Finder window again at the folder it showed.

Reopening closed Finder windows#

When you apply a layout, each Finder window it holds that's closed is opened again at its folder and moved to its saved place.

On macOS 27 and later this needs the permission described under Automation, for Finder, and the folder opens as a window of its own. Layouts saved before you allowed it don't hold their folders yet: click Update on each one.

On macOS 26 and earlier Finder opens the folder its own way. If Finder is set to open folders in tabs, the folder can open as a tab, and a tab isn't moved.

When a card mentions Finder#

A card shows a grey note while its layout holds Finder windows saved without their folders:

  • "Closed Finder windows won't reopen, because their folders weren't saved. Update this layout to save them.": click Update on the card.
  • The same note, telling you to turn on Finder under Layoutish in System Settings: do that first, then click Update.
  • "Finder didn't answer when this layout was saved, so its closed Finder windows won't reopen. Update it to try again.": click Update when Finder is less busy.

Good to know

  • Finder tabs don't reopen. A closed window that had several tabs comes back as one window at one folder.
  • At most 10 closed Finder windows are opened again each time a layout is applied.
  • If a folder was deleted, or is on a disk that isn't connected, its window isn't opened again. The rest of the layout is applied as usual.
  • If you rename or move a folder, Update the layout so it holds the folder's new place.

Moving layouts to another Mac#

Export saves all your layouts in one file. Import adds a file's layouts to the ones you have.

Export your layouts#

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Export.
  3. Choose where to save "Layoutish-Layouts.json".

Layoutish says Export Successful, with the number of layouts.

Import layouts#

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Import.
  3. Choose a Layoutish export file.

Layoutish adds the layouts that aren't here yet, and says what it did.

If the file isn't a Layoutish export, or can't be read, Layoutish says Import/Export Error with the reason, and changes nothing.

Good to know

  • A layout that's already here isn't added twice.
  • If a layout in the file is a different version of one you have, it's added alongside it.
  • A shortcut is left off an imported layout when another layout or the Quick Switcher already uses it.
  • If some entries in the file are damaged, the rest are imported and Layoutish says how many couldn't be read.
  • Display profiles and schedules aren't in the file.
  • The file holds everything a layout holds, window titles and Finder folders included. Share it with that in mind.
  • Export can't be clicked while you have no layouts.

Settings#

To open Settings, click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar, then Settings. Back returns to your layouts.

Settings is one page: scroll down for the later sections. The app shows each section's name in capitals.

Each layout#

These are on each layout's card, not on the Settings page. Click a layout's name to open its card.

  • Hotkey: the layout's own shortcut. None at first. See Shortcuts.
  • Display Profile: the display profiles that apply this layout by themselves. None at first. See Display profiles.
  • Apps in this layout: Exclude leaves an app's windows out when the layout is applied. Every app is included at first.

The General section#

  • Launch at Login: opens Layoutish by itself when you log in. Off at first.

The Behavior section#

  • Launch Apps on Restore: opens the layout's apps that aren't running before their windows are put in place. On at first. It counts for every way of applying a layout, display profiles and schedules included.
  • Auto-Apply on Display Change: lets display profiles apply their layouts when your displays change. On at first. Turning it off stops every profile.

The Permissions section#

This names Layoutish's permission as your Mac names it, with Granted when it's on and "Required for window management" when it's off. The button under it reads Allow Access while the permission is off, and Open System Settings once it's on. After a permission reset it reads Open System Settings too, because Layoutish has to be added back with + there. See Permissions.

The License section#

This shows your license. With a license it reads License Active, with when it expires, part of your key, and Deactivate on this Mac. It adds the email address the license is registered to once the license server has confirmed the key. During the trial it reads Free Trial Active with the days remaining. After the trial it reads Unlicensed. The License key field, Activate and Buy License are there until a license is active. While Layoutish confirms a stored key as it opens, the section reads "Checking your license…". See Your license.

The Help section#

  • Check Layoutish: what's working, and how to fix what isn't.
  • Export Diagnostics: saves a file for support.
  • Email Support: starts an email to hello@appish.app.
  • Copy Log Command: copies a Terminal command that saves Layoutish's log.
  • Help on the Website: opens this page.
  • What macOS Allows: the limits listed under What macOS allows.
  • Acknowledgements: the open-source notices.

The About section#

This shows the version of Layoutish you have. The current version is 1.3.6. Website opens appish.app/layoutish, Support starts an email to hello@appish.app, and Check for Updates looks for a newer version.

The Scheduling page#

Scheduling has a page of its own, opened with Schedule at the bottom of the menu.

  • Auto-Switch Layouts: lets your schedules apply their layouts. Off at first. See Schedules.

Shortcuts#

  • ⌘⇧L (Command-Shift-L) opens the Quick Switcher from any app. Press it again to close it.
  • In the Quick Switcher, ↑ and ↓ choose a layout, Return applies it, and Esc closes it.
  • Each layout can have a shortcut of its own, which applies that layout from any app. A layout has none until you give it one.

Give a layout a shortcut#

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click the layout's name to open its card.
  3. Click Hotkey.
  4. Click the box that reads "Click to record". It then reads "Press keys, or Esc".
  5. Press the shortcut you want. Press Esc to stop without changing anything.

The Hotkey button now shows the shortcut, and so does the layout's row.

To change a shortcut, click it on the card, click the box that shows it, and press the new one. To take it off, click it on the card, then click Clear. Cancel closes the box and keeps things as they were.

What a shortcut needs#

  • ⌘ (Command) or ⌃ (Control), so it can't get in the way of typing. A function key works on its own.
  • Since macOS 15, macOS refuses shortcuts that use only ⌥ (Option).
  • ⌘⇧L belongs to the Quick Switcher.
  • No two layouts can share a shortcut. The card names the layout that has it.
  • macOS must accept it. If the card says "Another app may be using it.", choose another.

When a shortcut isn't accepted, the layout keeps the one it had.

Good to know

  • If a layout can't be applied from its shortcut, your Mac plays its alert sound. Open Layoutish's menu: a banner says if the permission is off or no license is active. Otherwise click Apply beside the layout (it reads Active on the last one applied), and the card says why.
  • A shortcut you set in an earlier version keeps working for as long as macOS accepts it.
  • Check Layoutish lists any saved shortcut that macOS refused.

Your license#

The free trial#

The trial lasts 7 days from the first time you open Layoutish, with every feature. A banner in the menu shows the days remaining, and a click on it opens the store.

When the trial ends without a license:

  • the banner reads Trial Expired;
  • Apply, Save Current Layout and Update are dimmed and stop working;
  • a layout's shortcut plays the alert sound, and the Quick Switcher says why it can't apply;
  • display profiles and schedules apply nothing;
  • your layouts, shortcuts, display profiles and schedules are kept;
  • you can still rename, duplicate, remove, export and import layouts.

Enter a license key and everything works again, without reopening Layoutish.

Buy and activate#

A license costs $9.99. To buy one, click the trial banner at the top of the menu, or Buy License in Settings. Your key arrives by email.

To activate:

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Scroll down to License.
  4. Paste the key from your purchase email into the License key field.
  5. Click Activate.

The section then reads License Active. Activating needs an internet connection: without one Layoutish says "Couldn't reach the license server. Check your connection and try again."

After the trial has ended you can also click the Trial Expired banner, paste your key and click Activate License. The page then reads "Licensed to" with your email address. Buy a License on that page opens the store.

If the key can't be activated, Layoutish says why under the field. A key for another Appish app is refused with "This license key is for a different product." A mistyped key doesn't end your trial.

Move to another Mac#

Free the seat on the old Mac first:

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Scroll down to License.
  4. Click Deactivate on this Mac.
  5. Click Deactivate.

Then activate your key on the new Mac.

After deactivating, Layoutish goes back to its free trial on the old Mac if days are left. If none are left, applying and saving layouts stop there.

Deactivating needs an internet connection. Without one Layoutish says License Still Active, and your license stays on that Mac. Try again when you're online.

If Layoutish says the seat can't be released from that Mac, click Remove, then email hello@appish.app and we'll free the seat.

The activation limit#

A key can be active on a set number of Macs. When they're all used, activating says: "This key is active on the maximum number of Macs. Deactivate it on a Mac you no longer use, or email hello@appish.app and we'll free a seat."

Entering the same key again on a Mac that already has it uses no new seat.

Using Layoutish offline#

Layoutish confirms your license when it opens and about once a day. Without a connection it carries on:

  • While Layoutish stays open and licensed, a check that can't reach the license server changes nothing. It tries again in an hour.
  • When Layoutish opens offline, it stays licensed if your key was confirmed in the last 7 days.
  • When it opens offline and the last confirmation is older than that, it keeps your key and shows License Not Confirmed. It asks the server again every hour, and is licensed again once the server confirms the key.

License Not Confirmed#

Layoutish has your key, but the license server hasn't confirmed it. Either Layoutish opened without reaching the server and the last confirmation was more than 7 days old, or the server didn't accept the key. The message under the heading says which.

While it shows, Layoutish falls back to the free trial. If the trial's days are used up, applying and saving layouts stop until the license is confirmed. Your key and your layouts are kept.

To confirm it now:

  1. Connect to the internet.
  2. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  3. Click the License Not Confirmed banner.
  4. Click Check Stored License Again.

Check Again, under License in Settings, does the same. If the server doesn't accept the key, email hello@appish.app.

After a cleaner app has wiped the settings#

A cleaner utility can delete Layoutish's settings file. Layoutish keeps your license key in your Keychain too, and a copy of your layouts, display profiles and schedules in its own folder, so they come back by themselves the next time Layoutish opens. You don't need to enter your key again.

Launch Apps on Restore goes back to on.

A lost key#

Your key is in your purchase confirmation email. If you can't find it, email hello@appish.app from the address you bought with.

Updates#

Layoutish checks for a new version each time it opens. If there is one, a window offers it.

To check yourself:

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Scroll down to About.
  4. Click Check for Updates.

Layoutish doesn't check on a schedule in between. If it runs for weeks without a restart, check by hand.

An update keeps your layouts, shortcuts, display profiles, schedules, settings, license and permissions. Layoutish quits and opens again to finish it.

If something isn't working#

Check Layoutish#

Check Layoutish lists what's working and what isn't, each line with a button to fix it where there is one.

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Scroll down to Help.
  4. Click Check Layoutish.

The permissions' lines follow changes by themselves. Check Again reads everything again, and Export Diagnostics is on the page too.

What the lines mean:

  • "Device Control and Data Access is on", or "Accessibility is on" before macOS 27: Layoutish can read and move windows.
  • The same name with "is off": Layoutish can't read or move windows. Allow Access shows macOS's message the first time, and opens System Settings after that. After a reset the line tells you to click + and add Layoutish again, and its button reads Open System Settings.
  • "Automation for Finder", with "allowed", "not needed", "off", "not asked yet", "not checked yet" or "couldn't check": whether Layoutish may ask Finder for its windows' folders. "not needed" means no layout needs it, or your macOS is earlier than 27. Open Automation opens the setting, and Ask Now has macOS ask you.
  • "Launch at Login is on", "Launch at Login is off" or "Launch at Login needs your approval": whether Layoutish opens when you log in. Turn On switches it on, and Open Login Items opens the place to allow it. If macOS refused to turn it on, the line says why.
  • "Everything saved reads correctly", with the numbers of layouts, display profiles and schedules.
  • "Some saved data couldn't be read": part of what you saved was damaged. Layoutish keeps that data aside, untouched. Export Diagnostics and email it to support.
  • "Every shortcut works": each layout's shortcut is registered with macOS. The line is missing while no layout has a shortcut.
  • "macOS refused a shortcut", or the number refused: the line names each shortcut and its layout. Another app may be using it. Choose another on the layout's card.
  • "⌘⇧L doesn't open the Quick Switcher": macOS refused ⌘⇧L, so another app may be using it.
  • "These displays match", with a profile's name: the displays connected now, and what applies when they connect.
  • "These displays match no profile" or "No display profiles yet": save the displays as a profile to apply a layout when they connect.
  • A layout's name, or a number of layouts, with "saved for displays that aren't connected": their windows belong on displays that aren't here now.
  • "Layoutish isn't in Applications": quit Layoutish, move it to the Applications folder and open it from there.

Export Diagnostics#

Export Diagnostics saves a text file that tells support how Layoutish is set up on your Mac.

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Scroll down to Help.
  4. Click Export Diagnostics.
  5. Choose where to save "Layoutish Diagnostics.txt". Layoutish suggests the Desktop.

Finder then shows you the file.

The file holds:

  • your Mac: its model, chip, memory, macOS version, language, appearance settings, how long it has been on, and its displays;
  • Layoutish's version, where it's installed, and when it last checked for updates;
  • Check Layoutish's lines, the permissions' state and the state of your license;
  • your settings;
  • each layout's apps and window positions, your display profiles, shortcuts and schedules;
  • how much Layoutish has saved, with the sizes and dates of its own files;
  • what the last apply did with each window;
  • the names and dates of Layoutish's crash reports from the last 30 days;
  • the most recent lines of Layoutish's log since it opened.

It doesn't hold your license key or an email address. Window titles, folders, and the names you gave your layouts, profiles and schedules appear only as codes. App names and display names appear as they are. Nothing is sent by itself: read the file first if you like, then attach it to an email.

With the menu bar icon hidden, open Layoutish again from Applications to reach Settings.

Email Support and Copy Log Command#

Email Support starts an email to hello@appish.app in your mail app. Say what happened and what you expected, and attach your Diagnostics file.

Copy Log Command copies a Terminal command that saves the last day of Layoutish's log to your Desktop. Use it when support asks for the log:

  1. Click Copy Log Command. It reads Copied for a moment.
  2. Open Terminal.
  3. Paste the command.
  4. Press Return.

The command is:

/usr/bin/log show --last 1d --info --predicate 'subsystem == "matmus.Layoutish"' > ~/Desktop/Layoutish-log.txt

Attach "Layoutish-log.txt" from your Desktop to your email.

Common problems#

Apply and Save Current Layout are greyed out#

Cause: the permission is off, the trial has ended without a license, or your license hasn't been confirmed. The banner at the top of the menu says which.

Fix: click the banner. For Permission Needed, turn the permission on, as under Device Control and Data Access. For Trial Expired, enter your license key. For License Not Confirmed, see License Not Confirmed.

Layoutish isn't in the permission list#

Cause: a tool that resets permissions has taken Layoutish out of System Settings' list, and macOS won't ask again by itself. The banner reads "In System Settings, click + and add Layoutish again."

Fix: in System Settings, open Privacy & Security, then Device Control and Data Access (Accessibility before macOS 27). Click + and choose Layoutish from Applications.

I can't find the Layoutish icon#

Cause: the menu bar is full, the notch hides the icon, or a menu bar manager has hidden it.

Fix: open Layoutish again from Applications or Spotlight. Its menu opens in a small window, with everything the menu has.

A layout didn't apply when I connected my displays#

Cause: one of the things under When a profile applies its layout isn't true. Check Layoutish says which, on its line about your displays: the profile has no layout, Auto-Apply on Display Change is off, the profile's own switch is off, or the layout was saved at other display sizes.

Fix: open the layout's card, click Display Profile and turn on the profile's switch, or turn on Auto-Apply on Display Change in Settings. If the display sizes have changed, click Update on the layout's card.

Connecting my displays opened apps I had quit#

Cause: Launch Apps on Restore is on, and a display profile applied a layout that holds those apps.

Fix: turn off Launch Apps on Restore in Settings. Or leave those apps out of the layout: open its card, click Apps in this layout, and click Exclude beside each one.

Two layouts applied one after the other when I docked#

Cause: one monitor came on several seconds after the others, and a profile matches the displays that were already on.

Fix: if you don't use that smaller set of displays, stop its profile: open the layout's card, click Display Profile, and turn the profile's switch off or delete the profile.

A window didn't move#

Cause: the window is on another Space or in full screen, its app is excluded from the layout, its display isn't connected, or its app doesn't let other apps move its windows. If its app isn't running and Launch Apps on Restore is off, the window is skipped.

Fix: switch to the window's Space and apply the layout again. For the rest, see What macOS allows.

A window came back shorter or a few pixels off#

Cause: some apps refuse a size or snap their windows to a grid. A dock app that keeps windows above its bar also shortens windows that reach into it.

Fix: arrange the windows as you want them now and click Update on the layout's card.

A closed Finder window didn't reopen#

Cause: the layout was saved without its Finder windows' folders, the folder has been deleted, renamed or moved, or more than 10 Finder windows were closed.

Fix: on macOS 27 and later, check "Automation for Finder" in Check Layoutish. Then open the folders you want and click Update on the layout's card.

A shortcut only plays the alert sound#

Cause: the layout couldn't be applied. From a shortcut there's nowhere to say why.

Fix: open Layoutish's menu. A banner says if the permission is off or no license is active. Otherwise click Apply beside the layout (it reads Active on the last one applied), and the card says why.

A shortcut stopped working#

Cause: another app has taken the same shortcut, so macOS no longer gives it to Layoutish.

Fix: Check Layoutish lists the shortcuts macOS refused. Choose another on the layout's card, or change it in the other app.

A schedule didn't apply its layout#

Cause: Auto-Switch Layouts is off, the schedule's tick is off, today isn't one of its days, or another schedule higher in the list was in charge. A schedule also applies nothing when Layoutish opens in the middle of its time.

Fix: open Schedule and check the switch and the schedule's tick. A schedule marked PAUSED won't run until Auto-Switch Layouts is on. A schedule's days and times can't be changed: delete it and add it again.

The menu says License Not Confirmed#

Cause: Layoutish opened without reaching the license server and the last confirmation was more than 7 days old, or the server didn't accept the key.

Fix: connect to the internet, click the banner, then click Check Stored License Again. See License Not Confirmed.

My key is active on the maximum number of Macs#

Cause: every seat of your license is in use.

Fix: on a Mac you no longer use, open Settings and click Deactivate on this Mac. If you no longer have that Mac, email hello@appish.app and we'll free a seat.

My layouts were gone after a cleaner app ran#

Cause: the cleaner deleted Layoutish's settings file.

Fix: open Layoutish again. Your layouts, display profiles and schedules come back from Layoutish's own copy, and your license from your Keychain. A list you emptied yourself doesn't come back.

Layoutish doesn't open after a restart#

Cause: Launch at Login is off, or macOS is waiting for your approval.

Fix: turn on Launch at Login in Settings. If Check Layoutish says "Launch at Login needs your approval", click Open Login Items and allow Layoutish there.

What macOS allows#

macOS decides what an app may do with other apps' windows. These limits apply to every window manager, Layoutish included.

This is the list the app shows under What macOS Allows, in its words. A restore is what happens when a layout is applied.

  • Windows on other Spaces. Layoutish saves windows on every Space, but macOS gives apps no public way to move a window on a Space you're not looking at, so a restore leaves those windows where they are.
  • Full-screen windows. A full-screen window is a Space of its own, so a restore leaves it as it is.
  • Stage Manager. Stage Manager keeps its own window groups, so a restore may not bring set-aside windows back into view.
  • Windows tiled by macOS. Since macOS 15, macOS may pull a window it has tiled back into its tile.
  • Finder's folders. On macOS 27, Finder doesn't tell the accessibility interface which folder a window shows. So Layoutish asks to control Finder the first time you save a layout with a Finder window. Without it, open Finder windows are placed as usual, but closed ones can't reopen.
  • Finder tabs. Closed Finder windows open again at their folders, but their tabs don't: macOS gives apps no reliable way to open them.
  • Apps that keep their windows to themselves. A few apps don't show their windows to macOS's accessibility interface, so Layoutish can't see or move them.
  • Apps that open windows late. When a restore opens an app, Layoutish waits up to 10 seconds for its first window. A window that appears later than that may stay where the app puts it.
  • Docks that keep windows above them. A dock app that keeps windows above its bar, such as Dockish with Keep Windows Above the Dock, shortens any window that reaches into the bar's area, including the windows a restore puts there. If a layout was saved while the dock was smaller, those windows come back shorter. Update the layout with the dock as you use it now.
  • Minimum sizes and grids. An app that refuses a size, or snaps its windows to a grid, can land a few pixels from where it was saved.
  • A permission reset. If Layoutish's permission is reset, macOS removes it from the list and won't ask again. Add it back with + in System Settings.
  • Shortcuts need ⌘ or ⌃. Since macOS 15, shortcuts that use only ⌥ are refused, and ⇧ alone would take over typing, so a layout's shortcut needs ⌘ or ⌃. Function keys work on their own.

Removing Layoutish#

Deactivate first#

Deactivating frees your license's seat, so you can use your key on another Mac. See Move to another Mac.

Quit and move Layoutish to the Trash#

  1. Click the Layoutish icon in the menu bar.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Turn off Launch at Login.
  4. Click Back.
  5. Click Quit.
  6. Drag Layoutish from your Applications folder to the Trash.

When Layoutish quits, your windows stay where they are. Nothing on your Mac needs turning back.

What stays on the Mac#

Moving Layoutish to the Trash leaves a few small things behind. To remove a file or folder, choose Go to Folder in Finder's Go menu, paste its path, and move it to the Trash.

  • ~/Library/Preferences/matmus.Layoutish.plist: your settings, layouts, display profiles and schedules, with your license key and the trial's dates.
  • ~/Library/Application Support/Layoutish: the copy of your layouts, display profiles and schedules.
  • ~/Library/Caches/matmus.Layoutish, ~/Library/HTTPStorages/matmus.Layoutish and ~/Library/WebKit/matmus.Layoutish: small caches from the license and update checks, where they exist.
  • Your license key, in your Keychain too. Open Keychain Access (find it with Spotlight), search for "com.appish.layoutish.license" and delete the items it finds.
  • Layoutish's lines in System Settings, under Privacy & Security. In Device Control and Data Access (Accessibility before macOS 27), select Layoutish and click the minus button. In Automation, turn off Finder under Layoutish.

Privacy#

What leaves your Mac#

  • The license check. Layoutish sends your license key to the license server, run by Lemon Squeezy, when you activate, when Layoutish opens, about once a day, every hour while a key is waiting to be confirmed, when you click Check Again or Check Stored License Again, and when you deactivate. Activating also sends your Mac's name, so the seat can be told apart from your other Macs. Deactivating also sends the id the server gave that seat.
  • The store. Buy License and the trial banner open the store's page in your browser. Layoutish sends nothing there.
  • The update check. Each time it opens, and when you click Check for Updates, Layoutish fetches the list of versions from appish.app. A newer version is downloaded from there if you choose to install it.
  • Email you send. Email Support opens an email in your mail app. Nothing goes until you send it.

What never leaves your Mac#

  • Your layouts: the apps, window titles, positions and Finder folders they hold.
  • Your display profiles, schedules and shortcuts.
  • The Diagnostics file. It's saved where you choose and goes nowhere unless you email it.
  • An export file. It's saved where you choose, and holds your layouts as they are.

Layoutish has no analytics and no tracking.

Still stuck?

Email us and a person answers. If you can, attach your Layoutish Diagnostics file: in Layoutish, open Settings, then Help, then Export Diagnostics. It holds no license key, email address or window titles, and you can read it before you send it.

Email hello@appish.app