Settings

Open Settings in any of these ways:

• click Settings at the bottom of the editor’s sidebar;
• click the gear (Settings) on the Layout bar;
• choose Settings… in the menu of Layout’s menu bar icon;
• press ⌘, while Layout is in front.

Settings opens in a window of its own, without the editor, on the tab you used last. Its five tabs are General, Windows, Apps, Shortcuts, and About; ⌘1 to ⌘5 pick one. Changes apply and are saved as you make them. Press Esc or ⌘W to close the window.

General

• Open at login: Layout starts with your Mac and picks up where it left off. On by default.
• Window management: whether Layout is active, and in which workspace. Pause Layout puts back every window Layout moved out of sight; Resume Layout starts it again.

Menu bar

• Show the Layout bar: shows your workspace, its app icons, and quick actions at the top of the screen. On by default. Turning it off doesn’t stop window management, and the Layout menu bar icon then shows the workspace’s name.
• Show the workspace name when switching, while the Layout bar is off: a workspace shortcut, the workspace switcher, or an app that takes you to another workspace shows the workspace’s name below the menu bar for a moment. On by default.
• Auto-hide the macOS menu bar: shows Always when macOS already hides its own menu bar. Otherwise, Open System Settings… takes you there: choose Always for Automatically hide and show the menu bar. Layout never changes this setting for you.

When macOS hides Layout’s menu bar icon, this section says so and explains how to bring it back. See Layout bar.

Windows

• Spacing: the gap between windows and along the screen edges, from 0 to 40 px. 0 px by default: windows touch each other and the screen edges. It applies to every workspace. Use Reapply layout to apply it to the active workspace’s windows right away. Workspaces that keep floating windows inside the margin follow the new spacing too. See Layouts and zones.
• Window borders: off by default. Turned on, Layout draws a border around the visible windows of the active workspace, floating windows included: a black-to-color gradient with a soft glow. Borders never intercept clicks, and they sit just above their window, below any window that covers it. The Layout editor follows the same setting.
• Border color, while borders are on: red by default. Reset brings back the default color.
• Animate workspace switches: after a switch, the Layout bar and the borders ease in once the windows are in place; nothing waits for the animation. On by default. Reduce motion in macOS turns it off too.

Apps

Wildcard apps

The apps that belong to no layout. Call one from any workspace and the same window floats over the workspace you’re in, instead of taking you back to its own. Add App… adds one; ⓧ makes it an ordinary app again. None by default. See Wildcard apps.

• Show wildcard apps in ⌘ Tab in every workspace, once you have one: Layout’s ⌘Tab lists them after the workspace’s own windows, wherever their window is, or by name when no window is open. Picking one brings it to the workspace you’re in. On by default. It needs Use ⌘ Tab for this workspace’s windows, in Shortcuts.
• ⌘ Tab everywhere, next to each app: turn it off to leave that app out. Its window then shows in ⌘Tab only in the workspace that last called it. On by default.

Simulator

• Shared simulator: the device used by every workspace whose Simulator context is set to Shared simulator. None by default. Changing it moves all of those workspaces to the new device. The ↻ button reloads the list of devices. See Simulator.

Shortcuts

• Use ⌘ Tab for this workspace’s windows: replaces the macOS app switcher with Layout’s window switcher, limited to the current workspace. Off by default. ⌥Tab switches workspaces whether this is on or off. See Switchers.

Keyboard

Shortcuts for chooses whose shortcuts the next two sections show: All keyboards, or one keyboard. Choose a connected keyboard and change a shortcut to give it shortcuts of its own; the others keep following All keyboards and show dimmed. See Shortcuts for one keyboard.

Shortcuts

The shortcut of each action. Click one and press the new keys: ⌫ removes it, Esc cancels, and the arrow next to a changed shortcut brings back its default. Restore Default Shortcuts resets them all. See Change a shortcut.

Workspace shortcuts

Two shortcuts for each workspace: Go to switches to it, Launch opens its apps and applies its layout. Launch is its shortcut with ⇧ added until you record another one; a workspace on Hyper needs one of its own. See Workspace shortcuts.

About

Layout’s version, then:

• Guided setup: Review… starts the guided setup again from the first step.
• Accessibility access: whether Layout has the permission. Open System Settings… opens Privacy & Security › Accessibility.
• Diagnostics: Export… saves Layout’s state and recent events as a JSON file for a bug report. See Diagnostics.
• Website and Documentation open getlayout.app in your browser.

Settings that belong to each workspace

Some settings are set per workspace, in the editor rather than in Settings:

Setting	Where	See
Layout, zones, and dividers	Layout menu and the preview	Layouts and zones
New windows	Below the spacing control	New windows
Keep floating windows inside the margin	Below the spacing control	New windows
Apps, stacks, and floating apps	Zones and Floating apps	Stacks and floating apps
Folders, tabs, links, and simulator	Work context	Work context