--- title: "Two identical monitors keep swapping on Mac" description: "Two identical monitors can swap places after wake, and your windows end up on the wrong one. How to tell a display swap from a window problem, and what fixes each." image: "https://getresettle.com/og.png" source: "https://getresettle.com/mac-identical-monitors-swap" --- # Two identical monitors keep swapping on Mac Two different problems hide behind this search, and they have different fixes. One is macOS losing track of which identical monitor is which. The other is windows landing on the wrong monitor even when the displays are placed correctly. Work out which you have before you buy anything. ## What is actually swapping: the displays, or the windows When people say their monitors swap, they usually mean one of two things. Either left and right trade places in **System Settings › Displays › Arrange**, so a desktop and its Spaces move to the other panel. Or the arrangement stays correct and the windows land on the wrong screen. The first is a display problem, and it belongs to macOS. The second is a window problem. They need different tools. ## Why macOS struggles with two identical monitors A monitor describes itself to the Mac with a small block of data called an EDID. Two monitors of the same model report the same name, the same size and often the same identifiers. When the Mac reconnects them, it can fail to match each one to the connection it used before, and their positions swap. That is why the complaint is specific to identical models. A 27 inch panel and a 24 inch panel almost never swap. Two of the same 27 inch panel do. ## If your displays swap: what fixes that This is the problem the forum threads are really about. [Super User question 1105308](https://superuser.com/questions/1105308) has 118,000 views and 184 votes on the page, and its asker describes waking the Mac to find the Spaces from one monitor on another. The top answer recommends [displayplacer](https://github.com/jakehilborn/displayplacer), a command line tool, with a script bound to a hotkey. - **displayplacer** sets each display's position and arrangement from the command line, so a saved command run after wake puts the monitors back. - **BetterDisplay** does the same job with a graphical interface, and can apply an arrangement automatically. - Small single purpose tools exist for it too, such as display-origin-swap and screen-fixer. **Resettle does not do this.** It never moves a display; where your monitors sit belongs to macOS. If your desktop and Spaces move between panels, Resettle is not the fix. ## If your windows go to the wrong one: what fixes that If the displays themselves are in the right place but windows keep landing on the wrong monitor, the arrangement is fine and the missing piece is a memory of where each window belongs. A restorer keeps a layout for each display setup and puts windows back. With identical monitors the hard part is telling them apart: a restorer that goes by model name alone cannot know which of two identical panels a window was on. Resettle identifies displays by serial number where they report one, and falls back to where each sits in your arrangement where they do not, so the left monitor's windows come back to the left monitor. When it genuinely cannot tell two setups apart, such as the same model at home and at work, it asks once and remembers the answer. ## How to tell which problem you have 1. Wake the Mac, or reconnect the monitors, then open **System Settings › Displays › Arrange**. 2. If the two monitors have swapped left and right there, or your Spaces have moved to the other panel, it is a display problem. Use displayplacer or BetterDisplay. 3. If the arrangement is right and only the windows are on the wrong screen, it is a window problem. Use a restorer. ## Where Resettle fits, and where it does not - **It fits** when the displays are identified correctly and your windows land on the wrong one. It puts each window back on the monitor it belongs on. - **It fits** when you have the same model at home and at work, which macOS cannot tell apart and Resettle keeps as two separate setups. - **It does not fit** if your monitors themselves swap in the arrangement. That is a job for displayplacer or BetterDisplay. Resettle never moves a display. - **It does not fit** if you want windows arranged for you. Resettle has no snapping and no tiling. It is paid: $14.99, one Mac, with no free tier and a 14-day refund instead, and it is new, first released in September 2026. [Get Resettle · $14.99](https://getresettle.com/#pricing) ## Questions ### Can Resettle stop my monitors swapping? No. If two identical monitors exchange places in the arrangement, that is macOS failing to tell them apart, and it is fixed with displayplacer, BetterDisplay or a similar tool. Resettle does not move displays. It puts windows back on the correct display once the arrangement is right. ### Does it handle the same monitor at home and at work? Yes. Resettle keeps the same model at two locations as two separate setups. If it cannot tell them apart on its own, it asks once, you pick, and it remembers. ### What is the difference between the displays swapping and the windows moving? A display swap changes where your desktop and Spaces are, and it shows in System Settings › Displays › Arrange. Windows moving to the wrong screen happens when the displays are placed correctly but something has forgotten which window belonged to which monitor. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Two identical monitors keep swapping on Mac","description":"Two identical monitors can swap places after wake, and your windows end up on the wrong one. 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It puts windows back on the correct display once the arrangement is right."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does it handle the same monitor at home and at work?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes. Resettle keeps the same model at two locations as two separate setups. If it cannot tell them apart on its own, it asks once, you pick, and it remembers."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the difference between the displays swapping and the windows moving?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A display swap changes where your desktop and Spaces are, and it shows in System Settings › Displays › Arrange. Windows moving to the wrong screen happens when the displays are placed correctly but something has forgotten which window belonged to which monitor."}}]} ```