Stage manager can't be turned on.

Question

Level 1

14 points

Stage manager can't be turned on.

Mac Studio, MacOS 14.5x. Recently discovered Stage Manager (SM). Quite useful. Had it configured and working well. Studio went down with a hard crash - as in hold on/off button for 15-20 sec. (I think Adobe apps (both current editions) maybe the root cause. Can't tell for sure.) Upon recovery I found that in the reboot nearly all preferences were erased. (Really Apple!?) All were eventually restored except Stage Manager. Have searched and followed every direction available at Apples 'help' sites. Yes, I've been to Settings -> Desktop&Dock -> Desktop and SM 3x times), nothing changes. The selection switch is always greyed out. Have done restarts, approached issue in settings and the Menu bar. The dock settings drop down does not have the SM as a selection.

So please experts, help me out here - an Do Not tell me to go to Apple's little help page. Been there, done that 3x times.

Thank you in advance

Robert

Mac Studio, macOS 14.7

Posted on Feb 8, 2025 8:25 AM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

157,896 points

Feb 8, 2025 9:52 AM in response to OnTheRez

There may be something else going on with your Mac, but we won't know unless we can get more details about it. As such, I suggest that you run an EtreCheck report, and optionally, post it here if you need assistance with interpreting its results. It may help us/you find the culprit of this Stage Manager issue.

Ref: Using EtreCheck to Troubleshoot Potential Mac Issues

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Answer 2

Feb 8, 2025 10:32 AM in response to OnTheRez

Please do follow Tesserax advice and post the Etrecheck report. What you are experiencing is of course not normal.

But, anyway, I am curious: what is it about Stage Manager that makes it useful in your workflow? I am genuinely curious, as this is a feature I always turn off, maybe I am missing something.

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