How can I keep my open windows from moving around after starting my Macbook Pro with external monitor?

[Mity]

I use an external 4K monitor (LG 43UD79-B) with my Intel 16MBP. I always have this setting checked `Reopen windows when logging back in` when I shutdown my Mac. The problem is that the windows don't always open in the same place upon startup. Chrome windows are usually quite well behaved but Finder, Terminal and other programs are all over the place.

When I start my Mac, I keep the lid open until I get to the user login and then I turn on my monitor. I do this because if I keep the lid closed, the computer doesn't recognize the monitor. Then, when sign-in is about 75% complete, I close the lid. This creates the behavior above when sometimes the windows open in the same place and sometimes they don't.

Does anyone use their Mac in clamshell mode and know how to fix this?

Thanks

 

[Reggaenald]

Same problem here but without an external monitor. Hopefully someone here knows a trick.

 

[Sanpete]

Same problem here but without an external monitor. Hopefully someone here knows a trick.

What screen resolution do you use?

 

[Mity]

What screen resolution do you use?

4K

 

[Sanpete]

4K

Ha, right, I guessed that was the case for you.

Anyway, I wonder if this behavior has to do with using a different resolution than default, so that things get resized during the process of restarting. That can move them around, though not randomly.

 

[Mity]

Ha, right, I guessed that was the case for you.

Anyway, I wonder if this behavior has to do with using a different resolution than default, so that things get resized during the process of restarting. That can move them around, though not randomly.

That's obviously a factor if not the reason. But how would this work on a desktop like a Mac Mini? Do windows resize and relocate on that machine as well? If my monitor is always plugged into my Macbook, I don't expect this behavior at all. Even on my 5 year old Windows laptop, this does not happen.

 

[Sanpete]

If you change the resolution, things can move around even with a desktop. Sounds like the way you're doing it now, the desktop is rendered for one resolution and then is sent to the external display in another.

Anyway, I don't know how people deal with that. Probably some ways of arranging things are more likely to be affected than others.

 

[Mity]

If you change the resolution, things can move around even with a desktop. Sounds like the way you're doing it now, the desktop is rendered for one resolution and then is sent to the external display in another.

Anyway, I don't know how people deal with that. Probably some ways of arranging things are more likely to be affected than others.

Yes, but my Windows laptop is FHD and my monitor is 4K. The windows don't relocate or resize. Surely, there must be a way to keep this from happening on a Mac?