Stage Manager not Working Properly and with all the other Apps ?

Hi augustya,

Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities. We understand that Stage Manager is not working properly on your iPad Pro. This article has some helpful information regarding Stage Manager: Move, resize, and organize windows with Stage Manager on iPad.

"Move, resize, and organize windows with Stage Manager on iPad

On supported models, you can use Stage Manager—a new way to multitask and get things done with ease. Resize windows to look the way you want, see multiple overlapping windows in a single view, tap to switch between apps, and more.

You can group apps for specific tasks or projects, and arrange, resize, and overlap them in your ideal layout.

If your iPad is connected to an external display, you can use Stage Manager to drag windows between iPad and your external display and arrange them to suit your needs.

Turn Stage Manager on or off

With your iPad in landscape orientation, open Control Center, then tap .

The window you’re working in is positioned prominently in the center of the screen, at a size that makes it easy to work with. All the other apps move left and form a list of recent apps along the left side of the screen.

Multitask with multiple windows

In Stage Manager, you can group apps together for specific tasks or projects, and keep them together as a group. You can reposition, resize, and overlap windows to suit your workflow.

1. To open an app and group it with the one you’re working in, do any of the following:

• Tap  at the top of a window, then choose Add Another Window. The current windows move aside to show all the other recent app windows. To add one, tap it.
• Touch and hold an app in the Recent apps list, then drag it to the current window in the center of the screen.
• Touch and hold an app in the Dock, then drag it up toward the center of the screen.
• (If the Dock isn’t visible, swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen just far enough to reveal it.)
• Tap the App Library icon (the rightmost icon in the Dock), touch and hold an app icon in the App Library, then drag it from the App Library to the center of the screen.

2. While working with multiple apps, do any of the following: 

• Resize any window: Drag from the corner marked with a dark curve, or, if you have a mouse or trackpad, drag from any corner or edge of the window.
• Move a window to the Recent apps list: Tap  at the top of the window, then choose Minimize.
  • Move a window: Drag from the top of the window.
• Enlarge a window: Tap  at the top of the window, then choose Enter Full Screen.

Tip: To get more screen space to work in (on supported models), go to Settings  > Display & Brightness, tap Display Zoom, then select More Space. This option increases the pixel density so you can view more content in your apps, which is useful when working in multiple windows in Stage Manager or Split View.

Switch between apps

With Stage Manager, you can switch apps by tapping another app in the Recent apps list, or tapping an icon in the Dock.

When you switch to another app, the app or group you’ve been working in moves left to the Recent apps list and is replaced by the one you tapped.

You can also do any of the following to switch apps:

• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, then pause in the center of the screen to see the recent apps and groups.
• Swipe left or right with one finger along the bottom edge of the screen. (On an iPad with a Home button, perform this gesture with a slight arc.)
• Swipe left or right with four or five fingers.

See Switch between apps on iPad.

Hide or show the recent apps list

Do one of the following:

• Open Control Center, touch and hold , then tap the checkmark on the left side of the image.
• Go to Settings  > Home Screen & Multitasking > Stage Manager, then tap the checkmark below Recent Apps to turn it off or on.

Close a window

Tap  at the top of the window, then choose Close.

If the window is part of a group of apps, it disappears from the group."

If that doesn't help, we recommend making sure you have the latest version of iPadOS. Here's how to update if needed: Update your iPhone or iPad.

If the issue persists, Contact Apple Support for further assistance.

Take care.

I’m unable to access the external link. Screenshots, by contrast, are visible here.

We appear to be in a circular discussion. As described, your Stage Manager is operating as expected on your iPad. I hope the guidance I have provided proves to be helpful to you.

Otherwise, the best that I can offer is to recommend that you review the (often overlooked) iPad User Guide - as this Guide provides comprehensive information about your iPad, iPadOS and its many features. The Guide is available both online using a web browser (such as Safari), or as an Apple Books download:

iPad User Guide - Apple Support

https://books.apple.com/book/id1567104892

There are also many third-party primers that describe Stage Manager and its capabilities in detail. A Google search will find them.

In the simplest terms, your foreground App is the App that you are currently using. So, in replying to you here, my active (foreground) App is Safari.

In working through this issue with you, so as to illustrate the arrow-tab, my Safari window has been expanded to full screen using the tiny handle at bottom left of the window:

Note here how the Safari window fully fills the screen.

If I drag the handle to make the Safari window smaller, Safari will be shown in a smaller self-contained window (shown here as just a Safari window):

While windowed, swiping inwards from the left-edge of the screen won’t expose the arrow-tab - but will instead show the Stage Manager Recent Apps:

From here I can drag a recent App from the stack to the main screen - where I can have two or more open App windows:

Tapping either of the selected open windows will cause the Recent Apps at the left of the screen to be hidden - and the chosen window to become the active (foreground) App.

Okay. iPad and iPadOS Stage Manager are actually operating as designed…

You will only see this screen element, an arrow-tab, when (a) Stage Manager is active - and (b) the foreground App has been expanded to full screen. In this mode, an inward swipe from the left edge of the screen will expose this tab at the left-edge of the screen for a couple of seconds; the arrow will then hide until it is next activated. The arrow-tab will not seen when the foreground App(s) are windowed.

When visible, the arrow-tab is not intended to be dragged. Instead, when visible, simply “tap” the arrow to expose the Recent Apps groups at the left-side of the screen; the Recent Apps can be dragged to the main area of the screen.

To reiterate, as already outlined, the arrow-tab will only be visible when an App is full-screen - not windowed. Some full-screen Apps will not show the arrow-tab at all.

To be brutally honest, Stage Manager has useful utility when used with an external monitor. When used with the iPad display alone, its usefulness is at best questionable - adding complication without tangible benefit.

Thanks.

To further clarify, is this the multitasking screen element (see red arrow) with which you are having difficulty?

Presumably, to clarify the nature of the problem, you are using Stage Manager exclusively with your iPad Pro display - and are not connected to an external monitor?