Describe the bug
I have two very similar dual monitor setups at home and work (same vendor/resolution/name but different sku). When I unplug from the work monitor and go home, I notice that BTT forgets the snapping areas and I have to recreate them (or reimport them from my old BST)
Affected input device (e.g. MacBook Trackpad, Magic Mouse/Trackpad, Touch Bar, etc.):
Macbook Pro with LG ULTRAWIDE
Colour LCD:
Display Type: Built-In Retina LCD
Resolution: 2880x1800 Retina
Framebuffer Depth: 24-Bit Colour (ARGB8888)
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Automatically Adjust Brightness: No
Connection Type: Internal
LG ULTRAWIDE:
Resolution: 3440x1440 (UWQHD - Ultra-Wide Quad HD)
UI Looks like: 3440 x 1440 @ 60 Hz
Framebuffer Depth: 24-Bit Colour (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
Automatically Adjust Brightness: No
Connection Type: DisplayPort
Shame on the admin for deleting my comments (and account). This bug still exists in 2026 and zero thought was put into migration or backup of existing snaps and other settings. To delete my comments for calling this out is flat out absurd. I will be leaving feedback on the app.
I delete accounts that don't follow the forum rules without warning (insulting me or my apps instead of asking for help and posting a full comment that only consists of false information - literally nothing in the "technical" part of your comment was correct but you made it sound like some weird truth).
Comments like this are an immediate way to get banned and not receive any help ever. I hate this entitled bullshit.
I appreciate the explanation and I apologize for coming out of the gate frustrated. For context, I’ve been a customer of your app (across both personal and several business accounts) for the past 6+ years, but this “UUID” issue (pardon if it's not UUID related) is more frequent and there seems to be no solid solution for it. Forgive me if I feel entitled for a patch for a known issue to a software I paid for and have historically encouraged others to use. I think that's sort of how it works… but I digress. Causing tension was idiotic and against my objective: finding a solution.
Could you give some insight into how my initial posts were incorrect? I do not see a backup or migration option in the app. Combing through the plist, the app does seem to assign settings to UUID. Lastly, the issue is that Mac can randomly assign a new UUID at any point and there is no solution to this problem within the app. If I am wrong about any of this please let me know because losing 30-45 min to setup my snap areas a couple of times a month is infuriating when it seems there are some solutions that could be implemented.
A backup and migration solution would be excellent, not just as a resolution to this known bug, but also as a huge improvement to the long-term user experience. I have moved BST across 3 different computer upgrades and 4 separate work-specific laptops over the years with the same 49” monitor, and each time I have had to set up a complex app-specific snap layout all over again.
Thanks for the update, that is much better and I actually like to help!
The main problem is buggy displays or buggy hubs that connect the displays. macOS gives us developers various identifiers to recognize displays - and in theory they are all guaranteed to be persistent and will not change. However some displays don't implement things like serial number, UUID, product id/vendor id etc. correctly and make it kind of impossible to identify them well.
BetterSnapTool uses a pretty complex system to identify the display, which relies on multiple of these markers - the UUID (which in theory shall never change) is one of them, the display name, serial number, frame etc. are other markers. Unfortunately there are (few) displays where even that fails at some point.
Could you give me some details about the display you are using?
The plist does not contain your snap areas, they are all stored in a SQLite database (or XML file, depending on the version you first installed BetterSnapTool)
Thank you for the quick response and the explanation regarding UUID storage as well! I am using the Samsung C49RG9x. The issue tends to occur when switching cables (new DisplayPort to TB3/4 cable or adding a dock, etc) and sometimes when switching the monitor back and forth between BTS-enabled MacBooks.
One note, when the error occurs, it often has my desktop spaces swapped between displays when I first connect the display. What I mean by this is my wallpapers, desktops, etc from my internal display (display 1) are appearing on my external (display 2) and vice versa. Once I unplug and plug back in, the correct display assignments are made, but BST snap areas have been wiped.
Last detail: the keyboard-based “window layout” options still function properly and the layouts are still saved and assigned correctly.
I want to say that the issue probably only occurs when the laptop is connected while on and out of clamshell, but I have not tested it. I can’t imagine the glitch would occur if I connect from a powered off state, but it might.
Could you check whether the information displayed in the macOS System Information app changes when this happens? The wallpaper issue suggests that macOS is also unable to identify the display when this happens
Maybe send (andreas@folivora.ai) or attach this file: ~/Library/Application Support/BetterSnapTool/storedata' - it should (partially) show what changes between these reconnects
