How to get back a window that is off the screen on a Mac

A window can end up off every screen after you unplug a monitor, or when an app opens where a screen used to be. macOS has a couple of ways to pull one back. Sashay brings back every lost window with one shortcut.

Why it happens

Apps remember where their windows were. If that spot was on a monitor that's no longer there, or a window was dragged mostly past the edge of a screen, it can open where you can't see it or grab its title bar.

What macOS offers

On macOS 15 and later, click the app so it is in front, then choose Window, Center. Fill works too and makes the window fill the screen.
Plug the monitor back in, drag the window across, then unplug again.

Fix it with Sashay

Download Sashay, drag it to Applications and open it.
Click Open Accessibility Settings and switch Sashay on. macOS asks for this before any app may move another app's windows.
Press Control-Option-Command-L, or right-click Sashay's menu bar icon and choose Find lost windows. Every window with less than a quarter of it showing on a screen comes back to the middle of the MacBook's screen.

Sashay also keeps windows from getting lost when you unplug a monitor: it puts each one back where it sat on the MacBook.

If it doesn't work

The window is on another desktop. Sashay looks on each screen's current desktop. Switch to the desktop the app is on and press the shortcut again.
The shortcut does nothing. Another app may use the same keys. Pick another shortcut for Find lost windows in Sashay's Settings.