If your Mac desktop is a wall of screenshots, downloads, and random files, Stacks cleans it up in one click. It's a built-in Finder feature — no app, no dragging — that automatically groups your desktop icons into tidy piles you can expand when you need them. Here's how to turn it on and get the most out of it.
What Desktop Stacks actually does
Stacks takes every loose file on your desktop and bundles them into neat groups by kind (images, PDFs, screenshots, and so on). Instead of 60 scattered icons you see a handful of labeled piles. Click a pile to fan it open, click again to collapse it. Your files never move or get renamed — Stacks just changes how the desktop displays them.
How to turn on Stacks
There are two ways, and both take two seconds:
- Right-click the desktop (or Control-click) on any empty spot and choose Use Stacks.
- Or click the desktop, then in the menu bar choose View > Use Stacks. A checkmark appears when it's on.
The moment you enable it, your clutter snaps into groups. To turn it off, repeat the same step and the checkmark clears — your files scatter back exactly where they were.
Change how Stacks groups your files
By default Stacks groups by Kind (images together, documents together). You can change that: right-click the desktop and open Group Stacks By, then pick one:
- Kind — images, PDFs, movies, etc. Best for most people.
- Date Last Opened / Added / Modified / Created — groups into Today, Yesterday, Previous 7 Days, and so on. Great if you work in bursts and want recent files up top.
- Tags — groups by the color tags you've assigned. Handy if you already use Finder tags and color labels.
Expand, collapse, and scrub through a stack
Click any stack to fan it open and see everything inside; click the pile again to close it. Even better: hover your pointer over a closed stack and two-finger swipe left or right on the trackpad — the stack's icon previews each file inside without opening it. That lets you eyeball a pile of 20 screenshots and grab the right one instantly.
Make the icons bigger or smaller
If your stacks feel cramped, right-click the desktop and choose Show View Options. Drag the Icon size slider, and use Sort By to control the order inside each stack. You can also enable Show item info to see file counts and dimensions right under each icon.
Stacks vs. just cleaning up
Two other quick tidiers pair well with Stacks. Clean Up (right-click > Clean Up) snaps icons to an invisible grid once. Clean Up By sorts them by kind or date once. Stacks is the ongoing version — new files that land on the desktop automatically drop into the right pile. Turn on Stacks and you rarely need the others again.
A desktop that stays clean on its own
The winning setup for most people: turn on Stacks, group by Kind, and set Sort By > Date Added inside each stack so the newest file in every group is on top. Add a Hot Corner or two for even faster housekeeping and your desktop basically maintains itself.
Stacks works on every Mac running macOS Mojave or later, which covers every Apple-silicon Mac we sell. If your current Mac is old enough that it can't run a modern macOS — or it's just slow and cluttered beyond what Stacks can fix — an M1 MacBook Air starts at $450 and a Mac mini at $599 in our Apple clearance lineup, each fully tested with a one-year warranty.
FAQ
Does turning on Stacks move or delete my files? No. Stacks only changes how the desktop displays your files. Turn it off and everything returns to its exact original spot.
Why is Stacks grayed out? You likely have a folder or window in focus instead of the desktop. Click an empty area of the desktop first, then the View menu's Use Stacks becomes available.
Can I have different stacks on different Spaces? Stacks is a desktop-wide setting, so it applies across your Spaces and desktops the same way.
Do Stacks work on external monitors? Yes — files on any display's desktop get grouped the same way.
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