Back at WWDC 2018, Apple introduced its latest software for computers with macOS Mojave. This will be arriving on devices this Fall and includes a slew of new features, including Stacks. In this quick article, we will show you how you can stacks in macOS Mojave to organize your desktop.
Essentially, Stacks are a way for users to keep their desktops clean and organized. This will create piles of different types of documents.
For example, if you have a bunch of screenshots, documents, or other files, these will all be grouped automatically. There are a few different ways for users to customize these piles of files, which we will touch on a bit later.
How to use Stacks in macOS Mojave
Before being able to take advantage of this new feature, you will need to enable Stacks. Here are the steps to follow in order to enable them on your computer.
Open a Finder window
In the Menu Bar, tap View
Scroll down and check “Use Stacks”
As soon as you enable Stacks, your desktop will be transformed into organized chaos. Each stack will look like a literal stack of papers, but you can customize these and even scroll through them with ease.
Customize Stacks in macOS Mojave
Speaking of customization, Apple decided to really make lives easy for those with lots of items on their desktops. You can either sort individual Stacks by an array of options, or sort them by groups.
Sort Stacks By
Name
Kind
Date Last Opened
Date Added
Date Modified
Date Created
Group Stacks By
None
Date Last Opened
Date Added
Date Modified
Date Created
Tags
Interacting with these is pretty straightforward, as you only need to click on one in order to view its contents. If you want to see an overview of all of your stacks, you can do so by using “Option > Click”. This will expand all of the stacks, giving you an overview of exactly what is on your desktop.
Why Should You Use Stacks?
The plain and simple answer to the question posed is to better organize. If you are someone who hates folders and extensively uses the desktop for your files, Stacks will make your life easier.
This is especially true for those who want to begin implementing the use of Tags for various files. If you are interested in integrating Tags into your workflow, you can do so by following these steps:
Click the Stack you need
Find the file you want to tag
Right-click/Ctrl+click, or two-finger+click to bring up the context menu
Scroll down and tap “Tags”
From here, you can begin creating custom Tags that can then be assigned to your various files. Once the Tags have been created, you can opt to group stacks together by the created tags in the context menu.
Obviously, if you just have a couple of screenshots or blank documents, then you won’t want to use Tags with Stacks. However, if you use your desktop as the “catch-all”, then using this method will help to keep you organized.
Stacks Options Missing from my Menu
Many users have experienced this issue since upgrading to macOS Mojave. The issue is that you are not missing the Stacks functionality, but clicking on the View menu of an active Finder session. When you open up Finder, with the active finder window open, click on view, you will see this as opposed to Stacks options.
What you need to do is to close this window by clicking the ‘x’ icon as shown above. Once you close the active Finder session and then go to the top menu on your desktop and click on View, you will see the following:
We are hoping that the above two screenshots helps with clarifying the issue around getting to the Stacks option in macOS Mojave. Thanks to Lilly for her comment.
Conclusion
Stacks are just one way that macOS Mojave plans to make lives easier for Mac users. This is a rather unique, but useful way for you to keep all of your files clean and organized, even if you aren’t a fan of folders.
If you are running the macOS Mojave beta and have any questions, please let us know in the comments below. Additionally, if you happen to run into any issues when setting these up, let us know and we’ll be more than happy to assist in any way possible.
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
I don’t want to use Stacks because for me it doesn’t work as well as my own organizational method.
Is it possible to turn Stacks off after it has been turned on?
Lily, Stacks functionality is meant for organizing your desktop. In order to enable, open finder session and then close the finder active window. When you close the active finder window, you should see that your top menu will change to Finder File Edit View….etc. Now, choose View and you will see stacks. As long as the Finder window is open and active, you will not see stacks. Once you enable stacks, and you are on desktop you should be able to use it to organize your desktop. Most folks will click on Finder, keep the finder window open and then click on View at the top menu. Unfortunately this does not show the view options for desktop but shows the view options for finder. I know its weird!! the way they set it up. Give it a try !
I don’t want to use Stacks because for me it doesn’t work as well as my own organizational method.
Is it possible to turn Stacks off after it has been turned on?
Zoe, You can turn off Stacks from the Finder’s View menu at the top. Click on ‘Use Stacks’ again and it will toggle and deactivate it.
After turning on Stacks, it moves all of the folders to the far right and you can’t move them…
Is there a way to place the Stacks where I want them?
Thanks,
CE
Hi Chris,
Have you tried changing your Finder’s View > Sort By?
Sam
I installed Mojave today, but the finder does not have “stacks” under view.
/Users/mackenzie/Desktop/Screenshot 2018-10-24 at 17.14.46.png
Lily, Stacks functionality is meant for organizing your desktop. In order to enable, open finder session and then close the finder active window. When you close the active finder window, you should see that your top menu will change to Finder File Edit View….etc. Now, choose View and you will see stacks. As long as the Finder window is open and active, you will not see stacks. Once you enable stacks, and you are on desktop you should be able to use it to organize your desktop. Most folks will click on Finder, keep the finder window open and then click on View at the top menu. Unfortunately this does not show the view options for desktop but shows the view options for finder. I know its weird!! the way they set it up. Give it a try !
Please help.
Mojave 10.14.
Finder ‘use stacks’ is missing from the view menu. I
I want to put alias on the desktop
Right Click on the Desktop and you will find the option for ‘Use Stacks’ as well as ‘Group Stacks by..” Not sure about alias with stacks.