Can Apple Shortcuts auto-arrange windows before a meeting?

Only partly. Shortcuts can open apps on a schedule, but macOS gives it no reliable way to position and size other apps' windows, and it can't watch your calendar for the next event with a video link. You end up with the right apps open in the wrong places.

How do calendar-triggered window layouts work on a Mac?

They key off a qualifying event rather than a fixed time, so if the meeting moves, the staging moves with it. Workflo checks each upcoming event's title, location, notes, and URL for a video link, so a block with no call attached never fires one. You set how many minutes ahead the Scene applies when you create the trigger, and calendar access is only requested if you create one; without a calendar trigger, Workflo never asks for it.

Does this work with Zoom, Meet, and Teams?

The calendar Trigger fires for events that carry a video link, whichever service issued it. The Scene it applies is yours — whatever call app, browser, and notes setup you designed.

How much does Workflo cost?

$19.99, one time. 7-day free trial, no subscription, no account.

Does my window layout leave my Mac?

No. Layouts, Scenes, and rules are stored as plain JSON on your Mac, and your window layouts never leave it. The app does reach the network to check for updates, handle your licence, and send anonymous usage analytics you can switch off in Settings. Details in the privacy policy and FAQ.

Auto-Arrange Windows Before Meetings on a Mac

What you're actually automating

The pre-meeting scramble is always the same minute: find the browser tab or call app, drag it to the right display, pull up the notes doc, hide the code editor with yesterday's work all over it. Do it four times a day and it stops being a minute — it becomes a tax on every context switch.

Workflo's Scenes view with a Client Call scene, showing Notes, Zoom, PowerPoint and Freeform marked to open when the scene is applied — A Scene names the apps as well as the layout. The ones marked “opens on apply” are not running yet.

The manual routes, honestly

Apple Shortcuts / AppleScript. Shortcuts can open apps on a schedule, but macOS gives it no reliable way to position and size other apps' windows — and it can't watch your calendar for the next event with a video link. You get the right apps in the wrong places, at a fixed time rather than before your actual meeting.
Snapping tools (Rectangle, Magnet). They make the arranging faster once you start it. The noticing, deciding, and pressing are still yours, still at 10:59.
Saved layouts (Moom). One hotkey recalls a meeting layout you saved earlier — closer, but you still have to remember to fire it, and the snapshot goes stale as your setup evolves. The full field of these tools is compared in save & restore window layouts on Mac.

The automated route: calendar-triggered layouts

The durable version inverts the direction: instead of you reacting to the clock, a tool watches the calendar and prepares the workspace ahead of the event. That's exactly what Workflo's calendar Trigger does — when an event with a video link approaches, it applies the Scene you've assigned: the call app, notes, and agenda open and placed, everything else hidden, before the meeting starts. A cancelable countdown runs first, so an unwanted trigger never yanks your workspace away.

The same mechanism covers the rest of the day: a time Trigger stages your focus-block Scene at 9:00, and Desks put everything back when you dock or undock. Workflo isn't a faster way to arrange windows — it's the end of arranging them as a task.

Setting it up in Workflo

Design the Scene. In Scene Studio, lay out the meeting workspace — drag ghost boxes for apps even if they aren't running; "open missing apps" launches them on apply.
Add a calendar Trigger. Point it at your calendar; it fires for events with video links. Calendar access is only requested when you create this trigger.
Let it run. Before each call, the Scene applies on its own. After, one hotkey brings your working layout back.