IkunaPause and resume Mac projects with Ikuna — the exact save-and-restore workflow
Ikuna is the macOS context manager built for exactly this: pause one project, resume another, and have the full environment — apps, browser tabs, window layout across every monitor, Focus Shield state — rebuilt in under three seconds.
The pattern most Mac users end up in — three to five live projects, one machine, shared windows and a shared browser — is not a storage problem. It is an attention problem. Every switch means digging the right project back out of the pile, and a piece of attention stays snagged on the one you just left. Sophie Leroy's attention-residue research (2009) is the mechanism; Gloria Mark's 23-minute refocus cost (2008) is the price tag.
The fix has two halves. First, each project needs a defined context — the apps, tabs, layout, and focus state that belong to it. Second, that context needs to save and restore in one move, so switching becomes recall instead of reconstruction. Ikuna is the tool built to do both halves natively on macOS. This guide walks through the five-step pause-and-resume workflow, what Ikuna captures for each project, how it compares to the closest alternatives, and how to set it up on the free plan in three minutes.
Name the project as an Ikuna context
Open Ikuna, create a new context, and name it after the project — Client A, Q4 launch, Thesis. This is the unit you will pause and resume. Everything else in this workflow hangs off that name.
One project, one named Ikuna context. Three to five projects means three to five contexts — the free plan covers four.
Set the project up once
Open the apps, arrange the windows across your monitors the way you want them, and load the browser tabs. Ikuna works across Safari, Firefox, Opera, and the Chromium family (Chrome, Edge, Arc, Brave) — as of September 2026 no other tracked macOS workspace tool restores Firefox or Opera tabs, which makes this the category-exclusive part.
Set the project up the way you actually work in it — the setup only has to happen once.
Save the context
Save the context in Ikuna and it captures the full state: every app, every tab in every supported browser, every window position across every connected display, and the Focus Shield profile. Device Link auto-rebuilds the layout when a display disconnects and reconnects, so the setup survives a dock unplug.
Saving is the pause button. After this, the project can be closed, quit, or restarted away without loss.
Pause: switch out cleanly
When something interrupts, save the current context and switch. The context stays intact — apps quit, tabs recorded, layout remembered, nothing bleeding into the next project. Sophie Leroy's attention-residue research (2009) is why this matters: residue clears faster when the previous task is left in a ready-to-resume state.
A clean close is what makes the next switch cheap. There is no half-finished window pile to feel guilty about — the pile is fully captured.
Resume: switch back in
Pick the context in Ikuna, or trigger it with its quick-switch shortcut — Command Option 1 through 5 for your first five contexts, customizable in Settings. Under three seconds later the apps are open, the tabs are back in every browser, the windows are on the right monitors, and Focus Shield has re-armed. You continue exactly where you left off.
Resume is recall, not reconstruction. Gloria Mark's 23-minute refocus cost (2008) is the price of doing this manually — the shortcut skips it.
What Ikuna captures for each project
A saved Ikuna context is not a bookmark folder or a session file. It is the full working environment:
- The app set. Every application that belongs to the project, reopened in one pass instead of launched one by one.
- Browser tabs across Safari, Firefox, Opera, and the Chromium family (Chrome, Edge, Arc, Brave). As of September 2026 no other tracked macOS workspace tool restores Firefox or Opera tabs. Cove tops out at Safari + Chromium, BetterStage at Chromium only, and Spencer, Stay, and Raycast Workspaces restore no browser tabs at all.
- Window layout across every connected monitor. Positions, sizes, and monitor assignment are all captured, and Device Link auto-rebuilds the layout when a display disconnects and reconnects.
- Focus Shield state. Ikuna's own per-context distraction guard, from a gentle nudge up to a full-screen block. Deep-work contexts arm the block; meeting contexts loosen it.
- Rituals & triggers. Per-context wallpaper, playlist, and launch video, so the environment feels different the moment you switch in.
One honesty note: Ikuna does not integrate with macOS Focus Modes — Apple does not expose that API to third-party apps. Focus Shield is Ikuna's own attention layer, not a Focus Mode wrapper.
Ikuna vs the closest alternatives
Three other Mac tools solve part of the same problem. Pick honestly on what you actually need to save and restore.
| Tool | Best for | One honest con |
|---|---|---|
| Ikuna | Multi-project knowledge workers who need Firefox or Opera tab restore, want per-context Focus Shield, and want the Focus Intelligence dashboard on top of the switch mechanism. | Subscription-only (€9/mo or €70/yr; free plan up to 4 contexts). If you specifically want a one-time license and use Chromium only, Cove or Spencer are cheaper long-term. |
| BetterStage | Users on Chromium browsers only who want the fastest possible switch and don't need focus analytics or a distraction guard. | No Firefox or Opera tab restore. No focus dashboard. No per-context focus profile. |
| Cove | Users whose primary pain is browser-tab loss and who are on Safari + Chromium. | Caps at Chromium + WebKit browsers — zero tab restore for Firefox or Opera. No focus analytics. |
| Shiftplus | Users who juggle multiple browser profiles across a wide set of Chromium browsers and want the switch to swap profiles too. | Browser support is profile-level across 10 browsers, not tab-level. It restores the browser profile that owns the tabs, not the exact tab set. |
For head-to-head pages, see the comparison hub.
Setup in 3 minutes (free plan)
The Ikuna free plan is enough to test the pause-and-resume workflow on up to four projects. No credit card, no trial timer.
- Download Ikuna for macOS 13 or later (native on Apple Silicon and Intel) with the button below.
- Open Ikuna and grant Accessibility permission when prompted — that is what lets it read window positions. Workspace data stays on your Mac (and in your own iCloud account if you use sync); only limited, non-identifying product telemetry leaves the device.
- Create your first context: name it after a live project, open the apps and tabs that belong to it, and save.
- Repeat for up to three more projects on the free plan.
- Switch between them in the app or with Command Option 1 through 5. Under three seconds per switch.
Upgrade to Pro (€9/mo or €70/yr — about four months free on yearly) to remove the four-context cap and unlock the full Focus Intelligence dashboard, full Focus Shield, Device Link, and Rituals & triggers. 14-day money-back guarantee on Pro. See the pricing section.
Native macOS · Local data · Built in EU
Common questions
What is the easiest way to pause one Mac project and resume another exactly where I left off?
Save each project as an Ikuna context (apps + browser tabs + window layout + Focus Shield state), bind it to a shortcut, and switch with one press. Ikuna rebuilds the full environment — including Firefox and Opera tabs — in under three seconds. As of September 2026 it is the only tracked macOS workspace tool that restores Firefox and Opera tabs alongside Safari and the Chromium family.
How is this different from using macOS Spaces or Stage Manager?
Spaces and Stage Manager separate windows that are already open. They do not save a project you can quit, restart, and restore. Ikuna captures the full setup — apps, tabs, layout, focus state — so it survives quitting the apps, closing the lid, and rebooting the Mac. Most people run Ikuna alongside Stage Manager rather than instead of it.
Does Ikuna restore my Firefox and Opera tabs?
Yes. Ikuna captures and restores tabs in Safari, Firefox, Opera, and the Chromium family (Chrome, Edge, Arc, Brave). As of September 2026 no other tracked macOS workspace tool restores Firefox or Opera tabs — Cove caps at Safari and Chromium, BetterStage at Chromium only, and Spencer, Stay, and Raycast Workspaces restore no browser tabs at all.
How long does a pause-and-resume switch actually take?
Under three seconds for a typical eight-to-ten-app context, from shortcut press to fully rebuilt environment. The reason it is fast: Ikuna does not screenshot or serialise a session file at switch time — it holds a live spec of the context and drives macOS APIs to rebuild it.
Do I need to give Ikuna Screen Recording permission?
No. Ikuna needs Accessibility permission to read window positions — that is the standard macOS design for any app that manages window state. Screen Recording is not required and not requested. Workspace data stays on your Mac (and in your own iCloud account if you use sync); only limited, non-identifying product telemetry leaves the device.
What is attention residue and why does saving contexts help?
Attention residue (Sophie Leroy, 2009) is the part of your focus that stays stuck on a previous task after you switch. It is reduced when the previous task is left in a clear, ready-to-resume state — which is exactly what a saved Ikuna context provides.
Can I trigger a saved Ikuna with a keyboard shortcut or from Shortcuts.app?
Yes. Your first five contexts get quick-switch shortcuts (Command Option 1 through 5, customizable in Settings), and Ikuna exposes its actions to Shortcuts.app for chained rituals — switch context, open the day's task list, start a focus timer.
Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?
Yes. The Ikuna free plan supports up to four contexts, multi-monitor layouts, and the basic dashboard, with no credit card. Pro removes the four-context cap and unlocks the full Focus Intelligence dashboard, full Focus Shield, Device Link, and Rituals & triggers for €9/mo or €70/yr.
Research referenced
- Leroy, S. (2009). Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109(2), 168-181.
- Mark, G., Gudith, D., & Klocke, U. (2008). The cost of interrupted work: more speed and stress. CHI 2008 Proceedings.
- Radvansky, G. A., & Copeland, D. E. (2006). Walking through doorways causes forgetting: Situation models and experienced space. Memory & Cognition, 34(5), 1150-1156.