How to tile windows on a Mac
Macs can tile windows on their own since macOS Sequoia. Here are the shortcuts, the drag gestures, and what to use when halves aren't enough.
Updated
Tile with the keyboard
- Click the window you want to move. Tiling always acts on the window in front.
- Press fn⌃ and an arrow key. fn⌃← tiles it to the left half, fn⌃→ to the right half, fn⌃↑ to the top and fn⌃↓ to the bottom.
- Fill or centre it. fn⌃F fills the screen and fn⌃C centres the window. fn⌃R returns it to its previous size.
- Arrange two windows at once. Add Shift: fn⌃⇧← puts the front window on the left and the one behind it on the right.
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| fn ⌃ ← / fn ⌃ → | Left or right half |
| fn ⌃ ↑ / fn ⌃ ↓ | Top or bottom half |
| fn ⌃ F | Fill the screen (without going full screen) |
| fn ⌃ C | Centre |
| fn ⌃ R | Back to the previous size |
| fn ⌃ ⇧ ← | Front window left, the one behind it right |
| fn ⌃ ⌥ ⇧ ← | Front window left, three more in quarters on the right |
Quarters have no shortcut of their own, but they're in the menu: hold the pointer over the green button at the top left of a window, or use Window › Move & Resize in the menu bar.
Tile by dragging
- Drag a window to the left or right edge of the screen to fill that half.
- Drag it to a corner for a quarter.
- Drag it to the top edge to fill the screen.
- Hold ⌥ while dragging to see where it will land before you let go.
To change how this works, open System Settings › Desktop & Dock and look under Windows. You can switch off drag-to-tile, require Option, and remove the margins between tiled windows.
When built-in tiling isn't enough
Apple's tiling is a good start, but it stops at halves and quarters, it doesn't remember layouts, and it's the same on every screen. If you have a big or ultrawide monitor, you'll probably want:
- Thirds and two-thirds, so a window isn't stretched across half of a 34-inch screen.
- Press-again resizing: press the same shortcut twice to go from ½ to ⅔ to ⅓.
- Whole-screen layouts that place every window at once.
- Saved workspaces that bring your windows back, tabs included.
Kumiko does all of that. Hold ⌃⌥ and press an arrow (no fn needed), press it again to change the width, or press ⌃⌥ 1 to ⌃⌥ 6 for a whole layout. It also works on macOS 14, which has no built-in tiling. See how it compares in Kumiko vs macOS tiling.
Kumiko is €30 once for 2 Macs, and the first 25 launch licences are €9. It works on macOS 14 or later.
Questions
What is the keyboard shortcut to tile windows on a Mac?
On macOS 15 Sequoia and later, fn⌃ with an arrow key: ← and → for left and right halves, ↑ and ↓ for top and bottom. fn⌃F fills the screen and fn⌃C centres the window.
Why is window tiling not working on my Mac?
Check you are on macOS 15 or later, that the window is not in full screen, and that another app is not using the same shortcut. Dragging to tile can be switched off in System Settings › Desktop & Dock.
Can a Mac tile windows into thirds?
Not with the built-in tiling, which does halves and quarters. A window manager such as Kumiko or Rectangle adds thirds and two-thirds.
How do I stop windows tiling when I drag them?
Open System Settings › Desktop & Dock and turn off "Drag windows to screen edges to tile" (the exact wording varies by version). You can also hold Option while dragging to tile only when you want to.