After transitioning from a Windows PC to a Mac, you will first miss the Windows tiling and management. Apple has made it easier to manage your windows with the Windows tiling feature set to arrive in the macOS Sequoia as shown at the WWDC 2024. This feature allows you to position open windows in a desired layout. For Windows tiling and snapping on macOS, you can use third-party tools like Rectangle, Magnet, Moom, etc. However, that will change with the macOS Sequoia update, and those tools might have to offer a few extra goodies.
Before we begin, it’s important to remember that window tiling will work on most native apps from Apple. Not all third-party apps will work seamlessly. For example, a few keyboard shortcuts to arrange windows don’t work with Microsoft Edge. Initially, you may assume it is due to the macOS Sequoia beta build. But those keyboard shortcuts always existed while using Edge.
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Use Automatic Windows Tiling in macOS
Your Mac needs to run at least macOS Sequoia to use the new automatic Windows Tiling feature. We’ve been using a macOS Sequoia (developer beta 2) and didn’t face any major issues with the new Tiling feature. By default, the automatic tiling worked seamlessly and the Sequoia also offers options to arrange the windows.
Keyboard Shortcuts to Tile or Move a Window in Specific Direction
| Direction to Tile Windows | Keyboard Shortcut |
| Tile a window to the Left half | Function (fn) + Control (⌃) + Left Arrow (←) |
| Tile a window to the Right half | Function (fn) + Control (⌃) + Right Arrow (→) |
| Tile a window to the Upper half | Function (fn) + Control (⌃) + Up Arrow (↑) |
| Tile a window to the Bottom half | Function (fn) + Control (⌃) + Down Arrow (↓) |
| Return to the previous size | Function (fn) + Control (⌃) + R |
Moving a single active window is quicker with a keyboard shortcut. However, this only works for the active window. That means the other ones remain in the background and don’t readjust.
Use Windows Tiling to Arrange Up to Four Windows
When multiple app windows are open, it can be difficult to switch between them. The new windows tile management feature also lets you arrange the open windows in full screen, split screen, and other layout.
When you want to arrange two open windows on the desktop, you can achieve with the new keyboard shortcuts. In a way, it’s like a split view but faster and there’s no separating bar to adjust or resize those two windows.
Keyboard Shortcuts to Tile or Arrange Open Windows
| Tile Open Windows | Keyboard Shortcut |
| Left and Right | Function (fn) + Shift (⇧) + Control (⌃) + Left Arrow (←) |
| Right and Left | Function (fn) + Shift (⇧) + Control (⌃) + Right Arrow (→) |
| Top and Bottom | Function (fn) + Shift (⇧) + Control (⌃) + Up Arrow (↑) |
| Bottom and Top | Function (fn) + Shift (⇧) + Control (⌃) + Down Arrow (↓) |
| Return to the previous size | Function (fn) + Control (⌃) + R |
You can manage three or four open windows. In fact, if you tile and arrange four windows equally on the desktop, Apple calls it Quarters. However, if you want to tile three windows, one of them will cover half of the screen and rest two will split in the remaining half of the screen space.
For that, hover the mouse on the green light button in the top-left corner of any window. That’ll reveal a menu showing Fill & Arrange windows section. Choose the option to arrange three or four windows. Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut for choosing between three windows or Quarters (four windows) layout with window tiling feature.
Additional Settings for Windows Tiling
The Settings app in macOS Sequoia offers new options to tweak the window tiling experience on your Mac. By default, these options are turned off, and you’ll need to enable them.
Open the Settings app on your Mac, head to Display & Dock from the left sidebar, and scroll down to Windows section in the right pane. You can turn on the toggle for these three options:
- Tile by dragging windows to screen edges: When you drag any open window to screen edge (corners), it will show you a tiling outline and then you can leave the window to tile/snap it there.
- Hold the Option key while dragging window to tile: You can activate window tiling when you hold down the Option key on the keyboard while you drag an open window to tile.
- Tiled windows have margins: There will be a clearly visible margins bordering the tiled windows.
Finally, macOS Catches Up With Windows
After several years, macOS is finally catching up with window tiling management to please the existing and new Mac userse. Besides using it on the MacBooks, windows tiling feature will be helpful with large displays. The feature could use some additional customizations a keyboard shortcuts to arrange multiple windows, but you can always configure a custom one.
