How to snap windows on Mac (Sequoia tiling guide)

For years, snapping windows to halves or corners on Mac required a third-party app like Magnet or Rectangle. macOS Sequoia (15) changed that — there's now built-in window tiling with drag-to-edge snapping, keyboard shortcuts, and a Window menu. Here's everything it can do.

macOS Sequoia window tiling vs Split View

These are two different things and it's worth being clear about the distinction. Split View (available since El Capitan) takes two windows full-screen in a shared Space — you lose access to the rest of your desktop until you exit. Sequoia window tiling (macOS 15+) is more like what Windows has done for a decade: windows snap to positions on your current desktop without going full-screen. Other apps and the Dock remain visible and accessible.

If you're on macOS 14 (Sonoma) or earlier, the Sequoia tiling features below aren't available. Use Split View or a third-party tiling app instead.

Drag-to-edge snapping

The most natural way to snap a window is to drag it to the edge of your screen:

• Left or right edge — snaps the window to the left or right half of the display.
• Top edge (centre) — maximises the window to fill the screen without entering full-screen mode.
• Top-left or top-right corner — snaps the window to a quarter of the screen.

A translucent preview shows you where the window will land before you release. If macOS isn't showing the preview, make sure you're dragging firmly enough — it needs a moment near the edge to trigger. You can also enable or disable this behaviour in System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Windows.

Keyboard shortcuts (Globe + Arrow)

If you prefer not to lift your hands from the keyboard, macOS Sequoia adds tiling shortcuts using the Globe key (also labelled fn on some keyboards):

• Globe + Left Arrow — tile to the left half
• Globe + Right Arrow — tile to the right half
• Globe + Up Arrow — maximise (fill the screen)
• Globe + Down Arrow — return to the previous window size

These work on the frontmost window without any clicking. Press the shortcut again while already tiled to cycle through different size options — halves, thirds, and centre layouts.

The green button hover menu

In Sequoia, hovering over the green traffic-light button shows an expanded tile menu with more layout options than just left/right halves. Hold your pointer over the green button (don't click) and you'll see:

• Tile to left half, right half, top half, bottom half
• Tile to each of the four corners (quarter screen)
• Centre the window
• Fill the screen
• Enter Split View (the traditional full-screen pair)

Holding Option while hovering changes some of these to proportional layout options.

Window menu → Move & Resize

Every app's menu bar in Sequoia has a Window menu. Inside it, Move & Resize gives you the full set of tiling positions as menu items — useful if you'd rather navigate menus than remember keyboard shortcuts. The submenu lists Left, Right, Top, Bottom, all four corners, Centre, and Fill.

Tiling a second window alongside the first

After you snap one window to the left half, macOS shows a subtle prompt on the right side of the screen listing other open windows. Click one to tile it on the right. Unlike Split View, this doesn't lock you into a full-screen Space — both windows remain on your normal desktop and you can still access anything behind them.

Resizing tiled windows

When two windows are tiled side by side, a divider appears between them. Drag it left or right to adjust the split. The windows stay tiled — they don't revert to floating when you resize them this way. To un-tile a window, just drag its title bar away from its position, and it returns to a normal floating window.

On macOS 14 (Sonoma) and earlier

None of the Sequoia-specific gestures and shortcuts above apply on older macOS. Your options are Split View (hover the green button) or a third-party window manager. Rectangle is free and open-source; Magnet and Moom are both well-regarded paid options.