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OSXProductivity

What is the best window manager for Mac?

34

Options
Considered

705

User
Recs.

Feb 20, 2020

Last
Updated

Window managers help manipulate application windows in order to increase productivity.

A good window manager for Mac will allow moving, resizing and rearranging application windows quickly. It will allow customizing how windows are handled, have keyboard shortcuts for performing window manipulations quickly and allow snapping windows to various locations on the desktop with the mouse.

Here’s the Deal

The Best 2 of 34 OptionsWhy?

Best window manager for Mac	Price	Type	License
93 Moom	$9.99	-	-
90 Slate	Free	-	-
88 ShiftIt	Free	-	-
85 Divvy	$13.99	-	-
83 Spectacle	Free	-	-

Moom

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Top Pro

Customizable keyboard shortucts

Moom comes with many preset keyboard shortcuts. The user can go into the graphical settings of the app and change any one of them to a different combination of keys. See More

Top Con

UI for settings can be confusing

The settings for the app are pretty jumbled and are hard to get a grip of, especially for first time users. While all the settings one would need are there, they are difficult to find or understand, which requires a good bit of playing around with the settings in order to get a feel for them and what they offer. See More

Top Pro

You can save tiling window position and size

Users can set window position and size themselves, allowing for a great way to set up a tiling window experience. See More

Top Con

Not free

Moom is not free: it costs $9.99. See More

Top Pro

Windows can be snapped to the edges of the screen

In addition to using the grid or the overlay, Moom can move and zoom windows by dragging them to screen edges. See More

Top Con

Two steps needed, while some tools only need one

Top Pro

Simple customization

While you can set keyboard shortcuts, Moom has a very easy-to-use GUI and GUI-based customization features to help you get going right away. See More

Top Pro

Adds a zoom button for all apps

Moom adds an overlay zoom button to the corner of all apps which allows any app to go full screen or be placed to certain sections of the screen (such as the top, bottom, or sides). This works even on apps that do not normally allow for full screen views. See More

Top Pro

Multi-monitor support

Moom has excellent support for multi-monitor setups. You can drag a window to the edge of your screen into another monitor and snap it there. See More

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Slate

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Top Pro

Extremely configurable

Slate is similar to Linux WMs like Xmonad in that it is nearly infinitely configurable. You can either use the default configuration file or just Javascript for very complex/dynamic settings. Slate also offers editing a ".js" or a ".slate" file for configuration. See More

Top Con

Project maintainance is on pause

The developer is currently taking a pause to focus on other things as of December 2015. See More

Top Pro

It's free

Slate is completely free to download and use, which is a great option in a field of Mac WMs that often costs money to use. See More

Top Con

Hard to configure

There's no graphical user interface for configuring Slate, meaning it has to be done from the command line interface or by editing a config file. This makes it somewhat difficult and time-consuming. See More

Top Pro

Lets you set default layouts

By using a feature called "snapshots", users can set up different default window layouts in Slate that they can switch to and from on the fly. See More

Top Con

Missing features

Unable to perform all tasks of software it was meant to replace. Can not move windows between 'Spaces' (virtual desktops). See More

Top Pro

Allows for tiling

Slate allows for customizing the config file in order to emulate tiling windows. See More

Top Con

Video fail

Demonstration video failed to highlight any of the advantages of the windowing system. Or at least, the advantages were so subtly intrinsic that no-one who didn't already use the system could appreciate them. See More

Top Pro

Window hints

Slate offers window hints which are an intuitive way to change window focus. See More

Top Pro

Based on hotkeys

Hotkeys can be set to re-size and focus windows, as well as activate layout presets. See More

32 Other Options Considered

ShiftIt

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Top Pro

Easy to configure

ShiftIt is configured through a simple UI where you simply press the hotkeys you wish to map to a certain action. See More

Top Con

A little slow

Similar to Spectacle, but it has a few more features, such as being able to pick the size adjustment increments. Spectacle was a little faster, though. Repeated size changes or moves in succession can cause it to wait for it to complete. See More

Eric Link's Experience

Use daily See More

Top Pro

Free

Top Con

Imprecise when readjusting sizes

Top Pro

Open source

Top Con

Doesn't support moving windows between workspaces

There's no way to move a window to a different workspace with hotkeys in ShiftIt. See More

Top Pro

Intuitive

ShiftIt is very straight-forward to use for most frequent usages. See More

Divvy

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Top Pro

Requires no configuration and is very easy to use

The user simply needs to install Divvy and they can immediately start organizing their windows with no setup time or learning curve involved. See More

Top Con

Missing snap to borders

There is no way to snap to border as in Windows, though there is a way to set keyboard shortcuts to throw windows to the sides or top/bottom of the screen. See More

Top Pro

Reasonably configurable

You can change the grid dimensions and other visual settings to suit your needs. See More

Top Con

Expensive at $13.99

Divvy is one of the more (if not most) expensive window managers. See More

Top Pro

Offers keyboard shortcuts

Although it's not in the same league as the likes of Slate, Divvy does support the use of keyboard shortcuts to move windows about. You can even create custom shortcuts. See More

Top Pro

Multi-monitor support

Top Pro

Unlimited free trial

Divvy provides a free trial that never runs out (however, it will encourage you to upgrade with popups). See More

Top Pro

Has keyboard shortcuts

Although it's not in the same level as something like bug.n, Divvy does support the use of keyboard shortcuts to move windows about. You can even create custom shortcuts. See More

Spectacle

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Top Pro

Free and open source

Spectacle is licensed under MIT with source code available on GitHub. See More

Top Con

Impossible to add new functions

While keyboard shortcuts can be changed for the available actions, there is no way to add custom actions which in turn limits the functionality of the app. See More

Top Pro

Low footprint

Spectacle only uses up 18-19 MB of RAM, which means there is not much overhead by using this app. See More

Top Con

Breaks on macOS High Sierra / Chrome or Firefox

Doesn't support side by side windows. See More

Top Pro

Simple hotkeys

Spectacle offers easy-to-remember preset hotkeys. See More

Top Con

Limited window sizing capabilities

You can use 1/2 of the screen vertically and horizontally (divide into 4 parts). You can also use the screen in thirds too, but only the left and right third: you can't use the 1/3 in the center. There is no way to do a more granular distribution. See More

Top Pro

Mouseless

All windows in Spectacle can be controlled with keyboard shortcuts, so no mouse is needed. This makes for a fast way to control windows. See More

Top Con

Not maintained

The software is free, but no longer seems to be maintained. See More

Top Pro

Great UX

Spectacle is easy to use and configure. It's plug and play. See More

Top Con

Doesn't work with any Adobe products

There are some apps like Adobe Reader that do not work with Spectacle. Basically, any app with a heavily customized UI that breaks OS X accessibility will not work correctly under Spectacle. See More

Top Pro

Multi-monitor support

Magnet

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Top Pro

Intuitive handling

Just drag the window to one of the sides of the screen and it snaps there. This is especially useful for those who can't be bothered remembering the shortcuts. See More

Top Con

Cannot setup custom sizes and window positions

Unfortunately, you can only move windows to preset positions. See More

FriendlyPhaethon's Experience

breaks pinch zoom See More

Top Pro

Cheap

At $0.99, it is not that expensive. See More

Top Con

Can't hide the menu bar icon

It would've been nice to be able to hide the icon so it doesn't clutter the menu bar. See More

Mat Rhein's Experience

I tried several other options but use Magnet now for its unobtrusive simplicity. Since I don't have any custom splits I use regularly, this is my go-to solution. See More

Top Pro

Mouse controllable

Supports dragging a window along the edges of the screen to activate. See More

Top Con

Can only be purchased from the App Store

Magnet is only available in App Store. See More

Top Pro

Keyboard centric

Easy to learn keyboard shortcuts. See More

Top Con

Interference when switching between folders

Default Folder-X app "warns" that Magnet App may interfere with it's ability to switch between folders in Open and Save dialogue boxes. See More

Top Pro

It's often on sale

For example, at the writing of this pro it's currently at $1. See More

Top Con

Causes cursor bugs in IntelliJ IDEs

Unfortunately, Magnet causes the caret to bounce around in IntelliJ IDEs, this is very annoying. See More

Top Pro

Up to six external displays supported

Amethyst

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Top Pro

It's free and open-source

Amethyst is published under the MIT license making it open-source and id offered completely free. This allows anyone to give the tiling window manger a try, which is great. See More

Top Con

There are more user friendly window managers available

There are certainly more user friendly window managers available for MacOS, such as Divvy or Moom. Amethyst, however, is more powerful and customizable than the more user friendly options available and therefore may be a better choice for a user looking for more advanced capabilities and customization. See More

Top Pro

Recently updated and rewritten in Swift.

The application was written in Objective-C, but was recently updated and completely rewritten in Apple's new native language Swift. See More

Top Pro

True tiling means never losing track of windows under a huge pile of others

Top Pro

Works with keyboard shortcuts, no mouse needed

As it's designed to work closely to how xmonad, Amethyst uses keyboard shortcuts to control the windows being used, meaning no mouse input is necessary. This can make for a faster way to control windows. See More

Top Pro

Multi-monitor suppport

Top Pro

Under active development

Top Pro

Can switch between tiling and floating mode

Top Pro

Has Many common layouts to choose from (fullscreen, floating, row, column, wide, etc)

VEEER

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Top Pro

Various features regarding window control ❤️

It doesn't only allow the alignment of windows, it also lets you drag windows and close & maximize windows using customizable keys. See More

Dave's Experience

Great product that worked first time. Drag and drop windows, easy keyboard shortcuts, an actual opening tutorial that makes sense too. Nice. See More

Top Pro

VEEER allows me to drag, minimize, maximize and center Windows using mouseclicks

Additional features that really saves time when working! See More

PatientTaneRore's Experience

Best window manager for designers like me - allows superfast window switching and ramps up your overall workflow speed! See More

Top Pro

It's free and actually works unlike half the others on this page

Mar Zumaya's Experience

I love it. Managing my windows is easier and faster than ever before. I highly recommend it. ✨✨ See More

SizeUp

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Top Pro

Supports multiple monitors / spaces

Windows can be sent to different monitors and spaces. It can also be aligned as needed. See More

Top Con

Nag window

If a license is not purchased there is a nag window (which suspends function) that pops up when loading the app (at user login). The nag pop-up is also summoned at certain time intervals and by performing a certain number of commands (manually or by keyboard shortcut). See More

SpiritedEuporie's Experience

Free, easy to use, keyboard shortcuts, works fine. See More

Top Pro

Keyboard centric

SizeUp has user-configurable keyboard shortcuts for a set of pre-defined actions. See More

Top Con

No on-the-fly split screen window settings

Unlike some other tiling window managers, SizeUp has no way to change the size of split screen actions on-the-fly. Any time a user wants to change how much room on the screen a window takes up when using the split screen function, they will need to manually change the settings, which can be time consuming. See More

Top Pro

Menubar dropdown for shortcuts

Learning a bunch of keyboard shortcuts right off the bat may be difficult to remember at first, which is why a menubar shortcut for the app exists with all the shortcuts listed. See More

Top Pro

Simple

SizeUp is easy and simple to use without having to configure. See More

Top Pro

AppleScript support allows extending functionality

AppleScript permits adding features such as tiling all open windows. Additionally, FastScripts it allows the user to add keyboard shortcuts to AppleScripts. See More

Hyperdock

Top Con

No more free on app store

Paid on app store and no more access. See More

Top Pro

Snaps to corners

Top Con

Does not work on High Sierra

Top Pro

Scroll up/down to change size

Simply scroll up or down on the menu bar to make size alterations. See More

Top Con

Not under active development

Hyperdock doesn't seem to be under active development and hasn't been updated since october 2014. See More

Top Pro

Lets you easily find a window you have open

Top Pro

Select individual application

Select individual application windows just by moving the mouse on a dock item. The user can also use mouse clicks to quickly open new windows and many more. See More

Top Pro

Lots of small improvements to the dock

Hyperdock adds a lot of small improvements to the default Mac dock, like better iTunes controls and calendar event previews. See More

XMonad

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Top Con

macOS is not the primary target platform

For a macOS-specific XMonad, see osxmonad (https://www.slant.co/topics/526/viewpoints/7/~best-window-manager-for-mac~osxmonad). The instructions primarily target Linux. There are specific macOS instructions but as of 2018-02 they have not been updated since 2014-11. These instructions note that "XMonad cannot manage Aqua windows ... Neither XMonad nor any other X11 window manager will ever be able to manage native windows". See More

Top Pro

Highly configurable

If you enjoy programming, you can even add features to XMonad to make it your perfect desktop environment, and the Contrib modules give you most of what you need to do exactly that. See More

Specs

Type:Tiling / Dynamic

License:Modified BSD (3-Clause)

Programming Language:Haskell

Initial Release:March 6, 2007

Top Con

Requires knowledge of Haskell for configuration

Understanding of Haskell is required in order to configure XMonad. See More

Top Pro

Absolutely minimal

The entire window manager is extremely small, and includes nothing beyond basic window manipulation and tiling. Out of the box, there are no window decorations, status bar nor icon dock; just clean lines and efficiency. See More

Top Con

Steep learning curve for uninitiated users

Like a lot of tiling window managers, the learning curve for XMonad is quite steep. See More

DoublePane

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Top Pro

Simple and cheap

DoublePane is a low cost solution for basic window snapping similar to that on Windows7. See More

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