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How to Snap Windows: One of the things that Mac users miss the most is window snapping, which lets you move a window to the edge of the screen and have it “snap” into place. We’d have to use third-party solutions until Apple makes up its mind. Let’s look at how to snap windows on macOS, just like we do on Windows.
But there has always been one big problem I’ve had with the MacOS user interface, and that’s the sad attempt it makes at window snapping. Window snapping isn’t very useful right out of the box, and it’s also hard to use. So, I set out to find a way to not only make it easier, but also give MacOS real window snapping.
How to Snap Windows on Windows
- Select the window you’d like to move and make sure it’s the current focus.
- Hold the Windows key on your keyboard and tap the left arrow to snap it to the left half of the screen, or right arrow for right half.
- Holding the Windows key and tapping the opposite arrow once will bring the window back to its previous position, while tapping it a second time will swap it to the opposite half.
- You can also tap Windows + up arrow to maximize, and Windows + down arrow to minimize any active window.
Steps to Snap Windows On Mac
- Place your cursor over the green button located at the top-left of the window you want to resize/move.
- Either click and hold, or hover over the button without clicking for a few seconds.
- You’ll be presented with choices to snap fit the window to the left half or right half of the display. Click on whichever you’d prefer.
- Click on the other open windows that appear within whichever half you did not choose to have that window fill the remaining half of the screen.
- To restore either window, bring your cursor to the top of the screen and wait for the three buttons at the top left of it to appear. Once present, you can click on the green button once again to restore the window to its previous state.
What is window snapping?
Window snapping makes it possible for you to drag a window to the edge of your display (right, left, top, or bottom) and the window will automatically snap to that edge so it only takes up a certain area of the display. For example:
- Drag a window to the right edge and it will automatically take up the right half of the display.
- Drag a window to the left edge and it will automatically take up the left half of the display.
- Drag a window to the top edge and it will automatically take up the full display.
FAQs
Press Windows Logo Key + Arrow to Snap the app you are on: Use Left Arrow to position the app on the left side of your screen, use Right Arrow to position the app on the right side of your screen, or use the Up Arrow to position the app on the upper side of your screen.
This is your cue to let go of your mouse button. To Snap windows to a side or corner via keyboard: Select the window you’d like to move and make sure it’s the current focus. Hold the Windows key on your keyboard and tap the left arrow to snap it to the left half of the screen, or right arrow for right half.
Connect your Mac to the Windows computer using a standard Ethernet cable. If your Mac doesn’t have an Ethernet port, try using a USB-to-Ethernet adapter. Connecting the two computers creates a small local network that consists of just the two computers. On the Windows computer, turn on file sharing.