Mac window management: Take charge with these great apps

As a power user, I find Mac window management clunky and broken when using the options built into macOS. Switching between apps, and snapping apps into desired screen locations, should not be so frustrating.

So, I took matters into my own hands — streamlining how I snap, switch and manage windows to finally make macOS work for me, not against me.

Mac window management is broken

While Apple continues to make steady progress on Mac window management, macOS still lags behind Windows in this area. In macOS, you can snap windows to the left or right of the display, move them to another display, etc., but each movement requires long-pressing the Maximize button on a window’s title bar.

That’s not the most efficient way to manage windows on Mac, especially if you need to use the option multiple times a day. And while macOS’ Mission Control and Exposé prove useful, they are not the fastest options to get things done.

This is why I rely on BetterSnapTool and rcmd for window management on my Mac. These two third-party options are among the most-used apps on my Mac. Together, they make window snapping and organizing a breeze.

Table of contents: How I supercharge window management on my Mac

Snapping app windows into zones

If you switch from a Windows PC, you’ll find macOS surprisingly limited when it comes to arranging windows. Windows 11’s Snap Layouts let you drag an app to the edge and choose from multiple layout presets. On Mac, unless you use third-party tools, snapping a window side by side feels clunky.

While working, I prefer having one window snapped to the left and another to the right of my primary display for a more efficient workflow. Instead of fiddling with my mouse to snap windows into place, I use BetterSnapTool (a paid app from German developer folivora.AI) and keyboard shortcuts for this.

I mapped the Shift + Cmd + 1 keyboard shortcut to automatically snap and reposition a window to the left half of the primary display. Likewise, I set up my Mac so that Shift + Cmd + 2 will snap another window to the right. This is great when I’m researching and need to have my browser and note-taking app open side-by-side. Similarly, when on video calls, I can snap the call window to the left while keeping my work document on the right — all with two keyboard shortcuts.

Focus on one window or move windows to another monitor

When I want to focus on a single window, I use Shift + Cmd + 3 to maximize it. I also mapped the ability to move windows to the next monitor to the Shift + Cmd + ` keyboard combo. I use these shortcuts multiple times a day, and collectively they save me a few minutes every day. More importantly, they reduce the unwanted friction that comes with the standard methods for moving and windows around on my Mac.

Due to RSI in my wrist, I prefer using a mouse over the MacBook’s excellent trackpad. If you are also a heavy trackpad user, I strongly recommend playing around with BetterTouchTool or Rectangle Pro (from developer Ryan Hanson) to speed up window management on your Mac. You can use gestures to snap, resize and reposition apps into places.

Also, I can replicate most of BetterSnapTool’s functionality with Raycast — one of my favorite productivity apps for Mac. But the latter misses out on customizable snap zones and menu bar button customization, which make BetterSnapTool more powerful for Mac window management.

Quickly quit open apps

macOS requires pressing Cmd + Q or clicking on the “Quit” option from the menu bar to close an app completely. That’s fine for occasional use, but when I’m wrapping up work with six or seven apps running, it becomes tedious fast.

To streamline this, I use BetterSnapTool to allow quitting an app by simply right-clicking on the red X window button — a move you’d typically use to just close a window. It’s a faster way to quit multiple apps quickly at the end of the day, saving me from repeatedly using the Cmd + Q shortcut.

Custom snap zones using BetterSnapTool

I use Telegram and WhatsApp for communicating with my friends and workmates. As a result, I need these apps always open and visible on my Mac’s display when working. However, I don’t want to give them too much screen real estate. So, I place them on the bottom right quarter of my secondary monitor. This way, they are always visible while not distracting me from other, more urgent work.

Instead of manually resizing and moving Telegram and WhatsApp to the desired location every day, I created custom snap areas in BetterSnapTool. This way, I can quickly move these apps to my desired location with just the flick of a mouse.

By default, custom snap areas will show every time you drag a window. But since I want to use them with certain apps, I use the Option key as a keyboard shortcut to trigger the snap area. Plus, I created a whitelist to ensure that the custom snap areas only appear for certain apps.

As you can see, BetterSnapTool packs a ton of functionality. Yet you can download this powerful app from the Mac App Store for only $1.99.

Alternative Mac window management apps

Alternatively, you can try other window management apps for Macs such as Magnet, Loop and Rectangle. Almost all of them provide similar functionality to BetterSnapTool.

Cycle through open apps

I previously used Alt-Tab to cycle through open apps on my Mac. As mentioned in Cult of Mac‘s best free Mac apps worth installing, it’s a better solution than Mac’s built-in app switcher. It mimics Windows-style switching using the Alt-Tab shortcut, making it a breeze to switch between open app windows.

Turns out, there’s an even better solution: rcmd, an app from developer The Low-Tech Guys. With it, instead of cycling through all open app windows on my Mac, I can directly switch to the app I want to focus on.

rcmd takes advantage of the Mac’s almost never-used right Command key for quickly switching between apps. With rcmd running, you simply press the right Command key + the first letter of an app’s name to instantly bring it to focus. This simple and effective idea works brilliantly in daily use to make Mac window management easier.

Thankfully, the shortcut trigger key is customizable — I’ve set it to the left Ctrl key since it’s easier for me to reach. So, using rcmd, I can bring up Slack on my Mac by pressing Ctrl + S. Likewise, I can instantly switch to WhatsApp or Finder by pressing Ctrl + W or Ctrl + F.

Quickly jump to the app you want to use

The best part? If multiple open apps share the same first letter, I can cycle through them by pressing that letter repeatedly. So, to cycle focus between Chrome and ChatGPT, I need to hold Ctrl and press C twice. Plus, to quickly hide all app windows and see the desktop, I use the Ctrl + – shortcut.

You can also create custom shortcuts by holding down Cmd + Option + and assigning it to the app currently in focus. If the app isn’t open, the shortcut will launch it; if it is, it will bring the app to the front.

rcmd is available as a one-time purchase for $12.99 on the Mac App Store. You can download a free trial from the developer’s website. (The trial version only works for a few hours, but you can quit the app and restart it to continue using it.)

More tips for Mac window management

Besides the above apps, I also recommend that you learn some hidden Mac keyboard shortcuts to directly jump to a folder in Finder, bring up Mission Control, put an app into full-screen mode, or open Exposé. They will further speed up your workflow.