Split screen on a Mac, the built-in way first

Split View or tiling

Choose Split View to focus on two apps with nothing else on screen. Choose tiling to keep your desktop, the Dock and other windows around.

Use Split View

1. Hold the pointer over the green button at the top left of a window.
2. Choose Full Screen → Left of Screen or Right of Screen.
3. On the other side, click the second window you want.

Drag the divider between the two windows to resize them; double-click it to go back to the original sizes. To swap sides, drag a window by its title bar to the other side. To leave, hold the pointer over the green button again and choose Move Window to Desktop.

Not every app supports Split View. To use it on a second display, turn on Displays have separate Spaces in System Settings → Desktop & Dock. Apple's steps are in Use apps in Split View on Mac.

Tile windows on your desktop

On macOS 15 or later you can tile windows without leaving the desktop:

• Drag a window to the left or right edge of the screen to fill that half, or to a corner for a quarter. You can also hold Option while dragging a window toward an edge.
• Drag a window to the menu bar to fill the screen.
• Use the menu: choose Window → Move & Resize, then a layout under Halves or Quarters, or Fill or Center.

On newer keyboards, Fn is the key with the globe. The full list is in Apple's window tiling icons and keyboard shortcuts.

To change how tiling behaves, open System Settings → Desktop & Dock and look under Windows: Drag windows to screen edges to tile, Drag windows to menu bar to fill screen, Hold ⌥ key while dragging windows to tile and Tiled windows have margins. Apple explains them in Change window tiling settings.

Stage Manager, briefly

Stage Manager isn't split screen. It keeps the app you're using in the middle and your recent apps in a strip at the side. You can drag apps into the middle to group them, then arrange those windows yourself. Turn it on in Control Center. See Organize your Mac desktop with Stage Manager.

Split the screen into thirds

macOS tiling has halves and quarters, but no thirds. On a wide monitor, thirds are often more useful. Some window managers include them as ready-made commands: Magnet and the free Rectangle both document thirds, as listed on their websites on 3 November 2026.

In Universal Display Magnet, a third is a custom size you draw once. It isn't a built-in command:

1. Open Window Snapping and click + to add a command with your own size and position.
2. Under Intended window size and position, set Columns: 3 and Rows: 1.
3. Drag across one cell for a third, or two cells for two thirds.
4. Name the command, record a Keyboard shortcut, and turn on Show in the menu bar menu if you want it there.

Repeat for each third you use.

When an app is worth it

The built-in tools are enough if you work with a few windows on one screen and have macOS 15 or later. A window manager adds value when you want:

• Sizes macOS doesn't have, such as thirds or a centered two thirds.
• One shortcut to send a window to the next display.
• Tiling on macOS 14, which has no built-in tiling.
• Your whole layout back after you reconnect a monitor, not just one window at a time.

Universal Display Magnet's window snapping covers halves, quarters, maximize, center, restore and the next or previous display, on Magnet's default shortcuts (⌃⌥ with the arrow keys, for example). You can drag a window to an edge, draw your own sizes, and see a warning when another app already uses a shortcut. It is independent software, not made by Magnet's developer. It also arranges your displays and saves workspaces, for $9.99 as a one-time purchase. Snapping pauses while its optional Scrolling Windows is on.

If snapping is all you need, Magnet and Rectangle are good choices. Compare them with Universal Display Magnet vs Magnet and Universal Display Magnet vs Rectangle. Every default shortcut is on the shortcuts page.