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Updated in Guides

How to split your Mac screen into three or four windows

Full-screen Split View stops at two. The Mac can do more without anything extra — halves, quarters, one big window beside two small ones — and a free app goes further still. Pick a layout below to see which way gets you there.

By the Tabula teamMakers of the spatial browser
  • Full-screen Split ViewBuilt into macOSSplit View holds exactly two windows.
  • macOS window tilingBuilt in, macOS 15 and laterWith three windows open, press Fn-Control-Option-Shift-Left Arrow — Window › Move & Resize › Left & Quarters.
  • RectangleFree appLeft Half for the first window, then Top Right and Bottom Right.
  • TabulaWebsites onlyOne large tile on the left, two stacked beside it.

At a glance

MethodWindowsThirdsCost
macOS window tiling4NoBuilt in, macOS 15 and later
Rectangle6 to 8YesFree
Full-screen Split View2NoBuilt in
TabulaNo fixed limitAny sizeFree, websites only

01

macOS window tilingThree or four windows, built in

Since macOS Sequoia, windows snap into place by themselves:

  1. Four: drag each window into a corner of the screen until an outline appears, and let go.
  2. One big, two small: open three windows, click the one you want large, and press Fn-Control-Option-Shift-Left Arrow — the same as Window › Move & Resize › Left & Quarters. Right, Top and Bottom versions use the other arrows.
  3. Two: Fn-Control-Shift-Left Arrow puts the front two windows side by side.

Two settings in System Settings › Desktop & Dock are worth knowing. Turn off “Tiled windows have margins” and tiled windows sit edge to edge, with no gaps. Turn on “Hold Option key while dragging windows to tile” if windows keep snapping when you only meant to move them.

Good
  • Nothing to install
  • Works with every app
  • Shortcuts for the common layouts
Falls short
  • No thirds — halves and quarters only
  • Needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later
  • Forgets the layout when the windows close

02

RectangleThirds and sixths, free

When quarters aren’t the shape you need, the free, open-source app Rectangle adds the rest. It lives in the menu bar: pick First Third, Center Third and Last Third for three equal columns, or the Sixths for a grid of six. Every command has a keyboard shortcut, listed next to it in the menu, and pressing a shortcut again cycles the window through sizes. A paid Pro version adds custom layouts and saved workspaces.

Good
  • Halves, thirds, quarters, sixths and eighths
  • Free and open source
  • Repeat a shortcut to cycle sizes
Falls short
  • One more app in the menu bar
  • Saving whole layouts takes the paid Pro version

03

Full-screen Split ViewExactly two, nothing else on screen

Split View is what most people try first, and it’s why “split screen” on a Mac sounds like it means two. Hold the pointer over the green button in a window’s corner, choose Full Screen Tile › Left of Screen, then click the window for the other side. It’s the best way to give two apps the whole display — and the wrong tool for three.

Good
  • Uses the entire display
  • Hides the menu bar and Dock
  • Built into every recent macOS
Falls short
  • Two windows, never more
  • Swapping one side out is fiddly

04

TabulaFor websites: as many as you need

Count the windows you want side by side, and most of them are probably web apps: mail, a doc, Slack, a dashboard, Figma. Tabula puts every site on one infinite canvas as a live tile you place and size yourself — three columns, a big one and five small ones, anything — and zooms out when you want the whole picture. It remembers the arrangement, so it’s there tomorrow. It can’t arrange Finder or Xcode; for those, tile. What a spatial browser is.

Good
  • No fixed number of windows
  • One toolbar, not one per window
  • Keeps every arrangement between launches
Falls short
  • Websites and web apps only, not Mac apps
  • A new browser to learn
  • Many live tiles use more memory

Which one to use

Start with what’s built in. If halves and quarters fit the way you work, macOS tiling is all you need, and the keyboard shortcuts make it quick. If you want thirds — the most common reason people go looking — install Rectangle. If the windows are mostly websites and you keep rebuilding the same arrangement every morning, that’s the job Tabula does.

Only need websites, not apps, for a quick comparison? The multi-site viewer puts up to six in one tab, free. And every way to see several websites at once on a Mac covers the browser side in more depth.

Questions

Can you split a Mac screen into three?
Yes, two ways. macOS tiling does one half plus two quarters: open three windows and press Fn-Control-Option-Shift-Left Arrow. For three equal columns you need an app — the free Rectangle has First, Center and Last Third. Split View can’t: it holds two windows only.
How do I split my Mac screen into four?
Drag each window into a different corner of the screen until an outline appears, and let go. Or, with four windows open, choose Window › Move & Resize › Quarters. This needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
What is the keyboard shortcut for split screen on a Mac?
Fn-Control-Left Arrow and Fn-Control-Right Arrow tile the front window to that half of the screen. Fn-Control-Shift-Left Arrow arranges the front two windows side by side in one go.
Why doesn’t dragging a window to the edge tile it?
Check System Settings › Desktop & Dock: “Drag windows to screen edges to tile” must be on, and if “Hold Option key while dragging windows to tile” is on, you need to hold Option as you drag. Tiling also needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
Does it work on an external display?
Yes. Each display tiles on its own, so two screens give you two sets of halves and quarters.