How To Split And Align Windows With Keyboard Shortcuts On macOS
Windows does one thing exceptionally well; windows managements. The OS has some great keyboard shortcuts that allow you to snap and align windows to any side of the screen. They work with multiple monitors. macOS doesn’t have anything like that and users of the OS are always looking for a way to replicate window snapping from Windows on to macOS. Veeer is a free macOS app that does a reasonably good job of replicating the feature. You can use it to split and align windows with keyboard shortcuts on macOS.
Install Veeer and run it. The app requires special user access so first, open the Settings app and go to Security & Privacy, and go to the Privacy tab. Enable Accessibility access for Veer here. You might need to enter your user or admin password to allow user access.
Veeer adds a downward arrow button to the menu bar to show that it’s running. When you split and align windows with keyboard shortcuts, you need to hold down one of the modifier keys i.e. Command, Shift, or Control and tap the arrow keys on your keyboard. Veeer lets you choose which modifier keys, on the left, should be used to align windows. You can enable or disable whichever ones you don’t want to use. Go to the app’s preferences to set the modifier keys.
In addition to splitting and aligning windows, Veeer can also maximize and center an app window with a double-click. This of course requires you to use a mouse or trackpad. It also lets you reopen the last window you closed with the Q, E, or C key. Again, it’s up to you to decide which key to use.
Since some Apple Bluetooth keyboards don’t have dedicated arrow keys, Veeer also works with the WASD keys. This means if you have one of the smaller Apple Bluetooth keyboards, or a smaller MacBook, this app is still going to be usable.
Veeer works really well; you obviously need to have a window in focus to align windows but other than that it works well. It snaps windows quickly and supports all edges of the screen. It’s a very good replica of Windows snapping in Windows 10. High Sierra has slightly better window management that lets you move and resize windows that have been snapped side by side so between the two features, there’s nothing that’s left missing. There are of course other paid apps out there that do the same stuff and perhaps even offer a bit more than this one but if you need a good free solution, this is it.
