Manage app windows on Mac

When you open an app or the Finder on your Mac, a window opens on the desktop. Only one app at a time is active; the name of the app (in bold) and the app menus are shown in the menu bar.

Some apps, such as Safari or Mail, let you open multiple windows or different types of windows at the same time. There are several ways to manage open app windows on macOS, and close one or all of an app’s windows.

Move, align, and merge app windows

On your Mac, do any of the following:

• Manually move a window: Drag the window by its title bar to where you want it. Some windows can’t be moved.

• Move a window to one side of the screen: Press and hold the Option key while you move the pointer over the green button  in the top-left corner of the window, then choose Move Window to Left Side of Screen or Move Window to Right Side of Screen from the menu that appears. The window fills that half of the screen; the menu bar and Dock remain visible.

  To return the window to its previous position and size, press and hold the Option key, move the pointer over the green button, then choose Revert.

• Align windows: Drag a window close to another one—as the window nears the other one, it aligns without overlapping. You can position multiple windows adjacent to each other.

  To make adjacent windows the same size, drag the edge you want to resize—as it nears the edge of the adjacent window, it aligns with the edge and stops.

  

• Merge an app’s windows into one tabbed window: In the app, choose Window > Merge All Windows. If an app has more than one type of window (such as Mail with the viewer window and the new message window), only the active type is merged.

  To make a tab a separate window again, select the tab, then choose Window > Move Tab to New Window, or just drag the tab out of the window. See Use tabs in windows.

Maximize or minimize app windows

On your Mac, do any of the following in a window:

• Maximize a window: Press and hold the Option key while you click the green button  in the top-left corner of an app window. To return to the previous window size, Option-click the button again.

  You can also double-click an app’s title bar to maximize the window (as long as the option to do so is set to “zoom” in Dock & Menu Bar preferences).

• Minimize a window: Click the yellow minimize button  in the top-left corner of the window, or press Command-M.

  You can set an option in Dock & Menu Bar preferences to have a window minimize when you double-click its title bar.

Most windows can be manually resized. Drag the window’s edge (top, bottom, or sides) or double-click an edge to expand that side of the window.

Quickly switch between app windows

On your Mac, do any of the following:

• Switch to the previous app: Press Command-Tab.

• Scroll through all open apps: Press and hold the Command key, press the Tab key, then press the Left or Right arrow key until you get to the app you want. Release the Command key.

  If you change your mind while scrolling through the apps and don’t want to switch apps, press Esc (Escape) or the Period key, then release the Command key.

Close one or all windows for an app

On your Mac, do any of the following:

• Close a single window: In a window, click the red Close button  in the top-left corner of the window, or press Command-W.

• Close all open windows for an app: Press Option-Command-W.

Closing one or all windows for an app doesn’t quit the app—it remains open (indicated by the small dot below the app’s icon in the Dock). To quit the app, press Command-Q.