How to turn off the gaps in macOS Sequoia's Window Tiling

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in macOS

By default, macOS Sequoia leaves a neat gap between windows when they are tiled -- but if you don't like that, it's easy to change it.

Two overlapping application windows, the left with text editing options and the right with zoom controls and an empty page.
Tiled windows have a gap, or margin, by default, but you can change that.



If you use Apple's new Window Tiling feature in macOS Sequoia to just tile one window over the side of your screen, you'll never notice this. But as soon as you tile two next to each other, you'll see a gap.

It's the same kind of gap that Apple imposes when you drag widgets onto the Mac screen, the same kind of thing where it's trying to make things neat. It isn't a mistake, it's a conscious choice by Apple -- but you can still change it if you like.

For a feature that is meant to help everyone handle all the mess of windows and documents we have open, Apple has rather buried some of the controls in Settings. But if you go there, you'll find the setting to change.

How to turn off the gaps in Window Tiling


  1. Go to Settings

  2. Choose Desktop & Dock

  3. Scroll down to the Windows section

  4. Turn off Tiled windows have margins



There are two other options in this section that can cause irritation, and both can be switched on or off. One is just whether you have to hold the Option key when you drag a window, if you want it to tile.

Mac system settings for Desktop & Dock are shown, highlighting 'Tiled windows have margins' option which is toggled on.
Just turn this setting off to get rid of the gaps between tiled windows on macOS Sequoia



That one might actually be useful, once you remember it, because the second option is about what happens when you drag a window to the edge of your screen. Very often, you're going to find that although you just wanted to reposition a window, you've come close enough to the edge that the Mac tiles it.

When that does happen, you can drag the window away again and it will revert to the original size.

You do get used to this, but it never quite goes away. So you could turn on the requirement to use the Option key while you drag -- or you could just turn off dragging to the edges.

There isn't a great deal of functionality in Apple's Window Tiling, at least not compared to third-party apps such as Moom. But what is there works well -- and what is there can be adjusted to suit you.



Read on AppleInsider

dewme

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    Is there a way to get the windows to be sized persistently?  Each time I quit System Settings, for example, it returns to the original window size....
    edited September 17 watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 3
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,677member
    jsh56 said:
    Is there a way to get the windows to be sized persistently?  Each time I quit System Settings, for example, it returns to the original window size....
    I was wondering about that too. But it looks like Apple has done what they typically do when they implement their own utility tools: they give you a good enough implementation but leave the door open for third party developers to jump in with more fully featured apps of their own that they can sell. Things like  Text Edit vs. Textastic, Calendar vs. Fantastical, Calculator vs. PCalc, etc., are all good examples of this ecosystem friendly approach by Apple to leave room for others to make a profit within the ecosystem. I think it is an excellent approach. I expect Magnet, BetterSnapTool and others will up their Window Management game to maintain a place on the Mac and other Apple platforms. 

    Regarding the gaps ... I actually like the gaps. They add a polished look and make it a little easier to resize windows.
    edited September 17 watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 3
    I’ve used moom for years. I really wanted to like Apple’s version, but they don’t have quarter tiling as a shortcut, so I can’t use it. I open folders that I move files around in and I quarter one side and half the other. Too bad. Need to keep using Moom
    watto_cobra
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