BetterTouchTool

Who It's For

BetterTouchTool is for power users who want a single tool to handle every input customization on their Mac — not just window snapping, but trackpad gestures, keyboard shortcuts, Touch Bar layouts, Apple Remote bindings, and macro automation. If you find yourself installing Rectangle for snapping, Swish for trackpad gestures, and Keyboard Maestro for hotkey sequences, BetterTouchTool can replace all three. The tradeoff is a complex preferences UI that has grown to cover dozens of feature areas over a decade of development.

How It Works

BetterTouchTool sits as a background agent that intercepts input events system-wide. For window management specifically, it provides snap areas — configurable zones at screen edges and corners that activate when you drag a window nearby, similar to Rectangle but with fully custom zone shapes and sizes. You can define a narrow left-sidebar zone, a tall center zone, and two small corner zones on each display independently.

Window moving and resizing can also be triggered by keyboard + mouse combinations: hold a modifier key and drag anywhere on a window (not just the title bar) to move it, or hold a different modifier and drag to resize from any edge. This is a common power-user workflow on Linux window managers, and BTT brings it to macOS without any additional tools.

The scripting layer connects window management to everything else: a trackpad gesture can run an AppleScript that arranges your "morning" app layout; a keyboard shortcut can move the current window to a specific position and then launch a second app beside it.

Configuration

BTT has no config file — everything is configured through its preferences GUI. Settings can be exported as a .bttpreset file for backup or sharing. A typical window-management setup involves:

• Snap Areas: define snap zones per display under Preferences → Snap Areas
• Keyboard Shortcuts: add triggers under Preferences → Keyboard → Global, assign "Move/Resize Window" actions
• Trackpad Gestures: under Preferences → Trackpad, map 3/4-finger gestures to snap positions

The release notes at updates.folivora.ai are thorough and document every new feature across BTT's frequent update cadence.

Compared to Similar Tools

Compared to Rectangle, BTT offers more flexible snap zone customization but at significantly higher complexity and cost ($22 lifetime vs free). Rectangle is the right choice if window snapping is your only need; BTT makes sense when you're already using it for gestures or keyboard customization and want to consolidate tools.

Compared to Keyboard Maestro, BTT has stronger input interception (especially for trackpad and Touch Bar) while Keyboard Maestro has a more capable macro sequencing engine. Many advanced users run both.

Requirements

• macOS 12 Monterey or later (recent versions; check folivora.ai for exact compatibility)
• Accessibility permission required for window management
• Input monitoring permission required for keyboard/mouse interception
• $10 for a 2-year license, $22 for lifetime — purchased directly from folivora.ai, not the App Store

Getting Started

# No Homebrew cask — download directly from folivora.ai
# After install, grant Accessibility and Input Monitoring permissions
# Preferences → Snap Areas to set up window zones
# Preferences → Keyboard to add window management shortcuts

The BTT community shares presets at community.folivora.ai — a good place to find a window management preset as a starting point before customizing.