Rectangle

Who It's For

Rectangle is the default recommendation for anyone who wants window snapping on macOS and doesn't need automatic tiling. It covers the core use case — keyboard shortcuts and drag-to-edge snapping for halves, thirds, quarters, and corners — with zero configuration and no App Store purchase required. If you're coming from Windows and miss the Win+Arrow snapping behavior, Rectangle is the most direct replacement.

How It Works

Rectangle works entirely through the macOS Accessibility API — no SIP changes, no background daemon beyond the menu bar app itself. It intercepts keyboard shortcuts and window drag events, then moves and resizes the target window to a predefined position on the current display.

Snap areas activate when you drag a window to a screen edge or corner: drag to the left edge to fill the left half, to a corner for a quarter, to the top to maximize. The keyboard shortcuts mirror these same positions — each action (left half, right third, top-right quarter, etc.) has a default shortcut that you can reassign in preferences. Rectangle also tracks each window's original position so you can restore it after snapping.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Rectangle ships with sensible defaults. Frequently used ones: left half ⌃⌥←, right half ⌃⌥→, top half ⌃⌥↑, bottom half ⌃⌥↓, maximize ⌃⌥↩, left/center/right thirds ⌃⌥D / ⌃⌥F / ⌃⌥G, and restore ⌃⌥⌫. All shortcuts are reassignable in Rectangle's preferences pane.

Rectangle also includes a Spectacle compatibility mode that imports the keybinding layout from its predecessor, making migration seamless for longtime Spectacle users.

Compared to Similar Tools

Rectangle vs Magnet: functionally similar for basic snapping, but Rectangle is free and open-source while Magnet costs $5.99 on the App Store. Magnet has a slightly more polished menu bar UI and is often preferred by users who want App Store updates and a familiar purchase model. For feature parity at the core snap level, Rectangle wins on value.

Rectangle vs Rectangle Pro: the paid Pro version adds cursor gestures (throw a window to snap it), custom snap areas you draw yourself, window groups (snap multiple windows together as a unit), per-app keybinding overrides, and iCloud sync for settings. If you find yourself wanting any of those, the $9.99 upgrade is targeted at you.

Rectangle vs BentoBox / MacsyZones: those tools are FancyZones-style zone editors — you design arbitrary layouts and snap windows into them. Rectangle's zones are fixed (predefined grid positions). Choose Rectangle for simplicity; choose a zone editor if you want pixel-precise custom layouts per display.

Requirements

• macOS 10.15 Catalina or later
• Accessibility permission required: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
• No SIP changes required
• Free and open-source (MIT license)

Getting Started

Rectangle works immediately after granting Accessibility permission — no config file to create. Open preferences via the menu bar icon to customize shortcuts or enable/disable snap areas:

brew install --cask rectangle
# Launch Rectangle, grant Accessibility when prompted
# Optionally: open Rectangle preferences → Shortcuts to remap keys

Rectangle's preferences also let you set window gap sizes, configure whether to snap on drag, and toggle "almost maximize" behavior. Source and issue tracker at github.com/rxhanson/Rectangle.