How to split screen on a Mac

A Mac has two kinds of split screen. Split View puts two apps side by side in full screen, in a space of their own. Tiling arranges windows side by side on your normal desktop, with the menu bar and Dock still there. Most people end up preferring tiling; try both.

Split View (full screen)

1. Hold the pointer over the green button in the top-left corner of the first window, then choose Full Screen → Left of Screen or Right of Screen.
2. On the other side of the screen, click the window you want next to it.

• Make one side bigger: drag the separator bar in the middle. Double-click it to go back to equal sizes.
• Swap sides: drag a window by its title bar to the other side.
• Replace one app: click its window, hold the pointer over the green button, choose Replace Tiled Window, then click the window you want instead.
• See the menu bar or Dock: move the pointer to the top of the screen, or to where the Dock is.
• Leave Split View: hold the pointer over the green button and choose Move Window to Desktop.

Side by side on the desktop

To keep the menu bar, Dock, and your other windows, tile instead of going full screen. Drag a window to the left or right edge of the screen and let go, or hold the pointer over the green button and pick a layout under Move & Resize. How to snap and tile windows on a Mac covers the shortcuts and settings.

Which to use

• Split View when you want to focus on exactly two apps with nothing else visible.
• Tiling when you switch between more apps, drag files between them, or want the Dock and menu bar to stay put.
• A window manager when you want three windows across a wide display, or a shortcut for each layout.