Whether you have a 13 or 16-inch Mac, it’s essential to maximize your screen size. Fortunately, macOS makes it easy to split screen to view two apps side by side. Here are two easy ways to achieve a half screen on your Mac.
- Launch the apps you want to view side by side.
- Make sure you’re not in fullscreen mode for the apps you want to see the split view. If you are, hover over the green full-screen button and select Exit Full Screen.
Note: If an app is in full-screen mode, the option to Tile Window to Left of Screen and Tile Window to Right of Screen is grayed out.
Select “Exit Full Screen” - After you exit full-screen mode, hover over the green full-screen button again and select Tile Window to Left of Screen or Tile Window to Right of Screen.
Select “Tile Window to Left of Screen” or “Tile Window to Right of Screen”
- You should see your app at the right or left of your screen. The other side should be a selection of non-fullscreen apps you can put on the other side of your Split View. Select an open app.
Click another app for the other side of your Split View.
- The app you selected should be displayed on the other side of the screen.
Here’s how the Split View should look.
Using Mission Control view to split your screen
- Launch an app in full screen.
- Swipe up three or four fingers on your trackpad to launch the Mission Control view. Double-tap its surface with two fingers if you’re using a Magic Mouse. You can also launch Mission Control by pressing the Mission Control button on your Apple keyboard or launching the Mission Control app from your Applications folder.
Mission Control view
- Drag an open desktop window to the full-screen app you previously launched to view them side by side.
Drag the desktop window you want to see on the other side of the Split View.
- Click on the Split View window you dragged the desktop window to, and you should see two apps side by side.
Here’s how the Split View should look.
While you’re in Split View, you can move, resize, replace the windows, and exit out of Split View.
How to move windows in Split View
- Click and hold the top-most bar of the app you want to move and drag it to the other side.
Click and hold the top-most bar and drag it to the left or right.
How to resize windows in Split View
- Click and drag the vertical line between the two windows in Split View and drag to the left or right to resize the windows.
Click, hold, then drag the vertical line between the two windows to resize both.
How to replace windows in Split View
- Click and hold the green full-screen button until the dropdown comes out and select Replace Tiled Window.Note: You can replace both left and right Split View windows. However, you have to make sure that the new window is not currently in full-screen mode.
Click and hold the green full-screen button and select “Replace Tiled Window” - Click on the new window.
Click on the new window to add it to Split View.
- The side of the Split View you replaced should reflect the new app window you selected.
Split View should show your newly selected window.
How to exit Split View
There are two ways to exit Split View on macOS:
Using the green full-screen button
- Click on the green full-screen button at the top right of either window in Split View to exit.
Click on the green full-screen button to exit Split View.
Inside the Mission Control view
- Alternatively, you can launch Mission Control view by dragging three or four fingers up your trackpad or tapping the surface of your Magic Mouse with two fingers. You can also launch Mission Control by pressing the Mission Control key on your Apple keyboard or launching the Mission Control app from your Applications folder.
- Hover over the Split View window or press the option key on your keyboard and click on the white circle at its top left to exit.
Hover over the Split View window or press “Option” on your keyboard and click on the white circle that comes out.
