Skip to content

Repository files navigation

ShiftPane app icon

ShiftPane

Move, resize, and snap Mac windows from anywhere.
A lightweight, native menu bar utility for macOS 12 and later.

Download ShiftPane 0.2.2 · Release notes · Privacy

ShiftPane Snap Previews showing full-screen, half-screen, and quarter-screen window targets

Snap Previews

ShiftPane's standout feature is an optional visual snapping mode that works without grabbing a window's title bar.

  1. Hold your Move shortcut and begin dragging from anywhere inside a window.
  2. Hold the Snap modifier — Option by default — while you approach a screen edge.
  3. ShiftPane draws the exact target area before anything changes.
  4. Release the mouse to fill the desktop, use a half, or place the window in a quarter.

The top center targets the full visible desktop, the left and right edges target halves, and the four corners target quarters. The preview respects the menu bar, Dock, and the visible area of each display. Release the Snap modifier before the mouse button to cancel snapping and continue moving normally.

Features

  • Move the window under the pointer from anywhere inside it.
  • Resize diagonally from corners or in one direction from the nearest edge.
  • Preview and snap to the full desktop, left/right halves, or four quarters.
  • Record your own modifier combinations and choose the left or right mouse button.
  • Optionally bring the target window to the front.
  • Ignore selected applications.
  • Launch at login, including through a compatibility helper on macOS 12.
  • Run entirely from the menu bar with no Dock icon or permanent window.
  • Support both Apple silicon and Intel Macs in one universal app.

Default controls

Action Shortcut
Move Command + left-drag
Resize Option + left-drag
Snap Preview While moving, also hold Option

Click a shortcut field in Settings, then press and release Command, Option, Control, Shift, or a combination. Mouse buttons and the Snap modifier can also be changed. ShiftPane warns you if two actions conflict.

Install

  1. Download the latest ZIP.
  2. Unzip it and move ShiftPane.app to the Applications folder.
  3. Control-click ShiftPane, choose Open, then confirm Open.
  4. If macOS still blocks it, open System Settings → Privacy & Security and choose Open Anyway.
  5. Allow ShiftPane in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

ShiftPane is currently ad-hoc signed and is not notarized with a paid Apple Developer ID. The extra Gatekeeper warning on first launch is therefore expected. The source code is available here so the build can be inspected or reproduced.

Requirements

  • macOS 12 Monterey or later
  • Accessibility permission to identify the window under the pointer and change its position and size
  • Apple silicon or Intel Mac

Privacy and security

ShiftPane has no analytics, advertising, account system, telemetry, update service, or in-app network requests. Settings and ignored-app identifiers stay in macOS UserDefaults on your Mac.

The global event monitor listens only for left/right mouse down, drag, and up events plus modifier-key state changes. It does not listen for character key presses, record typed text, inspect window titles, or store window activity. Accessibility access is used at the moment of a gesture to identify the target window and read or set its position and size. See PRIVACY.md for the complete scope and SECURITY.md for reporting issues.

Build from source

No third-party packages are required. Open ShiftPane.xcodeproj in Xcode and run the shared ShiftPane scheme.

Run the focused core test suite with:

swift test --disable-sandbox

Create an ad-hoc-signed universal release ZIP with:

./scripts/build-release.sh 0.2.2

The archive is written to dist/.

License

ShiftPane is open source under the MIT License.

Created by @omeryssl.

About

Move, resize, and snap macOS windows from anywhere with configurable keyboard and mouse shortcuts.

Topics

Resources

Security policy

Stars

0 stars

Watchers

0 watching

Forks

Releases

Packages

Contributors

Languages