Keeping an AI chat beside your work on a Mac
Using an AI assistant while you write or code means two windows all day. Ways to keep the chat beside your work, from tiling to a narrow column.
Put the chat in a narrow window on one side, about a third of the screen, and your work in the rest. On macOS Sequoia and later, tile the chat with Fn ⌃ → and resize the split by dragging the edge between them.
Options
- The desktop app of your assistant, so it is a window of its own instead of a browser tab.
- A separate browser window for the chat, not a tab among your others.
- The assistant's quick launcher, if it has one, for a short question without switching.
Why a third, not a half
Chat replies are text in a column; they read fine in a third of the screen, and your document, code or sheet keeps the space it needs.
Two thirds and a third, kept
Tiling breaks when other windows open on top. On a ClutterFreeMac strip, give the chat a one third column (⌃ ⌥ R cycles widths) and your work two thirds beside it; new windows join the strip instead of covering either one.
Questions
How do I keep a chat window open next to my work on a Mac?
Give the chat its own window and tile it to one side, about a third of the screen, with your work in the rest.
Read next
- Guide
How to put three windows side by side on a Mac
macOS tiles halves and quarters, not thirds. How to get three columns on one screen, which screens suit it, and how to keep a fourth window handy.
Read › - Guide
How to put two Word documents side by side on a Mac
Two Word documents next to each other for comparing or copying between them, plus Word's own compare tool when you need the differences marked.
Read › - Guide
Editor and browser side by side on a Mac, without the shuffle
Change code, look at the result. Ways to keep an editor and a browser next to each other on one Mac screen, and how to fit the dev tools in too.
Read ›