How to put four windows in quarters on one Mac screen
macOS can tile a window to any corner, or arrange the four front windows in quarters at once. How to do both, and when a quarter of a laptop is too small.
How do I tile a window to a corner?
On macOS 15 and later, drag the window by its title bar into a corner of the screen and let go when an outline fills that quarter. Or choose Window, Move & Resize and pick a quarter. Keyboard Shortcuts lists them as Tile Top Left Quarter, Tile Top Right Quarter and so on, with no keys set by default; you can add your own.
How do I arrange four windows at once?
Choose Window, Move & Resize and the quarters arrangement, listed in Keyboard Shortcuts as Arrange in Quarters. It places the front four windows into the four corners in one step.
Why is there a gap around tiled windows?
Tiled windows have margins is on in Desktop & Dock. Turn it off for windows that meet edge to edge.
Is a quarter big enough?
On a large monitor, yes. On a 13 inch laptop, a quarter is about the size of a phone held sideways; many apps hit their minimum size and spill over. Two or three windows usually work better there. See three windows side by side.
ClutterFreeMac avoids the size problem a different way: every window keeps a usable width on a strip that runs past the screen edge, and apps that refuse to shrink get the room they need. See it in the demo. Two windows: split screen.
Checked on 22 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) running macOS 27.0.1: the Tile quarter names, Arrange in Quarters and Tiled windows have margins were read from System Settings.
Questions
Can a Mac split the screen into four?
Yes, on macOS 15 and later. Drag windows into corners, or use Window, Move & Resize to arrange in quarters.
Is there a shortcut to tile a window to a quarter?
No key is set by default, but you can assign one to the Tile quarter commands in Keyboard Shortcuts.
How do I remove the gaps between tiled windows?
Turn off Tiled windows have margins in Desktop & Dock.
Read next
- Guide
Split View not working on your Mac? The usual causes
The green button shows no tile option, or the second window refuses to join. The settings and app limits behind it, and what to do instead.
Read › - Guide
How to put two windows one above the other on a Mac
Split the screen horizontally, one window on top and one below. The tiling keys for top and bottom halves, and where this layout beats side by side.
Read › - Guide
How to split screen on a Mac, three ways
Split screen on a Mac with Split View, the tiling built into macOS 15 and later, or a layout that never needs splitting. Steps, shortcuts, and splits of 3 or 4.
Read ›