H J K L for your windows: vim style window management on a Mac
If your fingers live on H J K L, arrow keys for windows feel slow. How to drive windows on a Mac with vim style keys, no config file required.
Vim users move with H J K L without thinking. Tiling window managers on Linux mostly use the same keys, so switching to arrows on a Mac feels like a step back.
The usual Mac route
Tools like Karabiner Elements can remap keys system wide, and several window managers read their keys from a config file. Both work, and both are something to maintain.
Built in to ClutterFreeMac
| Keys | Moves focus |
|---|---|
⌃ ⌥ H | Left |
⌃ ⌥ J | Down in a stack |
⌃ ⌥ K | Up in a stack |
⌃ ⌥ L | Right |
They work alongside the arrows; every action can have more than one shortcut. Add ⇧ to move the window instead of the focus. Change any of them in Settings, Shortcuts by pressing the new keys.
Questions
Can I use H J K L to switch windows on a Mac?
Not by default in macOS. ClutterFreeMac supports H J K L for moving focus, alongside the arrow keys.
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