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.

Guide · Updated 22 October 2026

How do I tile a window to the top or bottom half?

  • Press fn ⌃ ↑ for the top half, fn ⌃ ↓ for the bottom half (macOS 15 and later).
  • Or choose Window, Move & Resize and pick the top or bottom half.
  • Or, with Drag windows to menu bar to fill screen off, drag towards the top or bottom edge and use the outline that appears.

How do I arrange two windows top and bottom at once?

Choose Window, Move & Resize and the top and bottom arrangement. Keyboard Shortcuts lists it as Arrange Top and Bottom, and Arrange Bottom and Top for the other order.

When is top and bottom better than side by side?

  • On a portrait monitor, where side by side would make each window very narrow. See portrait monitor.
  • For wide content that needs the full width, like a timeline over a preview, or a spreadsheet over a chart.
  • For a terminal or console under a code editor.

Side by side instead: split screen. Four at once: windows in quarters. ClutterFreeMac can stack windows in one column with ⌃ ⌥ ], top and bottom, and keep them that way.

Checked on 22 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) running macOS 27.0.1: Tile Top Half, Tile Bottom Half, Arrange Top and Bottom and Arrange Bottom and Top were read from System Settings, Keyboard Shortcuts.

Questions

How do I split the screen top and bottom on a Mac?

Press fn Control Up Arrow on one window and fn Control Down Arrow on the other, on macOS 15 and later.

Can Split View stack windows vertically?

No. Split View is side by side only; use window tiling for top and bottom.

How do I arrange two windows top and bottom at once?

Use Window, Move & Resize and the top and bottom arrangement.

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