Too many windows open and none of them where you want

What the problem looks like

You start the day with a browser, a chat app, a document and a spreadsheet. By lunchtime there are fourteen windows, several overlapping, one that opened on the wrong monitor and one you cannot find. You spend time dragging corners instead of working, and every new window makes the arrangement worse.

On a laptop it is cramped. On a large or ultrawide monitor it is the opposite: a single maximised window leaves acres of empty screen, so windows are scattered and ragged.

Why it happens on a Mac

A Mac treats windows as free-floating objects. The green button makes a window full screen, not "fit the screen", and macOS has until recently offered no way to snap a window to half the screen by dragging. Newer versions added some tiling, but options are limited, differ between macOS releases and react differently when several monitors are connected.

Habit makes it worse. People who have used Windows expect to drag a window to an edge and have it fill half the screen, and when that does not happen they fall back on manual resizing.

Fixes that work without extra software

• Use full screen and Split View. Two apps can share a screen in Split View. It is neat but takes over the whole display and offers only two panes.
• Use Mission Control and Spaces. Give each task its own desktop and swipe between them. It reduces overlap but does not arrange anything within a desktop.
• Use Stage Manager on recent macOS versions to keep the front window large and others tucked at the side.
• Resize with the keyboard and the green button's menu where your macOS version offers tiling options.
• Close what you are not using. It is dull advice and it works: a quarter of the windows on most screens are not needed.

Where Casement helps

Casement adds Windows-style snapping. Drag a window toward the top of the screen and it shows layouts to drop it into: halves, thirds, one large window with two stacked beside it, and a four-way grid. On a bigger external monitor it adds four columns and a six-window grid. Keyboard shortcuts do the same without the mouse: ⌃⌥← and ⌃⌥→ for halves, ⌃⌥↑ to fill the screen, ⌃⌥2, ⌃⌥3 and ⌃⌥4 to tile the front windows.

Because the layouts are the same every time, your desk becomes predictable. Mail on the left, the document on the right. Two columns on the ultrawide and a third for chat. See snap layouts and keyboard shortcuts for the full list.

What it does not do

Casement does not remember a layout per project or restore your whole workspace after a restart, and it does not replace Spaces. It arranges windows when you ask. If you want a saved workspace for each client, a different tool, or a habit of using Spaces, may suit you better; the window management comparison sets out the differences.

A five-minute fix to try today

1. Decide on two arrangements you use every day, such as "writing" (document left, reference right) and "review" (three columns).
2. Practise snapping to halves and thirds with the keyboard for a few days until it is automatic.
3. Close any app you have not used this morning.
4. Give chat and mail their own Space or monitor so they stop wandering across your screen.