Window Management in macOS

Properties2

Type	Practice
Note created	Jun 17, 2026

It always baffled me how macOS lacks any proper window management and configuration by default, so I rely on two different tools for window management in it: Karabiner-Elements to create a new shortcut and Rectangle for the actual window management.

Karabiner-Elements for a hyper key

This snippet, added as a complex modification, remaps left ⌘ + right ⌘ (held) into a hyper modifier (⌃⌥⇧⌘); tapped alone each one stays as ⌘.

{
    "description": "Hyper: hold left_command then right_command to emit Control+Option+Shift+Command (⌃⌥⇧⌘)",
    "manipulators": [
        {
            "from": {
                "key_code": "right_command",
                "modifiers": {
                    "mandatory": ["left_command"],
                    "optional": ["any"]
                }
            },
            "to": [
                {
                    "key_code": "left_shift",
                    "modifiers": ["left_command", "left_control", "left_option"]
                }
            ],
            "type": "basic"
        }
    ]
}

Rectangle for custom window management

Using the left ⌘ + right ⌘ combo, I remap the functions I am interested in to the following keys:

Action	Key
Left / Right Half	Z / X
First / Center / Last Third	D / F / G
First / Last Two Thirds	E / T
Maximize	R

This may seem very weird, but it easy incredibly intuitive and easy to explain:

• Most of those are the default letter Rectangle uses and, if seen on a regular QWERTY layout, it does make sense: D, F, G are thirds; the upper row are left and right two thirds (E and T). The middle key R is used for maximizing instead of Enter because of the next bullet point.
• R is used for the same reason the default Rectangle modifiers do not work for me: on my split, thumb-clustered Glove80, the it is not comfortable. I wanted to have keys, and these actually work well both in the Glove80 and my MacBook Pro.
• Arrows are a no-go because they collide with macOS default binding to Mission Control shortcuts.