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10 years later, and what I would consider a "power user", and I still spend time every day trying to maximize windows on OS X. It's usually a game of hitting t

10 years later, and what I would consider a "power user", and I still spend time every day trying to maximize windows on OS X. It's usually a game of hitting the "+" button to see what will happen, and usually being disappointed by the results. Does anybody know how to maximize a window with OS X?

Walkman 13y ago
The author mention a great little app in his previous blog post called Moom [1] I just tried and it's awesome! You can resize, full screen, put windows left and right immediately without the mouse. [1]: http://manytricks.com/moom/ http://manytricks.com/moom/
- mh- 12y ago
  +1 for moom; I have cmd+period set to activate moom, then just period (when moom is activated) set to maximize. I use that key sequence dozens of times a day (I also have many others, and custom layouts, configured.. but that alone makes it worthwhile.)
reviewdbysteve 13y ago
https://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ https://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ works well, but costs money.
skierscott 13y ago
Check out Optimal Layout[0]. It's a wonderful cross between a tiling window manager and the normal GUI and something I wish every computer had. You can bind a single keyboard shortcut to cycle through different possible positions for a single window size. For example, let's say you want a window to take up half the screen. In my case I press F2 once or twice depending if it's on the left or right half. Another tool to script the GUI is Keyboard Maestro[1]. Almost any GUI action is possible such as closing a specific application on open or moving mouse to x,y. In my case, I set up a keyboard shortcut to activate iTerm (a almost terminal.app) and enter %run<up arrow><enter> to run a python script. Both cost money but I couldn't live without it after the free trial ended. [0, 1]:(I'm on mobile otherwise I would post a link; use google).
- ciniglio 13y ago
  [0]: http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout/ http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout/ Agreed. Optimal layout is great, I can't recommend it highly enough. Watching the video on the site gives you a good idea of all the things you can do with it. Also the developer is very responsive to support questions and feature requests.
olalonde 13y ago
BetterTouchTool lets you snap windows at the top to maximize. http://www.bettertouchtool.net/ http://www.bettertouchtool.net/
ihuman 13y ago
I use Spectacle. Full screen is Command-Alt-F. you can also make the window take up a half, third, or quarter of a screen with 1 shortcut. It takes some getting used to, but I find it hard to go without it. http://spectacleapp.com/ http://spectacleapp.com/
- Smirnoff 12y ago
  Do mention that this is a FREE app, which just works! The most of the other suggested apps here are paid.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- taude 12y ago
  I tried EVERY OS X window management app, spectacle was the one I settled on. I don't remember if I changed my short-cut keys to match Windows arrow snap or not. But OS X window management, especially on multiple monitors was one of the biggest pains when I switched from Win to OS X. At least multi-monitor support by default on OS X is better now days, but they could use some default window management tool improvements.
- morganherlocker 12y ago
  I use Spectacle with alt+cmd+up mapped to 100% window, which I tend to prefer to actual "fullscreen" (OSX is weird with fullscreen on multiple monitors).
- stygiansonic 12y ago
  Here's another vote for Spectacle; shortcuts/key bindings are configurable and the ability to segment your available screen into grids is something I can't live without anymore.
nielsbot 13y ago
Well, classically at least, the + button should enlarge the window to the largest size that fits the content... Hence no Windows-style maximize feature.
titaniumdecoy 12y ago
Yes - Hold shift when clicking the maximize button.
bane 12y ago
Like most things with OS X, the built-in tools and behaviors are horrible and broken and is fixed by installing any one of a few dozen community built fixes (there seems to be a category of roughly equivalent utilities like this for virtually every single piece of the OS). Apple simply refuses to fix this basic stuff and I avoid interacting with the GUI bits of OS X as much as possible. At least you can finally resize windows from more than just the bottom right corner, that's a win I guess.

Walkman 13y ago

The author mention a great little app in his previous blog post called Moom [1] I just tried and it's awesome! You can resize, full screen, put windows left and right immediately without the mouse. [1]: http://manytricks.com/moom/ http://manytricks.com/moom/

mh- 12y ago
+1 for moom; I have cmd+period set to activate moom, then just period (when moom is activated) set to maximize. I use that key sequence dozens of times a day (I also have many others, and custom layouts, configured.. but that alone makes it worthwhile.)

reviewdbysteve 13y ago

https://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ https://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/ works well, but costs money.

skierscott 13y ago

Check out Optimal Layout[0]. It's a wonderful cross between a tiling window manager and the normal GUI and something I wish every computer had. You can bind a single keyboard shortcut to cycle through different possible positions for a single window size. For example, let's say you want a window to take up half the screen. In my case I press F2 once or twice depending if it's on the left or right half. Another tool to script the GUI is Keyboard Maestro[1]. Almost any GUI action is possible such as closing a specific application on open or moving mouse to x,y. In my case, I set up a keyboard shortcut to activate iTerm (a almost terminal.app) and enter %run<up arrow><enter> to run a python script. Both cost money but I couldn't live without it after the free trial ended. [0, 1]:(I'm on mobile otherwise I would post a link; use google).

ciniglio 13y ago
[0]: http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout/ http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout/ Agreed. Optimal layout is great, I can't recommend it highly enough. Watching the video on the site gives you a good idea of all the things you can do with it. Also the developer is very responsive to support questions and feature requests.

olalonde 13y ago

BetterTouchTool lets you snap windows at the top to maximize. http://www.bettertouchtool.net/ http://www.bettertouchtool.net/

ihuman 13y ago

I use Spectacle. Full screen is Command-Alt-F. you can also make the window take up a half, third, or quarter of a screen with 1 shortcut. It takes some getting used to, but I find it hard to go without it. http://spectacleapp.com/ http://spectacleapp.com/

Smirnoff 12y ago
Do mention that this is a FREE app, which just works! The most of the other suggested apps here are paid.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
taude 12y ago
I tried EVERY OS X window management app, spectacle was the one I settled on. I don't remember if I changed my short-cut keys to match Windows arrow snap or not. But OS X window management, especially on multiple monitors was one of the biggest pains when I switched from Win to OS X. At least multi-monitor support by default on OS X is better now days, but they could use some default window management tool improvements.
morganherlocker 12y ago
I use Spectacle with alt+cmd+up mapped to 100% window, which I tend to prefer to actual "fullscreen" (OSX is weird with fullscreen on multiple monitors).
stygiansonic 12y ago
Here's another vote for Spectacle; shortcuts/key bindings are configurable and the ability to segment your available screen into grids is something I can't live without anymore.

nielsbot 13y ago

Well, classically at least, the + button should enlarge the window to the largest size that fits the content... Hence no Windows-style maximize feature.

titaniumdecoy 12y ago

Yes - Hold shift when clicking the maximize button.

bane 12y ago

Like most things with OS X, the built-in tools and behaviors are horrible and broken and is fixed by installing any one of a few dozen community built fixes (there seems to be a category of roughly equivalent utilities like this for virtually every single piece of the OS). Apple simply refuses to fix this basic stuff and I avoid interacting with the GUI bits of OS X as much as possible. At least you can finally resize windows from more than just the bottom right corner, that's a win I guess.