15 Tools To Split Your Monitor’s Screen In Windows And macOS

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How to split your laptop or desktop PC Screen / 4K Monitor in Windows or macOS for better productivity? Microsoft Windows 10 and Apple macOS already have this feature built into them, just drag your window to any corner of the screen and it will automatically snap, resize and fit half of the screen. The only problem is, what if you need to fit 5 or 6 windows into a screen?

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How to split your Laptop or PC Screen/Monitor in Windows? Here’s a complete list of software that enables you to split your computer screen monitor into two or more so that they can view two applications side-by-side. This split screen software works across dual monitors too, it will also split your wallpapers so you can have a different wallpaper on each monitor.

Above is a short video showing how to take advantage of the new Apple’s macOS El Capitan feature called “Spilt Screen” where you can have 2 windows placed side by side automatically.

1. WindowsGrid

WindowsGrid

WindowGrid is a modern window management program that allows the user to quickly and easily layout their windows on a dynamic grid. WindowGrid gives functionality to the normally useless right mouse button when moving a window. Doing this will enable the grid snap mode.

2. GridMove

GridMove

GridMove is a program that aims at making windows management easier. It helps you with this task by defining a visual grid on your desktop, to which you can easily snap windows. This program comes bundled with some predefined grid templates, that can be easily swapped, but also has ways of creating custom grids or sharing grids made by others.

GridMove makes moving windows, resizing windows, displaying them on cascade or on mosaic, making them on top or anything you can think of as easy as drag and drop.

3. AltDrag

AltDrag

AltDrag gives you the ability to move and resize windows in a new way. After starting AltDrag, you can simply hold down the Alt key and then click and drag any window. This behavior already exists in Linux, macOS and Windows 10 operating systems, and AltDrag was made with the mission to copy that behavior to the older Windows platform, and then to further expand it with new intuitive functionality.

4. Spectacle

Spectacle

Using Spectacle you can view multiple documents side-by-side, move windows to other displays, or even focus your full attention to a single task. Move and resize windows with ease. Window control with simple and customizable keyboard shortcuts

5. Microsoft PowerToys

Microsoft PowerToys

Windows 10 received PowerToys four years after its release. On May 8, 2019, Microsoft relaunched PowerToys and made them open-source on Github. Users can add their own additions and customizations to PowerToys. The first preview release was in September 2019, which included FancyZones and the Windows key shortcut guide. PowerToys for Windows 10 comes with the following utilities:

  • FancyZones adds a window manager that makes it easier for users to create and use complex window layouts.
  • PowerRename adds an option to File Explorer to allow the user to rename files using search and replace or regular expression.
  • Windows key shortcut guide is a full screen overlay that allows the user to view the current windows key shortcuts available in the current window.
  • Window Walker
  • Image Resizer
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6. Aquasnap

Aquasnap

Aquasnap is a powerful window manager that helps you arrange and organize multiple applications on your desktop with minimum effort. It allows you to achieve maximum multitasking, especially if you own a high-resolution monitor or a multi-monitor setup.

Drag and drop your windows to the sides or corners of the screen, and they’ll automatically be resized to fit one half or one quarter of the screen. This feature is just like the built-in Aero Snap function of Windows 10, but with more possibilities! This is especially useful on either a 4K monitor or multiple monitors.

7. Divvy

Divvy

Divvy is an entirely new way of managing your workspace. It allows you to quickly and efficiently “divvy up” your screen into exact portions. With Divvy, it is as simple as calling up the interface, clicking and dragging. When you let go, your window will be resized and moved to the relative position on the screen. If that seems like too much work, you can go ahead and create as many different shortcuts as you’d like that resize and move your windows in exactly the same way. Works great on Microsoft’s Windows 10 and Apple’s macOS.

8. BetterSnapTool

BetterSnapTool

As the name implies, it is a better snap tool than the default window snapping feature in macOS. BetterSnapTool is a utility that mimics Windows 7 Aero snap, allowing you to easily manage your window positions and sizes by either dragging them to one of your screens corners or to the top, left or right side of your screen. This lets you easily maximize your windows or position them side by side. BetterSnapTool supports multiple monitors, hidden dock etc. You can change the design of the preview window and even set application specific snapping sizes!

9. Magnet (Windows Manager)

Magnet Windows Manager

Every time you want to copy content from one app to the other, compare files side by side or multitask in any other way, you need all the windows arranged accordingly. Magnet makes this process clean and simple. In just one drag to the edge, you snap any window into the left, right, top or bottom half of your screen. And by dragging windows to the corners, you snap them into quarters. Taking advantage of such arrangements eliminates app switching and greatly enhances workspace efficiency. Magnet supports keyboard shortcuts as well, for every command it has to offer. There is that little icon sitting in the Menu Bar where you can find a predefined set or create yours. Features:

  • Left/Right/Top/Bottom Halves of the screen supported
  • Left/Center/Right Thirds of the screen supported
  • Left Two Thirds & Right Two Thirds of the screen supported
  • Fullscreen & all four Quarters of the screen supported
  • Runs both on Retina and regular displays
  • Up to six external displays supported
  • Built to run on all macOS versions since 10.9 Mavericks
  • macOS 10.12 Sierra optimized

10. Moom

Moom

Do you spend a lot of time moving and zooming windows, so you can better see and work with all the content on your Mac? Instead of doing that work yourself, let Moom handle the task for you. When used via the mouse, all you need to do is hover over the green resize button in any macOS and Windows. Moom’s panel appears, and you then click the desired action.

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When used via the keyboard, a hot key displays the Moom bezel, and you can then use the arrow and modifier keys to move and resize the windows. You can also save window layouts, create custom controls with shortcuts that work globally or work only when Moom’s keyboard bezel is on screen.

11. Better Window Manager

Better Window Manager

A tiny window management app for the Mac. Better window manager allows you to put windows where you want, save their positions, and restore them with a keyboard shortcut.

12. MaxSnap

MaxSnap

Typically, in macOS, you use the window title to move and the lower right corner to resize the window. MaxSnap allows you to re-arrange windows by using its entire surface – just click fn or Fn+Shift. and start changing window size or location. It is very convenient. You won’t be able to survive without it. Those who used Linux before probably remember the Alt-Drag function.

13. MaxTo

MaxTo

The window manager you didn’t know you missed. Divide your screen, increase your productivity. You can keep a different set of regions open on each virtual desktop. Use their handy setting to choose if you want each virtual desktop to have its own set of profiles. Only works on Windows 10. Because only Windows 10 has virtual desktops.

14. Shutter Split Screen

Shutter Split Screen

With widescreen, multi-screen, Ultra HD screen (4K, 5K and 8K) use increasing, you often switch back and forth between browser, or between your browser and a text document.

Sometimes you also need to move or resize the window and wished there was some way you could just fast and look at multiple at the same time. When you focus only on a portion of the area on the screen, you do not take full advantage of every area on the screen.

15. UltraView Desktop Manager

UltraView Desktop Manager

UltraView Desktop Manager 2.0 now brings the productivity benefits of multiple monitors to large, high-resolution monitors, especially 4K UHD, QHD and ultrawide monitors.

Today’s massive LED monitors and 4K TVs are exciting to look at but can be difficult to work with productively. Key info and apps can get buried under other windows, causing you to miss deadlines or important alerts as you struggle to task-switch and multitask across a variety of work obligations, personal obligations and personal interests, little of which is visible to you at any one time.

Now you can split those giant monitors and 4K TVs into any number of virtual monitors, including micro monitors dedicated to time tracking, task managers, personal email, instant messaging, social media, live financial TV news, streaming music and video, newsfeeds and security cameras. Now you’ll never miss anything important because you lacked timely awareness.

16. KDE Mover-Sizer

KDE Mover-Sizer

[ Discontinued ] An essential add-on for Windows XP, 2K, Windows Server, Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. It is a background application that emulates the behaviour of KDE, which is a rather good Linux desktop environment. Essentially, you hold down the Alt key, and Left-click to move a window, Right-click to resize it; and from anywhere inside the window.

29 Comments

  1. Gravatar
    Harald Hårfagre [ Reply ]

    Where is MaxTo? Should for sure be included in this list.

    • Gravatar
      Ngan Tengyuen [ Reply ]

      Thanks, will add to the list soon.

  2. Gravatar

    Where is WinSplit? GridMove? GridVista?

    • Gravatar
      Ngan Tengyuen [ Reply ]

      WinSplit and GridVista are outdated

      • Gravatar
        HIMADRI SHEKHAR DAS [ Reply ]

        WinSplit-Tevoluton still better than others. It has a floating window for oneclick window to grid placement which lacks in others

        • Gravatar
          Dallas [ Reply ]

          It hasn’t been updated in over 9 years

          • Gravatar
            Marc

            As well as GridMove, the second mentioned!
            It seems that the only thing updated in this page is the date at the top

  3. Gravatar

    I need add follow software. Shutter software helps you split the screen and improve your operation quickly. It’s a windows application software that lets you fast and view multiple windows side-by-side. I hope this is helpful.

  4. Gravatar

    When splitting the monitor, do the applications you open in each one scale to the new monitor size? Meaning, if I open Excel will it fill up the ENTIRE monitor, or only the new split monitor portion where I open it?

  5. Gravatar
    joseph baylor [ Reply ]

    You need to add UltraView to your list. It’s a little expensive – $99 but it has features that will make it worth it to some users.

  6. Gravatar

    Thank you! WindowGrid is exactly what I was looking for!

  7. Gravatar

    Add PowerToys.

  8. Gravatar
    Mark Henne [ Reply ]

    I am already using “Shutter Split Screen” and it is very useful to me.

  9. Gravatar

    The holy grail for many screensplitters is the ability to maintain the split in full screen mode, e.g. a full screen of youtube in a quadrant, instead of a tiny video window with the adjacent ‘noise’ that isn’t your video. This doesn’t appear possible with any program but let us know if/when that’s a reality. MS Powertoys funzone also deserves a mention (but nope, isn’t the holy grail)

    • Gravatar
      wiadran [ Reply ]

      EX-ACT-LY!!

    • Gravatar

      I couldn’t agree more. I HATE this about the current crop of screensplitters!

    • Gravatar

      P.S.: VDM maximizing unfortunately doesn’t seem to work for a couple applications that I use: VMWare VirtualBox and Microsoft Teams. For most things though (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Visual Studio Code, Discord, etc.) it works great.

  10. Gravatar
    Ralph M. [ Reply ]

    Why Mosaic not in there. It’s the best one I tested.

  11. Gravatar
    Engin KIRMACI [ Reply ]

    Give SnapIt try in Windows Store. It is developed by me and I think many of you find useful than other applications on the list.

  12. Gravatar

    Thanks of the overview. Do any of these programs allow you to share a “virtual screen” when presenting in Zoom or Microsoft Teams? That has been one drawback of switching to an ultra-wide monitor that I have noticed. I don’t have a separate monitor that I can use while presenting that that others can’t see. I have read an article that says I can use a PiP mode with my monitor but that has other drawbacks.

    • Gravatar

      I’m in exactly the same situation Scott. Just bought the Philips 499P9H Ultra-wide and finding that I now need to share applications resized to 1920×1080 via Powertoys FancyZones, which is some what impeding that productivity these screens are supposed to enhance. Need a way to define an area as a virtual screen set to FHD res that I can share or better yet for Microsoft to listen to their users

  13. Gravatar
    Mark Martin [ Reply ]

    Interested in programmable or selectable splits. i.e. send Zoom to one region, Excel to another Word to yet another. I see some of the high-=end tools do this, but it looks like I need to learn coding, bah!

    It would also be nice to send Word docs with a keyword in the file name to certain regions i.e. ‘activity’ to the left, ‘assessment’ to the middle, ‘plan’ to the right

    ‘Keep on top’ is also a useful thing.

  14. Gravatar
    christopher anderson [ Reply ]

    I have an old 40″ LG Dumb Tv which I would like to use as a monitor. 8 have 2 windows laptops ( 10 and 7) and 1 mac laptop and 1 mac mini. I keep the old ones because some of the older apps/prograns do not work on the updated Win/OS.
    I have 4 HDMI inputs (I will use VGA to HDMI adapters for the Win)
    Can any if these programs allow me to show all 4 and switch data between them? I have a keyboard/mouse that can be used on 3 different computers. Thanks.

  15. Gravatar

    I’m looking for an app that will split the screen in such a way that it will not allow anything from one side to overlap the other. Like I want to dock a stickie note text window to the right, and it never be covered up by a floating window from the left, or a maximized window. Will one of these do that?

  16. Gravatar

    Have you tried Grid for Mac?

  17. Gravatar

    I was hoping this article mention software whereby a single monitor can show Windows and MacOS on a single display side by side. Does anyone know of any such software? Not talking about ultra-wide monitors that support PBP.

  18. Gravatar
    Alexander J [ Reply ]

    Any of these that doesnt need admin rights and can be installed on an office laptop?

  19. Gravatar
    GizmoChicken [ Reply ]

    “Virtual Display Manager” (or VDM”), which is available for purchase from a company called iShadow, is also worth a mention. It’s similar to UltraView, but cheaper at $35 for a single user license, with a free trial available.

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