- Resize Any App Window Mac Free
- Resize Application Window
- Mac Resize Window Shortcut
- Run Mac Apps On Windows
Resizing a window can be useful in many situations. For instance, when you need to fit more than one on the same screen. The following sections show you how to resize a window in using both Windows and macOS.
Mar 23, 2015 How to Resize an Off Screen Window in Mac OS X Jim Tanous Read more March 23, 2015 OS X, particularly recent versions of the operating system, do a good job of corralling application windows by either not allowing a user to resize a window beyond the boundaries of the screen or by automatically snapping a window to a second display for those. Jul 05, 2010 “Proportional Window Resize In Lion (and El Capitan) you can now resize a window from any edge, not just the corner. It turns out that this works similarly to resizing objects in many graphics applications. For instance, holding the Option key while dragging. Mar 22, 2020 With OS X Lion, Apple took the plunge and provided the ability to resize windows on a Mac by dragging any side or corner. This simple change lets you size a window by expanding or decreasing just the side of the window that needs a bit of adjusting.
NoteA window that is maximized cannot be resized. Furthermore, certain types of windows cannot be resized at all.
Basic resize in Windows
As you can see in the image below, there are two buttons for resizing a window automatically.
Resize Any App Window Mac Free
- Minimize - Clicking this button, which looks like a dash, collapses the window onto the Taskbar.
- Maximize / Resize - Clicking this button, which looks like a box or two boxes, toggles the window between full and nearly full (not maximized) screen.
Custom resize in Windows
When the upper-right section of the window looks like , your window is now in 'resize mode,' meaning you can use the mouse cursor to make the window any size you want. To do so, move the cursor to any edge or corner of the window until a double-headed arrow appears. When this arrow appears, click-and-drag it to make the window larger or smaller. If this double-headed arrow does not appear, the window cannot be resized.
The below animation shows a double-headed arrow on the bottom, left, and corner of a window and how it resizes a window. If you only want to make the window horizontally bigger, move the cursor to the left or right edge of the window until it turns into the double-headed arrow. If you want to make the window vertically bigger, do the same thing at the top or bottom of the window. If you want to resize both horizontally and vertically, use one of the corners of the window.
How to resize a window using the Windows key and keyboard
If you are running Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, you can use Windows key keyboard shortcuts to resize and arrange windows on your computer. For example, pressing the Windows key and the left arrow key to resizes it to fit only the left half of the screen. Windows key and the right arrow key to resize the window to fit the right half of the screen.
How to resize a window using menus
A window can also be resized using a series of keyboard shortcuts. Below are the steps for resizing a window only using the keyboard.
- Press Alt+Space to open the window menu.
- If the window is maximized, arrow down to Restore and press Enter, then press Alt+Space bar again to open the window menu.
- Arrow down to Size.
- Press the up or downarrow key if you want to resize the window vertically, or the left or right arrow key if you want to resize horizontally.
- Once an arrow key is pressed, you can press the same arrow key or the opposite arrow key to resize the window.
How to resize a window on a Mac
There are three ways to resize a window on a Mac, by using your mouse and various buttons located in the upper-left corner of the desktop.
- Minimize - Clicking this button (yellow circle), which looks like a dash, collapses the window into the Dock.
- Maximize / Resize - Clicking this button (green circle), which looks like a box or two boxes, toggles the window between full and nearly full (not maximized) screen.
- Custom size - First, make sure that the window is not maximized. Then, hover your mouse cursor over the corner, bottom, or top of the window. Click and drag to resize the window to the size you desire.
Additional information
Resize Application Window
- See our minimize, maximize, resize, and window pages for related information.
Mac Resize Window Shortcut
Have you ever come across a window that’s so tall you can’t even get to the resize handle with your mouse cursor because it’s off the screen? There’s a quick and easy fix!
Run Mac Apps On Windows
The people who usually deal with this problem on a somewhat regular basis are those who hook their Mac up to a higher resolution external display. I run into it all the time going back and forth from my MacBook Pro’s 15″ LCD to my 32″ 1080p TV. If I don’t remember to shrink windows back down to fit the smaller 1440×900 pixel screen beforehand, I’m often left with unaccessible resize handles.
What are we to do in this situation? It may not be obvious, but the solution is sitting right in front of us! Clicking the green zoom (+) button on the toolbar of any window will automatically resize it to best fit your current screen resolution. See… I told you it was quick and easy!
UPDATE – 1/25/10:
In response to Melanie’s comment below, I thought it would be a good idea to add a quick note to this article. While the original text covered what to do when only part of your window is hidden from view, there are other times when the entire window is off screen. In this situation, try using Exposé to find and select the inaccessible window. The menu bar should now reflect the application you chose, so going to Window > Zoom should solve the problem.
In response to Melanie’s comment below, I thought it would be a good idea to add a quick note to this article. While the original text covered what to do when only part of your window is hidden from view, there are other times when the entire window is off screen. In this situation, try using Exposé to find and select the inaccessible window. The menu bar should now reflect the application you chose, so going to Window > Zoom should solve the problem.