Rectangle App Window Layouts: Every Split You Need

The Halves Layout

Rectangle provides six half-screen positions: left half, right half, top half, bottom half, full screen and center float. The left-half / right-half pair is by far the most used layout in the rectangle app ecosystem, and for good reason — it solves the fundamental two-window problem that most knowledge work presents. When you need to read from one source and write or act in another, side-by-side halves eliminate the constant window switching that breaks concentration.

The top-half / bottom-half pair is used less often but has clear applications. On tall external displays, vertical splits can feel more natural than horizontal splits — code editor in the upper half, terminal output in the lower half; research notes in the upper half, draft in the lower half. The height of a typical external monitor makes a top/bottom split genuinely workable in a way that a laptop screen would not support comfortably.

The full-screen shortcut in Rectangle mac fills the display without creating a macOS Space. This means the window remains part of your normal desktop flow, accessible via Cmd+Tab with zero delay. The center float shortcut positions a window in the middle of the screen at approximately 70% of display width and height — useful for applications that shouldn't be snapped to an edge but benefit from being smaller than full screen, like a calendar, a reference browser tab or a music player.

Thirds and Two-Thirds Layouts

The thirds layouts divide the screen into three equal vertical columns. Three-window thirds layouts work well on displays 27 inches or larger; on smaller screens, the individual third is often too narrow for comfortable text reading. The two-thirds / one-third combination — main window in two-thirds, reference panel in one-third — provides a better balance on most screen sizes because the primary content retains enough width to be fully usable.

The most practical Rectangle app two-thirds layout for writing and coding is: editor or document in the left two-thirds, reference material or terminal in the right one-third. The editor has enough horizontal room for long lines and wide syntax; the reference panel is narrow but readable for documentation, notes or terminal output. This layout is noticeably more efficient than two halves when the primary content's width matters.

The center two-thirds shortcut creates a window that fills the middle of the screen with a visible margin on each side. This is useful for applications where you want more space than center float but don't need the full display. Video conference applications, presentation rehearsal and document review all work well in center two-thirds — wide enough to be comfortable, with visible desktop margins on each side.

Quarter Layouts

Quarter layouts divide the screen into four equal sections. In Rectangle mac, each quarter is addressable independently — you can put different applications in each quarter without any constraint on which apps can share the screen. This independence is what makes rectangle app fundamentally different from macOS Split View, which restricts the combinations it supports.

On a 27-inch external monitor at 2560×1440 or higher resolution, quarter windows are large enough for most applications. The upper-left quarter is the natural primary position — where the eye begins — so the main working content typically lives there. Supporting windows — documentation, terminal, communication tools — occupy the remaining quarters based on priority and reference frequency.

On a 13 or 14-inch MacBook display, quarter windows are generally too small for sustained text work. The practical use of quarter shortcuts on laptop screens is narrower: keeping a very small utility visible (a timer, a currency converter, a system monitor) while larger windows occupy the rest of the screen in halves or two-thirds.

Special Layouts

"Almost maximize" fills the screen with configurable margins — typically 20–40 pixels on each side. This gives the active window near-full-screen real estate while preserving thin visible strips of the desktop on each side. Some users prefer this to full screen because the desktop context is still present and other windows can be clicked without first dismissing the full-screen window. The margin is set in Rectangle Preferences under Gaps.

The "make larger" and "make smaller" shortcuts incrementally grow or shrink a window while keeping it anchored to its current corner. This is useful for fine-tuning a snapped position when the standard grid proportion isn't quite right for a specific application. A code editor that performs better with slightly more than half the screen can be snapped to left half and then widened by one or two presses of "make larger."

Workflow Layout Maps

Writing: Source or research in left half (⌃⌥←), draft in right half (⌃⌥→). Switch the left half between different sources as the writing develops; the draft window never moves.

Coding: Editor in left two-thirds (⌃⌥E), terminal in right one-third (⌃⌥G). For three-window coding: editor in left half, terminal in lower-right quarter (⌃⌥K), browser in upper-right quarter (⌃⌥I).

Research: Database or browser in left half, notes in right half. For three-source research: three windows in thirds (⌃⌥D, ⌃⌥F, ⌃⌥G).

Video calls: Meeting in center float (⌃⌥C) or center two-thirds (⌃⌥T), working document in right half. Alternatively: meeting in upper-right quarter, full working context in left half and lower-right quarter.