LilSnap Support
Snap every window into place, from the keyboard or by dragging.
Getting started
The first time you open LilSnap, a short guide connects it to Apple's Shortcuts app. It takes two clicks:
- Add Shortcut… opens Shortcuts with the LilSnap shortcut. Click Add Shortcut and keep its name,
LilSnap. - Allow & Test: when macOS asks whether LilSnap may use Shortcuts Events, click OK.
That's all. LilSnap then lives in your menu bar. Click the icon for a grid of layouts with each key printed on its tile, or choose Keyboard Shortcuts… for the cheat sheet.
The shortcuts
Every default starts with ⌃⌥ (Control-Option). You can change any of them, and give any layout a second shortcut, in Settings → Keyboard.
- ← → ↑ ↓ halves. Press a half again for ⅔, then ⅓.
- Two arrows together for a quarter: → + ↑ is the top right.
- 1 2 3 thirds (also D F G), 4 5 left or right two-thirds (also E T).
- ↩ maximize (also 0), C center, ⌫ put the window back.
- ⌘→ / ⌘← next or previous display.
- ⌘2 ⌘3 ⌘4 tile the front 2, 3 or 4 windows.
Common questions
Windows stopped moving.
LilSnap opens its setup page on its own when this happens. Two things to check:
a shortcut named LilSnap is in the Shortcuts app (if you renamed or deleted
it, click Add Shortcut… again), and LilSnap is switched on under System
Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation → LilSnap → Shortcuts Events.
The first snap is slow.
After a long break, macOS needs a few seconds to start Shortcuts in the background. After that a snap takes about a fifth of a second.
A Shortcuts icon appears in the menu bar when I snap.
That's macOS showing that LilSnap's shortcut just ran. It shows a check mark and disappears by itself. Mac App Store apps can only move windows through Shortcuts, and macOS always shows this when an app runs a shortcut.
I see two previews when I drag a window.
That's macOS's own tiling. Turn off Drag windows to screen edges to tile in System Settings → Desktop & Dock. Settings → General has a button that opens it.
A shortcut doesn't work.
Another app has probably claimed it. Settings → Keyboard marks it with a warning; record a different one there.
An app's window doesn't fill the whole area.
Some apps have a minimum size or resize in steps (Terminal, for example). LilSnap keeps those windows glued to the right edges, so they line up as closely as the app allows.
I want LilSnap to leave one app alone.
Open the menu, choose Extra → Ignore with that app in front, or add it in Settings → Apps.
I hid the menu bar icon. How do I get back to Settings?
Open LilSnap again from Finder, Spotlight or Launchpad and Settings appears.
Automation
Shortcuts app: Move Front Window, Tile Front Windows, Restore Front Window, Apply Custom Layout.
URL scheme (from Terminal, launchers, Stream Deck…):
lilsnap://action/leftHalf(any layout:rightHalf,topLeft,firstThird,maximize…)lilsnap://tile/3(2–4)lilsnap://restorelilsnap://custom/Coding(a custom layout by name)lilsnap://settings
How do I stop LilSnap from starting automatically?
Turn off Launch at login in Settings → General. It's off until you turn it on.
How do I uninstall it?
Quit LilSnap from its menu, then drag the app from your Applications folder to the Trash. You can also delete the LilSnap shortcut in the Shortcuts app.
System requirements
macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Apple silicon and Intel.