How to Stop Windows from Automatically Resizing on macOS Sequoia
Reading Time: 2 minutes After updating my Mac this morning, I noticed an annoying new behavior: every time I try to move a window on my Cinematic Display, it snaps to full screen if I even come close to the top of the screen. It’s like the window just leaps up, taking over the whole display without my permission. I can’t stand it—I’m just trying to rearrange my workspace, not go full-screen every other second!
If you’re dealing with this same issue after updating to Sequoia, you’re not alone. The good news? Disabling this automatic window resizing is really simple. In this short guide, I’ll walk you through the quick steps to turn it off so you can move your windows freely again, without any sudden full-screen surprises.
This automatic window sizing is caused by Tiling, a feature that enables quick snapping and resizing of windows for multitasking. With tiling, you can drag a window to an edge of the screen—left, right, or any corner—and it will snap into place, either filling half the screen or a specific area depending on its position. If you drag a window to the top menu bar, it will expand to fill the entire desktop.
First, here’s a quick explanation of what “Tile by dragging windows to screen edges” actually does, as we will disable it. This setting in macOS automatically resizes and arranges your windows when you drag them to certain parts of the screen.
While this feature can be helpful for multitasking, it can also become frustrating if windows are snapping when you don’t want them to. Disabling it gives you more control over where and how your windows appear on the screen.
It’s worth noting that window tiling is available in macOS Sequoia 15 or later. You can use the Desktop & Dock settings to enable or disable several window tiling options, depending on your preference.
To disable automatic tiling, follow these steps:
- Open System Settings on your Mac.
- Navigate to Desktop & Dock from the left menu bar.
- Find the Windows section.
- Turn off the option labeled “Tile by dragging windows to screen edges.”
With this setting off, you’ll be able to move your windows around without them snapping to full-screen. Enjoy the freedom to set up your screen exactly how you like it!
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Thanks so much for this. It is nice to have as an option but for my use cases is far more unwelcome than welcome. Your quick fix is appreciated.
Thank you. The most infuriating default setting ever! Trying to utilize this fix was made significantly more difficult because of the problem this corrects.
This iOS intro is already out of date. Fighting this “Go to full screen anytime you move anything” seems to be a continual battle with Apple, as the solution has never been clear and is constantly changing, as if we are fighting spam. Why is this?
Thank you for removing one small source of insanity and frustration from my life.
I can now work on the others.
I HOPE this works as makes me so CRAZY UPSET! Other her say it works so hoep for me too. Thank you.
Thank you! This was driving me crazy.
THANK YOU so much, it was so annoying…
Thank you! What a dumb feature – but you saved the day!!
Thank you. A very simple fix to a very annoying feature. Apple should devote resources to doing something that we MacOs users want, like touchscreen Macs with facial recognition that Windows users have enjoyed for years or getting Siri to be as good as Google.
There is a place in heaven for you! I am a data scientist and often have multiple files open, multiple applications running, I write complicated code, which often requires that I look at several displays at the same time, to compare code, to find bugs, and for many other things I have to do. I need to control what the computer does, what it displays, and where it displays it.
This new feature where suddenly, while I’m staring at several pieces of code on several documents, one of the windows goes to full screen covering everything else, was really beginning to bug the sh**** out of me.
Now it’s turned off.
Thanks! It was driving me nuts too!
Thank you, thank you. The tiling thing was driving me crazy1