HopTab
How to move a window to another monitor on Mac
macOS gives you exactly one built-in way to move a window between displays: drag it across the bezel and hope it lands right. There's no default keyboard shortcut. Here's the manual method, the gotchas, and the one-keystroke fix.
By default you drag the window across the screen edge toward the other monitor. macOS has no built-in keyboard shortcut for this. A free window manager adds one — HopTab uses ⌃⌥⌘ + arrow to throw a window to the next or previous display.
Method 1 — Drag across the bezel
Grab the window's title bar and drag it past the edge of the current screen toward your other monitor until it crosses over, then release. Simple, but slow if you do it dozens of times a day — and on a differently-sized second display the window often ends up too big, too small, or half off-screen.
Fix the display arrangement first
If windows jump somewhere unexpected, your displays are probably arranged in software differently from how they sit on your desk. Open System Settings → Displays, click Arrange…, and drag the blue rectangles so their positions match reality. Now dragging left actually goes to the monitor on your left.
Method 2 — A keyboard shortcut (the fast way)
Since macOS won't give you one, a window manager will. In HopTab:
- ⌃⌥⌘ + → throws the focused window to the next monitor.
- ⌃⌥⌘ + ← sends it to the previous one.
- Placement is proportional — a window taking the left half of a 27″ display lands on the left half of your laptop screen, not at the same pixel size.
If you regularly dock and undock, HopTab can also save and restore whole window layouts per display configuration — dock your laptop and your external-monitor arrangement comes back automatically; undock and your laptop layout returns.
Throw windows between displays with one key
HopTab adds the move-to-monitor shortcut macOS forgot, with proportional placement and per-display layouts. Free and open source, macOS 14+.
FAQ
Is there a keyboard shortcut to move a window to another monitor on Mac?
Not by default — macOS only lets you drag a window across the bezel. A window manager like HopTab adds a shortcut (⌃⌥⌘ + arrow) to send the focused window to the next or previous display.
Why does my window jump to the wrong place when I move it between monitors?
Usually the displays are arranged in System Settings differently from how they sit physically, or the screens are different sizes. Fixing the arrangement helps; tools that place windows proportionally avoid the problem entirely.
Can I keep a window's size when moving it between monitors?
Dragging keeps the pixel size, which can look wrong on a differently-sized display. HopTab places the window proportionally so it occupies the same relative area on the new monitor.