For years Spectacle was the answer to "how do I snap windows on a Mac". It was free, it was three keystrokes to learn, and it asked nothing of you. Then its author stopped, and said so clearly. If you are here because your copy vanished in a migration or stopped responding after an update, this is where things stand.
The short answer
Do not install Spectacle in 2026. Its README states it is not being actively maintained and the repository is archived, so nothing gets fixed when a macOS update breaks it. The README itself names the way out: Rectangle, which is free, actively developed, and can adopt Spectacle's own shortcuts so nothing you memorised is wasted. On macOS Sequoia and later you may not need either, because the system tiles windows now.
What the author actually said
Worth quoting in full, because plenty of download sites still hand out the binary without mentioning any of it: “This project is not being actively maintained. Unfortunately, after almost a decade of on-and-off development I can no longer dedicate the time needed to be a responsible maintainer of this project.” The same README adds the recommendation: “Spectacle users have recommended Rectangle as an open source alternative.”
That is an unusually graceful way to end a project, and it makes the decision easy. This is not a tool in a quiet patch between releases. It is finished, its author says so, and it points you somewhere specific.
| Status | Archived. README states it is not being actively maintained |
|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source |
| What it did | Moved and resized the front window to halves, corners, thirds and centre from keyboard shortcuts |
| Minimum macOS | 0.8.6 was the last version for Mac OS X 10.7; later releases required 10.9 or greater |
| Author's recommended replacement | Rectangle |
| Restores a layout after a display change | No. It never claimed to |
The shortcuts, for reference
These are Spectacle's defaults, which matter for one practical reason: Rectangle offers them as a preset, so you can move without relearning anything.
| Left half | Option-Command-Left Arrow |
|---|---|
| Right half | Option-Command-Right Arrow |
| Top half | Option-Command-Up Arrow |
| Bottom half | Option-Command-Down Arrow |
| Upper left corner | Control-Command-Left Arrow |
| Lower left corner | Control-Shift-Command-Left Arrow |
| Upper right corner | Control-Command-Right Arrow |
| Lower right corner | Control-Shift-Command-Right Arrow |
| Maximise | Option-Command-F |
| Centre | Option-Command-C |
| Undo, redo | Option-Command-Z, Option-Shift-Command-Z |
Does it still run?
Sometimes, for a while. Spectacle moves windows through the macOS accessibility APIs, the same mechanism every snapper uses, and that is one of the parts of macOS Apple revises most often. A permissions prompt that no longer appears, a signing requirement that tightens, one changed behaviour in the window server, and an abandoned app quietly stops doing anything. Nobody is watching for that on Spectacle's behalf.
So a working install is not evidence that installing it now is sensible. It is evidence that the last thing to break it has not shipped yet.
What to move to
If you want the same thing, maintained
Rectangle. Free, open source, actively developed, and it explicitly positions itself as Spectacle's successor with a shortcut preset to match. For someone coming from Spectacle it is the shortest possible move, and there is no reason to shop around before trying it.
If you are on macOS Sequoia or later
Try nothing first. macOS tiles windows itself now: drag one to a screen edge, or press Fn-Control-Left Arrow. If halves and quarters were all you used Spectacle for, that is the whole requirement met with no app installed. The full set of shortcuts is in how to split screen on a Mac.
If you would rather buy something
Magnet for an App Store purchase with App Store updates, or Moom if you want custom grids and saved arrangements on top of snapping. Both are covered against each other in Rectangle vs Magnet vs Moom.
If you want windows placed for you
Automatic tilers are a different way of working: instead of snapping a window when you say so, they lay out every window all the time. Amethyst, AeroSpace and yabai each take a different route to it. The whole landscape is mapped in the Mac window manager comparison.
The thing Spectacle never did, and Rectangle does not either
If part of your reason for searching is that windows keep ending up piled on the wrong screen after you undock or redock, replacing Spectacle will not help, because that was never what it was for. Snapping puts the window in your hand somewhere specific, now. It has no memory and no involvement ten minutes later when macOS has to fit a two-screen layout onto one screen.
Why your Mac windows move when you unplug a monitorexplains the mechanism. The tools built for it are restorers: they record where your windows are and put them back after something outside your control rearranges them. Putback is one of those, and we make it, so weigh this paragraph accordingly. It learns your layout as you work rather than asking you to save snapshots, keeps a separate memory per display setup, and restores everything in about 0.4 seconds when that setup comes back. It never snaps or tiles anything, so it sits alongside whatever you replace Spectacle with instead of competing with it.
Questions, answered.
Is Spectacle still maintained?
No. Its README states plainly: "This project is not being actively maintained. Unfortunately, after almost a decade of on-and-off development I can no longer dedicate the time needed to be a responsible maintainer of this project." The repository is archived, so there are no new releases and no fixes for anything a future macOS version breaks.
What should I use instead of Spectacle?
Spectacle's own README points at one option: "Spectacle users have recommended Rectangle as an open source alternative." Rectangle is free, open source, and can adopt Spectacle's default shortcuts, so the muscle memory transfers. If you are on macOS Sequoia or later, the tiling built into the system already covers halves and quarters with no app at all.
Does Spectacle still work on current macOS?
It may launch, and for some people it still snaps windows, but nothing about that is guaranteed and nobody is fixing it when it stops. Spectacle drives windows through the macOS accessibility APIs, which is the part of the system most often changed between releases, and an unmaintained app in that position is one update away from silently doing nothing. Treat a working install as borrowed time rather than a plan.
Can I keep Spectacle's keyboard shortcuts?
Yes, if you move to Rectangle, which offers a Spectacle shortcut preset so Option-Command-Left Arrow and the rest keep meaning what they always did. That is the single strongest reason to pick Rectangle over the other snappers when you are coming from Spectacle specifically.
Was Spectacle free?
Yes, free and open source, with the source on GitHub. That is worth naming because it is the reason so many Macs still have it: there was never a licence to renew or an account to log into, so an install from years ago just kept running until something broke.
Will Rectangle stop my windows moving when I unplug a monitor?
No, and neither did Spectacle. Snapping tools act on the window in front of you when you press a shortcut, and keep no record of where anything was. When a display disconnects, macOS moves your windows onto the screens that remain, and no snapper puts them back. That is a different category of tool, a restorer, which is what Stay and Putback do.
How we checked this
Prices, licences, minimum macOS versions and feature claims on this page were read from each tool's own website, App Store listing or repository documentation on 5 August 2026. We build one of the tools mentioned here, which is a conflict of interest worth knowing about, so every claim about a competitor is either quoted from its own documentation or described as something that documentation does not cover. Where a tool does not state something, we say so instead of guessing. Prices and features change: check the linked source before you buy anything.
Replace Spectacle. Then fix the other half.
Snapping puts a window where you want it. Putback makes sure the whole layout is still there after your next dock, undock or display change.
Free for 7 days · then $19, once · macOS 14+