Alt+click-drag window resizing on a Mac? (Similar to X-Windows)

Is there a way I can get this behavior on Mac OS?

alt + right-click-drag will resize the window, relative to where you've clicked within the window and the window's center
alt + left-click-drag will move the window, regardless of where you've clicked within the window.

There's a Windows port of this behavior as well: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/DLL/wm.aspx

Aaron F.

Posted 2009-10-08T23:57:07.513

Reputation: 673

Not really an answer to the question, but if you move the mouse to the right/left edge until you see the horizontal resize icon, then dragging vertically will allow you to move the window instead of resizing. Same goes for the bottom edge + horizontal drag. The advantage is that it does not require installing anything extra. – ccpizza – 2016-03-22T10:49:20.853

I never knew about this, sounds useful. +1 – Sasha Chedygov – 2009-10-09T00:07:56.480

I use it all the time on my work Windows machine. Biggest missing feature for me since I moved to Mac. : ( If I can't find a solution, I'll have to write my own. : ) – Aaron F. – 2009-10-09T00:11:59.420

A considerable list of window management options is discussed at http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/9659/what-window-management-options-exist-for-os-x

– duozmo – 2012-10-28T16:43:23.757

Answers

BetterTouchTool lets you do this: http://boastr.net/ (~~it's free~~ and quite handy!)

UPDATE: Since 2016 BetterTouchTool is not free anymore.

In BTT's prefs, click on the "Action Settings (window stuff etc)" button.

Then select the "Window Moving and Resizing" tab.

The bottom pane will have 3 options, choose whichever you like: image of window move and resize option fields

I selected all three: move, resize, and FN.

When I hold FN+CTRL the focused window will move when I slide around on the trackpad.

When I hold FN+OPTION the focused window will resize when I slide around on the trackpad.

I tested this on my macbook pro, mac os x 10.6.5.

Note that you may get this message first time you try to actually move or resize a window:

message window if you haven't already enabled the Accessibility API

Click "Launch it for me!", then check the box for "Enable access for assistive devices" - you're in business.

svec

Posted 2009-10-08T23:57:07.513

Reputation: 630

Alt drag works on BTT but at least on Catalina window movement is not smooth. There used to an application called Zooom which was the best but was discontinued and doesn't work now. – trinth – 2019-10-22T16:03:25.580

Thanks for this. It's not quite what I was looking for, but it certainly is less work (no clicking to move/resize!) And it's free!!!! – codekoala – 2012-03-22T21:42:48.347

moving windows without a click is quite unusual, but maybe it's just a matter of habit. thanks for the detailed answer – Paul – 2012-10-18T10:20:11.473

Easy Move+Resize is a free and open source tool that does exactly that. I tested it on El Capitan.

Cmd + Ctrl + Left Mouse - anywhere inside a window, then drag to move

Cmd + Ctrl + Right Mouse - anywhere inside a window, then drag to resize

grebulon

Posted 2009-10-08T23:57:07.513

Reputation: 381

1Just tried it. Works great. Just wish the icon had a little better resolution. – Saad Malik – 2016-04-28T23:07:17.083

Yes, download the latest release and run. Very light and simple. – Jesse Pepper – 2016-10-26T07:28:36.877

A bit hard to resize windows on the touchpad: (1) hold configured modifier key(s) (2) I have to use two-finger tap (3) continue to press down one of the fingers to really "click" (in the bottom of the touchpad) (4) add the third finger tap and move it so the window is resized (Old MacBook Pro Retina, El Capitan.) – mike_k – 2017-01-07T10:19:48.590

You're right @mike_k, it's not perfect – grebulon – 2017-01-08T08:07:27.137

@mike_k this is probably not meant for touchpad. – Ondra Žižka – 2017-11-20T21:07:53.140

@grebulon Works great. I configured it with the Alt + Left/Right without the need of the Ctrl key, just like on Linux. Thanks man :-) ! – SebMa – 2018-07-10T12:08:59.977

This is the bloody dream!! Thank you whoever wrote this and thank you Grebulon for letting us know about it :D – Jamie Hutber – 2018-08-29T10:32:09.693

Tried them all and they are not as good as Flexiglass.

Afloat doesn't work with all applications (Firefox is one of them)
Zooom doesn't allow you to use the right click button

Haytham Elkhoja

Posted 2009-10-08T23:57:07.513

Reputation: 206

I found this the other day, might be useful:

Although not Alt + left-click-drag but this would give you Ctrl + Cmd + Click natively (High Sierra or later), no 3rd party app required:

Run this command in terminal to enable Ctrl + Cmd + Click in any window to move. Restart after.

# to add
defaults write -g NSWindowShouldDragOnGesture -bool true

Run this command in terminal to remove this functionality. Restart after.

# to remove
defaults delete -g NSWindowShouldDragOnGesture

sourced from http://www.mackungfu.org/UsabilityhackClickdraganywhereinmacOSwindowstomovethem

Richard

Posted 2009-10-08T23:57:07.513

Reputation: 121

This is the right answer. No third party software needed. Just a simple change in some config. – meh – 2019-08-20T13:24:48.247

Try holding fn + option and then move your mouse (10.6.4 2010 MBP)

My old mac used to do it using just option key along (10.6.2 MBA)

Oh and try the window snapping function on BetterTouchTool. If you've not used that app, its the greatest thing to happen to Apple Trackpads (and Magic Mouse) > lets you configure over 40+ different gestures to lots of different commands!

And its free too

lse

Posted 2009-10-08T23:57:07.513

Reputation: 21

There is also Maxsnap (10 USD), which I found to be smoother in movement than BTT.

trinth

Posted 2009-10-08T23:57:07.513

Reputation: 298

-1

With the Afloat utility installed, holding control+Command moves a window.

Wuffers

Posted 2009-10-08T23:57:07.513

Reputation: 16 645

Please elaborate - I'm not seeing that behavior. – JRobert – 2010-06-15T14:09:26.227

Hold command and control and you can drag a window from anywhere, can you not? – Wuffers – 2010-06-15T15:16:54.667

No on my 10.5.8 box. Nor do I find a system preference for it. Perhaps it was introduce in a fairly recent version of the OS or you have some helper wingding installed... – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten – 2010-07-08T21:57:33.143

Never mind, I apologize. It was with a third-party utility called Float. – Wuffers – 2010-09-17T23:37:04.947

Seems like the website is gone. – trinth – 2019-10-22T16:05:26.820

@DanielBeck: I updated my answer accordingly, thank you! – Wuffers – 2011-01-04T22:19:33.933