WindowShade
简体繁體Download for Mac

A window utility for Mac · Free and open source

Roll it up.
Keep its place.

Double-click a title bar and the window rolls up into a thin bar, right where it was. Double-click again and it’s back.

Download for MacSee how it worksWatch the intro (in Chinese)
  • macOS 15 or later
  • Apple Silicon
  • Free · MIT licensed
  • Simplified, Traditional and English
  • 1.0.18 · ZIP 9.35 MB

From the manual · 1994

System 7.5 guide,
page 48

Double-click the title bar and only the bar is left. Two clicks or three: you choose.

Double-click the Reference title bar. You can drag it around, too.

Why roll up

Three ways to move a window aside.
Only one never makes you look for it.

When a window covers something, you probably close it or minimize it. Both work. Getting it back just takes a little effort.

  1. 01

    Close

    It’s gone. Open it again, then find your place again.

  2. 02

    Minimize

    It flies into the Dock. You have to spot it there first.

  3. 03

    Roll up

    It becomes a thin bar, right where it was. You always know where it is.

Unlike minimizing, the window never leaves the desktop. Drag the bar somewhere else and the window opens there.

Window stories

This double-click
is older than your Mac.

In the ’90s, most Mac users knew this trick. Then the system changed course, sent windows to the Dock, and the trick was slowly forgotten. We wrote its story as a long read you can operate: change the old control panel, drag a rolled-up window, then boot a real old Mac.

Read the window stories

Seven chapters · four hands-on experiments · 14 primary sources

WINDOWSHADE FIELD NOTES · № 001

After a window moves aside,
do you remember where it was?
  1. 01Don’t close it yetOne desktop, three ways to move a window aside
  2. 02A small utilityA 1994 user-group newsletter
  3. 03Two clicks or threeChange the old control panel yourself
  4. 04A button for itDrag a rolled-up window somewhere new
  5. 05Off to the DockThe Dock, Exposé and Mission Control
  6. 06Still in useStickies still keeps the trick
  7. 07Back to todayThirty years on, back on the Mac
  8. ↗Boot an old MacSystem 7.5 · Mac OS 8 · Mac OS X 10.1

WindowShade today

Beyond the old gesture,
it keeps track of every window.

Roll up, and a window stays where it was. Glance, and you see it without unrolling. Pin, and it stays in front. Slide Over, and it waits at the screen edge. Tuck it into the notch, and the notch keeps an eye on it. Browse, and you find it from the Dock. They all answer one question: where is the window you need?

Glance

No round trip.
Just rest and look.

Rest the pointer on a rolled-up bar and a card drops down beneath it, showing the window’s content at its own size. Move away and the card rolls back up. You never switched apps, and no other window moved. Click the card to unroll the window for real.

  • Clearly a previewThe bar stays put and the card hangs just below it. A window that was minimized can’t be shown live, so the card says it’s the picture from when it was put away.
  • Carry to every desktopIf you keep one app per desktop, press ⌃⌘G to carry the window to every desktop. Its bar appears in the top-right corner of the others; rest on it to see the window as it is right now.

Glance is on by default. You can turn it off in Settings → Roll up; then clicking a bar shows a small snapshot instead.

A web illustration. It never touches the windows on your Mac. Rest the pointer on the bar, or tap it.

Title-bar gestures

Where your fingers go,
the window goes.

Put the pointer on a title bar and swipe with two fingers, or hold it and flick. The window follows your hand and acts only when you let go; pull back halfway and nothing happens. Pick a gesture to see it.

Only on a title bar: web pages and lists scroll as usual. On the keyboard it’s ⌃⌘ plus an arrow; with an ordinary mouse, three notches of the wheel on a title bar count as one swipe. After you switch displays, placed windows are laid out the same way on the new screen.

Tuck into the notch

The notch
can hold windows.

Off until you turn it on in Settings. Flick a title bar toward the notch and the window shrinks and flies into it, clearing your desk. Its icon and a count show beside the notch; rest the pointer there and the notch opens into a row. Click one and it goes back where it was.

  • One place for every put-away windowWindows tucked into the notch, rolled-up bars, Slide Over and windows on every desktop all sit in that row. Click a card and that window goes back where it belongs.
  • The notch tells you when something changesWhen a tucked window’s title changes, say a build finishes or a download completes, the notch opens briefly to say so, then leaves a dot on its card. Windows that change all the time only get the dot.
  • It stays out of the menu barWhen menus or menu bar icons sit beside the notch, it shows a small strip under it instead. Screens without a notch get an invisible one in the middle of the menu bar.

Press “Tuck into the notch” and the Terminal window flies in.

Web illustration; it never touches your windows. On a Mac you flick the title bar at the notch; here a button does it.

Launchpad

Every app has a place.
Every window has somewhere to go.

Press ⌃⌘L to open Launchpad. Drop apps into folders, or find them in the App Library on the last page.

  • Live activities on the Today pageMusic, headphones, shares and routes share up to three entries with the notch. Swipe to switch and hold to expand.
  • Rearrange the Home gridPress and hold an icon to edit. Drag icons to rearrange them or make folders.
  • Remove from Home, not from the MacTaking an icon off the grid leaves the app installed. Add it back whenever you like.
  • Drag out into Slide OverOutside editing mode, drag an app icon straight to the screen edge to open its window in Slide Over.

Also new in 1.0.17: Magic Tiling, the scroll strip, Picture in Picture, Slide Over with a split handle, ⌥-Tab by window, and Dock click-to-hide. This is a web illustration.

A web illustration. It won’t open an app or change your layout.

Slide Over

One window,
waiting at the edge.

Drag a window by its title bar onto the arrow midway along a free screen edge, pause until it highlights, then release. The window docks at the edge and floats above the rest. Or press ⌃⌘S. Flick it toward its edge and it tucks away past the screen, leaving a small handle; tap the handle or swipe in on it and it comes back. To leave Slide Over, drag its title bar to the middle of the screen, stop, and release.

  • Still the same windowTucking and pulling out slide the real window with its momentum: no screenshots, no minimizing, and the rest of the app stays put.
  • On every desktopSwitch desktops and the handle follows you. What you pull out there is a live picture of it; click it to go to the window.
Notes
  • Interview questions
  • Check three quotes
  • File by Friday

The window sits at the left edge, in front. Flick its title bar to the left, or use the button above.

Web illustration; it never touches your windows. Drag the illustrated title bar: toward the middle it gets heavier, and on release its speed decides where it goes.

Pin

Need to keep an eye on it?
Keep it in front.

Writing from notes, or following a tutorial step by step? Pin that window. Switch to anything else and it stays uncovered.

Press ⌃⌘P to pin the current window, and again to unpin. The menu bar lists every pinned window and can unpin them all at once.

Size reference

Width × height

240 × 160 mm
Product description

Use the reference dimensions to write the specification.

The reference is in front. Click the draft, or press “Switch to the draft”.

A browser illustration — it won’t touch your Mac’s windows. Pinning reference: Top.it.

Window browsing

Looking for a window?
Start with its app.

Rest the pointer on an app’s icon in the Dock and every window that app has open is listed, each with a picture and a title. Pick the right one first; only that window is touched.

  • Look first, then actThe panel is for looking. A window changes only when you press a button on its card.
  • Space for a closer lookSelect a window and press Space for a large preview. The window isn’t brought forward or moved.
  • See where it goes firstLeft half, right half, a corner, centred, full, or another display. It shows where the window will go and moves it only when you agree. You can undo afterwards.

You can also open it from Choose window… in the menu bar, or with a hot key you set, with the search field at the top. The Dock entry is off by default; turn it on in Settings → Window browsing.

Panel closed. Rest the pointer on the Dock icon, or click it.

A browser illustration — it won’t touch your Mac’s windows. The panel is temporary: it does not replace the Dock or take over Command-Tab.

An extra

Close the lid,
and the desktop stays put.

On an Apple Silicon MacBook with a hinge sensor, the screen closes but the desktop seems to stay where it was, like a page behind glass, growing darker and blurrier toward the top. Open the lid and it’s back. It’s only an extra: rolling up and pinning work without it.

A browser illustration, drawn with the app’s settings for its three styles. The real effect needs an Apple Silicon MacBook with a hinge sensor.

Seven sets of shortcuts. That’s all.

A new setup presets none of these: record your own in Settings → Shortcuts, or bring Rectangle’s key set over in one click. Setups upgraded from 1.0.15 or earlier keep the ones above.

There are also 7 actions for Shortcuts, Spotlight and Siri, such as Roll Up or Unroll Front Window, Unroll All, and Pin or Unpin Front Window.

Your windows
stay on your Mac.

Accessibility permission finds and moves windows, and is required. Screen Recording is optional: turn it on to see live pictures of your windows in Glance. Everything is processed on your Mac and nothing is uploaded. If the app ever quits unexpectedly, your windows go back to how they were.

Design rationale and research notes

Before you download

Will it work on my Mac?

You need macOS 15 or later and Apple Silicon — there’s no Intel build. If you’re still on macOS 14, stay on 1.0.16. Rolling up and pinning don’t need any sensors. The lid-following desktop effect needs a MacBook with a hinge sensor.

What permissions does it need?

Two: one required, one optional. Accessibility (required): finding, moving and restoring windows. Screen Recording (optional): turn it on to see live window pictures in Glance, in window browsing and in pinned previews; leave it off and WindowShade still works, with previews showing icons and titles instead. “Screen Recording” is just the name the system gives that permission — nothing leaves your Mac. If Accessibility gets turned off while the app is running, it tells you.

Do glances and gestures move my windows?

A glance never does. A gesture moves a window only when you let go with the panel’s track full; pull back to cancel.

Can I use the notch without a notch?

Yes. On an external display there’s an invisible notch in the middle of the menu bar: it stays out of sight until a window is tucked into it, and flicking toward it works the same.

How is Slide Over different from pinning?

Pinning just keeps a window in front, where it is. Slide Over docks it at the screen edge: pull it out when you need it and tuck it away when you don’t, from any desktop.

I use Swish. Will they clash?

No. While Swish is running, title-bar gestures are left to it; pulling down on a rolled-up bar still works.

Does window browsing move my windows?

No — not unless you press a button on a card. Before it acts, it checks once more that the window is still the one you picked. If it can’t be sure, it does nothing.

A shortcut does nothing. Why?

Most likely Secure Input is on: while you type a password, for example, macOS keeps keystrokes from other apps. Another window manager holding the same combination does the same. In either case, the notch or the menu bar says which one it is.

Does the notch replace the volume and brightness display?

Not by default. Turn on Volume & brightness in Settings and the notch shows them when you press those keys. If you’d rather keep the system’s own display, also turn on Use the System’s Volume and Brightness Pop-ups: WindowShade only listens, the keys go through, the system shows its own display and the notch follows along.

Something’s wrong. How do I tell you?

In Settings → Advanced → About, click Report a Problem. You can also Export Diagnostics first: the file stays on your Mac, nothing is uploaded, and you decide whether to send it. The same place exports and imports settings; importing makes a backup first.

Does it work with every window?

With regular windows, yes. Stickies rolls up in its own system way; apps like Adobe’s that draw their own title bars are handled separately. Full screen, Split View, Stage Manager and multiple displays still have a few gaps — try it once with the apps you use.

How do I install it?

Download the DMG, open it and drag WindowShade.app into Applications; a ZIP works too. The app is notarized by Apple. From 1.0.17, Check for Updates in the menu is enough; from 1.0.16 or earlier, download by hand once, then reopen Accessibility (and Screen Recording, if you had turned it on).

Next time windows pile up,
don’t close them just yet.

Download for Mac

macOS 15 or later · Apple Silicon · Free and MIT licensed