Amethyst: Tiling Window Manager for macOS

Amethyst is a powerful and efficient tiling window manager for macOS, inspired by the classic tiling window manager xmonad. It revolutionizes macOS’s native overlapping window management by automatically arranging windows and enabling keyboard-driven workflows, maximizing screen space utilization and significantly improving multitasking efficiency and workflow focus.

If you want to learn more about tiling window managers and Amethyst’s capabilities, there are many excellent community resources available on YouTube.

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Core Features

Amethyst’s core strength lies in automated window layouts and keyboard-driven operations, freeing you from the hassle of manually dragging windows with a mouse.

1. Automated Tiling Layouts

• Automatic Arrangement: As you open, close, or resize windows, Amethyst automatically arranges them into a non-overlapping, space-efficient tiled layout, eliminating window clutter and manual resizing.
• Multiple Layout Algorithms: Built-in layout modes (e.g., tall, wide, fullscreen, column) can be cycled through to adapt to different work scenarios (e.g., coding, writing, multi-document comparison).

2. Powerful Keyboard-Driven Operations

All core functions in Amethyst can be controlled via global keyboard shortcuts, allowing you to stay hands-on-keyboard for a seamless experience.

• Fast Focus Switching: Quickly and precisely move focus between windows (mod1 + j/k).
• Adjust Window Regions: Dynamically resize the main or secondary window regions (mod1 + h/l).
• Move and Swap Windows: Move or swap windows between screens or different tiling positions (mod2 + j/k/h/l).
• Swap with Master Window: Quickly promote the focused window to the master (typically larger) window region (mod1 + enter).

3. Multi-Screen and Multi-Space Support

• Cross-Screen Management: Fully supports multi-monitor setups, allowing easy focus or window movement across screens (e.g., mod1 + w/e/r to focus different screens).
• Integration with macOS Spaces: Windows can be directly “thrown” into different desktop spaces (Spaces), enabling cross-space window management (e.g., mod2 + digit keys).

4. Highly Customizable

• Customizable Shortcuts: Almost all commands can be rebound using modifier keys like mod1 (default: option + shift) and mod2 (default: ctrl + option + shift).
• Configurable Modifiers: In addition to mod1 and mod2, users can define mod3 and mod4 for extended shortcut combinations.
• Layout Preferences: Customize layout rules, window margins, floating window exceptions, and more for each screen.

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Software Benefits

• Boosted Productivity: By minimizing mouse dependency and automating window management, you can focus entirely on your content, greatly enhancing work, study, and development efficiency.
• Efficient Screen Space Utilization: Tiling layouts ensure all open windows are clearly visible and usable simultaneously, ideal for multitasking, code comparison, and reference writing.
• Linux-Like Efficiency: Brings a keyboard-driven, highly customizable workflow to macOS, similar to Linux tiling managers like xmonad or i3.
• Open Source and Free: Amethyst is an open-source project, completely free to use, with active community support and ongoing development.
• Lightweight and Focused: As a system enhancement tool, it runs efficiently and remains focused solely on window management.

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Installation and Setup

Amethyst supports macOS 10.15 and later.

• Option 1: Direct Download

• Option 2: Install via Homebrew Cask (Recommended)

  • If you have Homebrew installed, run the following command in Terminal to install Amethyst:

  brew install --cask amethyst
  

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First-Time Use and Configuration

1. Grant Accessibility Permissions

After launching for the first time, Amethyst must be granted accessibility permissions to control other windows.

• Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility.
• Click the lock icon in the bottom-left to unlock.
• Find Amethyst and check its checkbox.

2. Adjust macOS System Settings (Recommended)

For the most stable and predictable multi-desktop (Space) experience, disable a default macOS setting.

• Steps: Open System Settings > Desktop & Dock (or "Mission Control").
• Disable: The option “Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use”. This feature is enabled by default and causes Spaces to reorder automatically, making Amethyst’s keyboard navigation unpredictable.
• Terminal Alternative: If you prefer command-line, run:

  defaults write com.apple.dock workspaces-auto-swoosh -bool NO
  killall Dock
  

3. Use Default Keyboard Shortcuts

Amethyst comes with a set of intuitive default shortcuts, mostly mapped from xmonad’s classic keybindings. You can start using them immediately:

Shortcut (Default)	Description
mod1 + space	Cycle to next layout
mod2 + space	Cycle to previous layout
mod1 + h/l	Shrink/expand the master window region
mod1 + j/k	Move focus to next window counter-clockwise/clockwise
mod1 + enter	Swap focused window with master window
mod2 + j/k	Move focused window to next position counter-clockwise/clockwise
mod2 + h/l	Move focused window to left/right screen
mod2 + digit keys (1-0)	“Throw” focused window to Space 1-10

Default Modifier Keys:

• mod1 = option (⌥) + shift (⇧)
• mod2 = control (⌃) + option (⌥) + shift (⇧)

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Troubleshooting

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Summary

Amethyst elevates macOS window management to a new level. For users seeking peak efficiency and minimal mouse usage (especially developers, writers, and researchers), it is an indispensable tool. By transforming screen space into a logically organized, easy-to-navigate tiled grid, Amethyst helps you build a more focused and productive digital workspace.