Managing windows on macOS with AeroSpace

Window management on macOS has never been particularly difficult, but it often feels more manual than it should. I would open an editor, browser and terminal, then spend time dragging and resizing their windows until everything was more or less where I wanted it.

AeroSpace is a tiling window manager that removes most of that work. It automatically arranges windows so they use the available space, and gives me a consistent set of keyboard shortcuts to move between them.

Windows arrange themselves

With a traditional desktop, every new window is another rectangle I need to position. With AeroSpace, opening or closing a window adjusts the layout around it. The result is simple: I spend less time organising applications before I can use them.

My configuration uses a tiled layout without gaps, which makes particularly good use of the smaller MacBook display. I can still change the split direction, resize a window or move it somewhere else, but the default arrangement is usually already useful.

The keyboard is the useful part

Automatic tiling is convenient, but navigating the layout from the keyboard is what makes AeroSpace valuable to me. I use Option together with the familiar Vim direction keys:

alt-h = 'focus left'
alt-j = 'focus down'
alt-k = 'focus up'
alt-l = 'focus right'

Adding Shift moves the focused window instead. Option and a number switches workspace, while Option, Shift and a number sends the current window there. These shortcuts quickly become muscle memory and keep my hands on the keyboard while moving between an editor, terminal and browser.

Not every application needs tiling

Some windows work better when they float. Finder, Spotify, Teams and similar applications do not always need to occupy a fixed part of my layout. AeroSpace lets me define rules for those applications in the same configuration file:

[[on-window-detected]]
if.app-id = 'com.apple.finder'
run = ['layout floating']

This makes the setup flexible rather than forcing every application into the same workflow. The windows I use for focused work are tiled, while smaller or temporary windows behave more like normal macOS windows.

A small tool that removes small interruptions

AeroSpace has not fundamentally changed what I can do on my MacBook. macOS already lets me resize windows, create desktops and switch between applications. What AeroSpace changes is how much attention those actions require.

Opening a window no longer creates another arrangement task. Moving between applications becomes a direct keyboard action instead of a search through overlapping windows. Each interruption was small, but removing them makes the entire desktop feel calmer and more predictable.

Like many useful tools, AeroSpace is most noticeable when it is not running and I suddenly have to organise everything myself again.