Stacks
Put several windows in one column. Pull a window into the column on its left or right, push it back out, reorder inside the stack, and make any window taller or shorter.
NewChainYourMac 2.3: pin a column, click the strip is out
The scrolling window manager for macOS.
Every window sits side by side on one endless strip, the way PaperWM and niri work on Linux. Nothing overlaps, nothing hides behind anything else, and opening one more app never shrinks the rest. You just scroll.
One-time purchase. Lifetime license. macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon.
A working model of ChainYourMac, not a video. Drag a title bar to reorder, click a Dock icon to open an app, close a window with its red button. In the real app you hold ⌃⌥ with each key. The demo answers to both.
- Notarized by Apple
- Signed with Developer ID
- No account, no telemetry in the app
- Only needs the Accessibility permission
- Automatic updates
A tiling window manager for macOS that scrolls instead of shrinking.
Grid tilers like yabai, Amethyst and AeroSpace split the screen again every time an app opens, so everything keeps getting smaller. ChainYourMac is a scrollable tiling window manager: each window is a column on a horizontal strip that runs past the edges of your display. New windows open next to the one you're using, and the rest keep their size.
Grid tiling
Every new window divides the same screen into smaller pieces.
ChainYourMac
The strip gets longer. Every window keeps the width you gave it.
New windows open beside the focused one
Launch an app and its window slots in right next to the one you were using. Nothing overlaps and nothing gets lost behind another window, because every window has its own place on the strip.
The strip follows your focus
Move focus from the keyboard or swipe the trackpad. The strip scrolls just far enough to bring the window into view, on a spring animation that starts the moment you press the key.
Your layout is still there tomorrow
Column order, widths and stacks come back after a restart. Every display and every Space keeps a strip of its own, so work and chat never get shuffled together.
PaperWM for Mac and niri for macOS, built as a native app.
If you've been searching for PaperWM for Mac or a niri for macOS, this is the same scrolling model with Mac manners: a settings window instead of a config file, a trackpad swipe that follows your fingers, and no SIP changes. Every picture below is live, so press the keys.
Tabbed columns
Turn a stack into tabs when each window deserves the full height. One shortcut flips a column between stacked and tabbed, and a tab bar shows what is in the column.
Preset widths
Cycle a window through the widths you choose, such as 25, 33, 50, 66 and 75 percent, or nudge it wider and narrower. Full width and centre are one key each.
Gaps and a Dock-aware layout
Set the space between windows and at the screen edges, down to zero. Windows size themselves around the Dock, so nothing ends up underneath it.
MacBook
External display
Multi-monitor, one strip per display
Every display has its own strip with its own focus and scroll position. Columns snap flush to the edge instead of hanging over onto the screen next door, and one shortcut sends the focused window to the next display. You can also switch ChainYourMac off for any one display, in Configuration → Displays. Windows there stay exactly where you put them, which suits a presentation screen or a portrait monitor.
A trackpad swipe that follows your fingers
Swipe with three or four fingers and the strip moves with them, one to one, then settles on the nearest column. Scroll sideways over any demo on this page to feel it.
New in 2.3
- Pin a column
- Keep one window at the left or right edge of the screen, full height, while the rest of the strip scrolls beside it. ⌃⌥P pins to the left, ⌃⌥⇧P to the right, and the same key unpins.
- A strip indicator you can click
- Hold ⌃⌥ and the indicator stays on screen. Click a tile to jump to that window, or drag a tile to reorder your columns.
- Native tabs, one column
- Finder, Terminal and other apps with macOS window tabs take one column, not one per tab. Switching, closing and dragging tabs out work the way you expect.
- Dialogs float on their own
- Dialogs, Quick Look and image previews stay floating above your windows instead of becoming columns on the strip.
- Keep original height
- An option for windows that keep the height they opened with, aligned to the top, instead of filling the screen top to bottom.
- Smoother swipes
- Windows coming in from off screen glide in with the strip, and a quick change of direction keeps following your fingers, even at the last window.
- Ready after sleep
- After sleep, a locked screen or displays waking up, ChainYourMac sets itself up again on its own. No restart needed.
- Clickable tab bars
- Click a tab in a tabbed column's bar to switch to it.
- Calm with stubborn apps
- An app that refuses a window size no longer makes the strip twitch. ChainYourMac lets it keep its size and lays out around it.
Everything else
- Strip indicator
- A frosted bar with each column's app icon appears while you navigate, shows where you are, then fades out.
- Focus border and dimming
- An optional border around the focused window, and optional dimming for everything else. Both are off until you want them.
- Centre modes
- Keep the focused column centred never, only when the strip overflows, or always.
- Drag to reorder
- Drag a window onto another column and the strip rearranges around it.
- Session restore and launch at login
- Column order and stacks survive restarts without a reshuffle, and the app can start with your Mac and begin tiling automatically.
- No focus stealing
- When an app in the background pops up a window, it doesn't take your focus or scroll your strip.
- Smart floating
- Fixed-size windows, like Calculator, float on their own. So do ChainYourMac's own settings.
- Per-app window rules
- Float the apps that shouldn't tile, or give an app a fixed slot on the strip. Pick the app from a list.
- Focus follows mouse
- Optional, along with mouse follows focus. Both are off by default.
- Guided start and Mac Setup
- A short first run teaches the strip and the five shortcuts you need. Mac Setup checks your macOS settings and warns you if another window manager or snapping app, like Rectangle or Magnet, is running.
- Rebindable shortcuts
- Every shortcut can be changed, one action can have several bindings, and the recorder understands non-US keyboard layouts.
- Settings apply instantly
- Change a gap, a width or a key and see it on screen straight away. There is no Save button and no restart.
- Native fullscreen left alone
- Put a window into macOS fullscreen and ChainYourMac stays out of its way.
- Automation
- A
chainyourmac://URL scheme, Raycast script commands and a command-line tool. - Automatic updates
- New versions arrive through Sparkle, the standard Mac updater.
- Self-healing engine
- If the engine ever stops, the app restarts it, and the engine log shows what happened.
Keyboard shortcuts for every move.
New installs start with Control-Option (⌃⌥) defaults, on Vim keys or the arrows. Plain ⌥ is left to macOS, which uses it to jump by word and to type characters like ç and ®. Press a combination on your own keyboard and watch it light up here.
Navigate
Move focus⌃⌥HJKL
or the arrows⌃⌥←↓↑→
First / last window⌃⌥⌘←→
Jump to window 1–9⌃⌥1…9
Move window⌃⌥⇧+ same keys
Send to next display⌃⌥N
Stop the window manager⌃⌥Q
Size
Cycle width⌃⌥R
Full width⌃⌥F
Centre the column⌃⌥C
Wider / narrower⌃⌥=-
Taller / shorter⌃⌥⇧=-
Equalize heights⌃⌥0
Pin to the left edge⌃⌥P
Pin to the right edge⌃⌥⇧P
Stacks
Stack into left column⌃⌥]
Stack into right column⌃⌥[
Pop out to the right⌃⌥⇧]
Pop out to the left⌃⌥⇧[
Tabbed column⌃⌥⇧T
Float / unfloat⌃⌥T
These are the defaults on a fresh install. Every shortcut is rebindable, one action can have more than one binding, and the recorder works on AZERTY, QWERTZ and Dvorak layouts. Upgrading from an earlier version? Your shortcuts stay exactly as they were, and new ones like ⌃⌥1–9 and the pin keys are added wherever the keys are free. The Shortcuts page in the app can switch you to the new set in one click. Coming from niri? Every niri keybinding, mapped to ChainYourMac.
A real Mac app: SwiftUI on top, Rust underneath.
The window engine is written in Rust and runs as a small background process. Animation is a vsync-locked spring that starts the instant you press the key, and shortcuts are handled by the engine directly, so moving around the strip feels immediate.
The app you see is native SwiftUI: a menu bar item and a settings window where every option has a control. There is no Electron, no web view and no config file to learn. It needs one permission, Accessibility, because that is how macOS lets any window manager move windows.
- RequiresmacOS 13 Ventura or later
- Runs onApple silicon (M1 or newer)
- SecurityNotarized by Apple, Developer ID signed
- PermissionsAccessibility only
- PrivacyNo account, no telemetry in the app
- LicenseOne-time purchase, lifetime
Pay once. Keep it for life.
No subscription and no account.
Lifetime license · 1 Mac
$19.99
One-time purchase. Free updates forever.
- Everything in ChainYourMac 2.3: the scrolling strip, pinned columns, stacks, tabbed columns, trackpad swipe and multi-monitor
- Every future update, delivered automatically
- Move your license to a new Mac whenever you like
- Email support from the developer who built it
Requires macOS 13 Ventura or later on Apple silicon. Checkout by Dodo Payments.
All sales are final: no refunds (terms). Check the requirements first.
Need it on more than one Mac? Same lifetime license, one key for all of them.
Questions, answered.
What is a scrolling window manager?
Instead of forcing windows into a fixed grid, a scrolling window manager places them side by side on a horizontal strip that extends past the edges of your screen. You navigate by scrolling the strip — with trackpad gestures or keyboard shortcuts — and each window keeps the size you gave it. Opening a new app never shrinks or rearranges the others.
Is ChainYourMac like PaperWM or Niri, but for the Mac?
Yes — that's exactly the idea. PaperWM (GNOME) and Niri (Wayland) made scrolling window management beloved on Linux, and ChainYourMac brings the same model to macOS as a polished native app: a SwiftUI interface, a Rust engine, a trackpad swipe that follows your fingers, and a GUI for every setting. No Hammerspoon scripts or config files required.
How is it different from Rectangle, Magnet, or a tiling manager like yabai or AeroSpace?
Rectangle and Magnet are window snappers — you invoke them window by window, and they don't maintain a layout. Tiling managers like yabai, Amethyst, and AeroSpace maintain a layout, but in a grid: every new window resizes the rest.
ChainYourMac maintains a layout without the grid. Windows keep their size on an endless strip, and you scroll. You get the automation of a tiling window manager with the calm of never having your workspace reflow underneath you.
How many Macs can I use it on?
The standard license covers 1 Mac and costs $19.99. Need more Macs? 3-Mac ($49.99), 5-Mac ($79.99) and 20-Mac ($299.99) lifetime licenses are there too. You can also move an activation to a different Mac any time by deactivating it in the app first.
Which macOS versions are supported?
ChainYourMac supports macOS 13 Ventura and later on Apple silicon Macs (M1 or newer). Intel Macs are not supported. It is a normal app, notarized by Apple and signed with a Developer ID — no kernel extensions, no system modifications, and no need to disable SIP (unlike some tiling managers).
Why does it need the Accessibility permission?
macOS only lets an app move and resize other apps' windows through its Accessibility API, so ChainYourMac needs that permission to do its job — the same permission Rectangle, Magnet, and every other window manager requires. It is the only permission the app asks for. Everything happens locally on your Mac; the app doesn't read your screen contents or send data anywhere.
Does it work with multiple monitors and Spaces?
Yes. Each display gets its own independent strip with its own focus and scroll position, windows snap flush to the edge instead of spilling onto the neighbouring screen, and you can send the focused window to the next display with a keystroke. You can also switch ChainYourMac off for any display in Configuration → Displays, and windows there stay exactly where you put them. macOS Spaces work too — each Space keeps a separate strip layout.
Will it slow down my Mac?
It shouldn't. The engine is written in Rust and runs as a small background process that sits idle until a window changes or you press a shortcut. There's no Electron and no web runtime anywhere in the app.
How do I get the app and my license after buying?
Checkout is handled by Dodo Payments. You'll immediately get the download (a standard .dmg) and a license key by email. Enter the key in the app and you're done. Moving to a new Mac? Deactivate the license on the old machine from inside the app and activate on the new one — or email support and we'll sort it out.
What if something isn't working?
Start with the setup guide: most problems are a macOS setting, especially a trackpad swipe that macOS also uses to switch desktops. Still stuck? Email support with what's happening and your macOS version. Most issues — permissions, multi-monitor setups, app-specific quirks — are quick to fix, and you'll get a reply from the developer who built it.
Stop rearranging windows.
Start scrolling.
One-time purchase. Free updates forever. macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon.
