Blazing Fast Window Management on macOS hero

Blazing Fast Window Management on macOS

An overview of how to manage macOS windows and desktops at blazing speeds!

Here is my yabai configuration (.yabairc)

~/.yabairc
#!/usr/bin/env sh
sudo yabai --load-sa
yabai -m signal --add event=dock_did_restart action="sudo yabai --load-sa"
# global settings
yabai -m config mouse_follows_focus off
yabai -m config focus_follows_mouse off
yabai -m config window_origin_display default
yabai -m config window_placement second_child
yabai -m config window_topmost off
yabai -m config window_shadow on
yabai -m config window_opacity off
yabai -m config window_opacity_duration 0.0
yabai -m config active_window_opacity 1.0
yabai -m config normal_window_opacity 0.90
yabai -m config window_border off
yabai -m config window_border_width 6
yabai -m config active_window_border_color 0xff775759
yabai -m config normal_window_border_color 0xff555555
yabai -m config insert_feedback_color 0xffd75f5f
yabai -m config split_ratio 0.50
yabai -m config auto_balance off
yabai -m config mouse_modifier fn
yabai -m config mouse_action1 move
yabai -m config mouse_action2 resize
yabai -m config mouse_drop_action swap
# general space settings
yabai -m config layout bsp
yabai -m config top_padding 15
yabai -m config bottom_padding 15
yabai -m config left_padding 15
# NOTE: for OBS floating head
# yabai -m config left_padding 450
yabai -m config right_padding 15
yabai -m config window_gap 15
# apps to not manage (ignore)
yabai -m rule --add app="^System Settings$" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^Archive Utility$" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^Wally$" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^Pika$" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^balenaEtcher$" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^Creative Cloud$" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^Logi Options$" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^Alfred Preferences$" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="Raycast" manage=off
yabai -m rule --add app="^Music$" manage=off
echo "yabai configuration loaded.."

This is my skhd configuration (.skhdrc)

~/.skhdrc
# focus window
alt - h : yabai -m window --focus west
alt - j : yabai -m window --focus south
alt - k : yabai -m window --focus north
alt - l : yabai -m window --focus east
# swap managed window
shift + alt - h : yabai -m window --swap west
shift + alt - j : yabai -m window --swap south
shift + alt - k : yabai -m window --swap north
shift + alt - l : yabai -m window --swap east
# move managed window
shift + alt + ctrl - h : yabai -m window --warp west
shift + alt + ctrl - j : yabai -m window --warp south
shift + alt + ctrl - k : yabai -m window --warp north
shift + alt + ctrl - l : yabai -m window --warp east
# rotate tree
alt - r : yabai -m space --rotate 90
# toggle window fullscreen zoom
alt - f : yabai -m window --toggle zoom-fullscreen
# alt - s : yabai -m window --toggle
alt - s : yabai -m window --toggle sticky;\
yabai -m window --toggle topmost;\
yabai -m window --toggle pip
# toggle padding and gap
alt - g : yabai -m space --toggle padding; yabai -m space --toggle gap
# float / unfloat window and center on screen
alt - t : yabai -m window --toggle float;\
yabai -m window --grid 4:4:1:1:2:2
# toggle window split type
alt - e : yabai -m window --toggle split
# balance size of windows
shift + alt - 0 : yabai -m space --balance
# move window and focus desktop
shift + alt - 1 : yabai -m window --space 1; yabai -m space --focus 1
shift + alt - 2 : yabai -m window --space 2; yabai -m space --focus 2
shift + alt - 3 : yabai -m window --space 3; yabai -m space --focus 3
shift + alt - 4 : yabai -m window --space 4; yabai -m space --focus 4
shift + alt - 5 : yabai -m window --space 5; yabai -m space --focus 5
shift + alt - 6 : yabai -m window --space 6; yabai -m space --focus 6
shift + alt - 7 : yabai -m window --space 7; yabai -m space --focus 7
shift + alt - 8 : yabai -m window --space 8; yabai -m space --focus 8
shift + alt - 9 : yabai -m window --space 9; yabai -m space --focus 9
# create desktop, move window and follow focus - uses jq for parsing json (brew install jq)
shift + alt - n : yabai -m space --create && \
index="$(yabai -m query --spaces --display | jq 'map(select(."native-fullscreen" == 0))[-1].index')" && \
yabai -m window --space "${index}" && \
yabai -m space --focus "${index}"
# fast focus desktop
alt - tab : yabai -m space --focus recent
# send window to monitor and follow focus
shift + alt - n : yabai -m window --display next; yabai -m display --focus next
shift + alt - p : yabai -m window --display previous; yabai -m display --focus previous

Resources

Update: In macOS Ventura, it has been moved to a “Mission Control” dropdown in the keyboard shortcut section.

switch to desktop keyboard shortcut ventura

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Dev Workflow Intro

Your guide to creating a powerful and intuitive development workflow in the terminal.

The terminal is a powerful tool for developers, but it can be overwhelming to know where to start. This guide will help you create a powerful development environment in the terminal. Here are some of the things you'll learn.

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