Ultrawide monitor on a Mac: window layouts that work
By Guido Crego · Last updated:
On an ultrawide, half the screen is about as wide as a whole regular monitor, so macOS's halves leave every window stretched. These five layouts work better, and each one takes a minute to set up.
Why halves don’t work on an ultrawide
A 34-inch 21:9 monitor is usually 3440 × 1440 pixels. Each half is 1720 pixels wide, almost a full 1080p screen. On a 49-inch 32:9 monitor (5120 × 1440), each half is 2560 pixels: as wide as a whole 27-inch 1440p display. A web page or a document stretched that wide is hard to read, and you end up turning your head to the edges.
macOS (15 and later) can tile windows into halves, quarters, and one half plus two quarters. It has no thirds, no columns, and no sizes of your own. You can check the full list in Apple’s window tiling shortcuts. So on an ultrawide, the layouts that make sense need an app.
Five layouts that work
1. Three equal columns
Chat or mail on the left, your main work in the middle, a reference on the right. A good place to start, and Shoji’s Thirds quick start.
2. A wide center with narrow sides (25 / 50 / 25)
The window you work in sits straight in front of you, not at an edge. The sides hold things you glance at: layers and tools, a chat, a preview. This is Shoji’s Center + sides quick start.
3. A wide center with a stacked side
Like the one above, but one side is split in two: for example, an AI chat on top and a terminal below. It’s the layout at the top of this page.
4. One half and two quarters
Code on the left half, the preview and a terminal stacked on the right. macOS can do this one on its own (Left & Quarters, Fn + Control + Option + Shift + ←), so if it’s all you need, you don’t need an app.
5. Four columns (for 32:9)
A 49-inch 32:9 monitor is about two 27-inch screens side by side. Four columns give each window 1280 pixels, the width of a small laptop screen: enough for code, a chat or a spreadsheet.
Set it up with Shoji
- Open Shoji and allow Accessibility when macOS asks. Any app needs it to move other apps’ windows.
- From the Shoji menu in the menu bar, choose Edit Zones, and pick your ultrawide.
- Start from Thirds or Center + sides, or drag on the screen to draw your own zones. Zones snap to a 12 × 8 grid, so columns land on twelfths: 4 / 4 / 4 for thirds, 3 / 6 / 3 for a wide center, 3 / 3 / 3 / 3 for four columns.
- Save. Hold fn while you drag a window: the zones light up. Let go over one.
Each monitor can have several layouts, chosen from the menu bar: one for focused work, one for calls, for example. If the ultrawide sits next to a laptop, each screen keeps its own zones, and when you unplug the ultrawide, its layouts wait for it until you plug it in again.
Questions
How do I split an ultrawide monitor into three windows on a Mac?
macOS can’t make three equal columns. With Shoji, choose Edit Zones, pick the Thirds quick start and save. Then hold fn while you drag each window into its column.
What’s the best layout for an ultrawide?
Start with a wide center and a narrow column on each side (25 / 50 / 25). If you mostly compare two things side by side, halves are fine, and macOS already does them.
Does macOS support four columns?
No. Its tiling has halves, quarters and combinations of those, nothing narrower than a quarter of the screen.
Does Shoji work on a 32:9 monitor?
Yes. You draw the zones on the screen itself, so its shape doesn’t matter.
How much is Shoji, and what does it need?
US$4.99 once, for one Mac, with a 14-day refund. macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
Shoji · window zones for Mac
Draw zones on each monitor, drag a window over one, and it snaps in. $4.99 once; if it isn't for you, your money back within 14 days.
$4.99 once · one Mac · macOS 15 or later