Window manager not working on Mac? Fix it by symptom
Your window manager was working yesterday. Today you press the shortcut and the window just sits there. This is the single most common failure in the category, and it happens to every tool that moves windows — Rectangle, Magnet, Moom, Loop, Raycast's window commands, Let's Tile, all of them. They all drive windows through the same macOS Accessibility API, so they all break in the same handful of ways.
The good news: a window manager not working on a Mac is almost never a bug in the app. It's a permission that went stale, a database macOS keeps getting confused about, or one specific app that refuses to be resized. Work through the symptoms below in order.
Everything here is current for macOS Tahoe (macOS 26.6, released July 2026), and nearly all of it applies to Sonoma and Sequoia too.
First, narrow it down
- Nothing moves, in any app. The shortcut fires, the app's menu bar icon is there, but no window ever budges. That's the Accessibility permission — start with the next section.
- It works everywhere except one app. Slack moves, Photoshop doesn't. That's the app, not your window manager. Skip to "one app refuses to move".
- It worked until you restarted. Permissions look granted but nothing works after a reboot. See "permissions that vanish at login".
- Windows move, then snap back or land wrong. That's usually Stage Manager, full screen, or a display arrangement issue. See the last section.
Fix the stale Accessibility permission
Every window manager needs Accessibility access to read where your window is and put it somewhere else. Without it, most apps still launch, still show their menu bar icon, and still respond to the shortcut — they just can't touch a single window. That silent half-working state is why this fools people.
macOS ties that grant to the exact app bundle it approved. Update the app and the bundle changes, and macOS may quietly stop honouring the old grant while still showing the switch as on. That's why "it broke right after the update" is such a common story.
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
- Find your window manager in the list. If the switch is off, turn it on and you're probably done.
- If it's already on, don't just toggle it. Select the app, click the – (minus) button to remove it entirely, then relaunch the app and grant the permission fresh when it asks.
- Quit the app properly first — ⌘Q or Quit from its menu bar icon, not just closing a window. macOS only evaluates Accessibility permission when a process launches, so a running app won't notice a permission you just granted.
This sequence — remove, relaunch, re-grant — fixes the large majority of "it stopped working" reports across every window manager, and it's the first thing Rectangle's own maintainers ask people to try.
When toggling the permission doesn't help
If you've removed and re-added the app and it still can't move windows, the problem is one level down: macOS keeps its permission grants in a database called TCC, and that database can get out of sync with what the settings pane shows you. The switch says on. The app is still locked out.
Resetting it is a Terminal command:
sudo tccutil reset Accessibility
Enter your admin password, then restart your Mac from the Apple menu (a normal restart, not a force restart). After it comes back, reopen every app that needs Accessibility and grant it again.
Two things to know before you run it. First, this resets Accessibility for every app on your Mac, not just the broken one — your text expander, your automation tools, your screen sharing app will all ask again. Second, you can scope it to one app if you know its bundle identifier:
tccutil reset Accessibility com.example.appname
If your window manager also draws window previews, the equivalent for screen capture is tccutil reset ScreenCapture.
One app refuses to move
If everything tiles except Photoshop, or Slack, or one particular Java tool, your window manager is fine. Some apps simply don't answer the Accessibility API properly:
- Electron apps ship with accessibility support off by default for performance reasons, which is why Slack has a long history of being uncontrollable by window managers.
- Older Adobe apps (pre-2017 Creative Suite and Creative Cloud versions) use non-standard windows that never respond.
- Apps with a minimum window size will accept the move but refuse to shrink past their floor, so a third-width cell looks broken when it isn't.
- Any app can stop responding temporarily. The usual fix is to quit and relaunch that app, not your window manager.
There's no trick that forces a stubborn app to comply. If it matters, that's a bug to file with the app's developer.
Permissions that vanish at login
A nastier variant: everything works, you restart, and the permission is gone again — or still listed but not honoured. This is a timing problem. Apps that launch at login can ask for permissions they already have before macOS has finished bringing the permission services online, and conclude they've lost access.
The quick fix is to quit and relaunch the app after you're fully logged in. The durable fix is to make it start a little later: remove it from System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions and launch it manually for a few days to confirm that's the pattern, or delay your login items so they don't all fire at once.
Screen Recording keeps asking again
If your tool shows live window thumbnails, it needs Screen Recording too — and since macOS Sequoia, Apple re-confirms screen capture permission roughly every 30 days per app. That prompt is not a sign anything is broken, and it's not the app asking. Approve it and carry on.
Worth knowing: Screen Recording is only ever needed for drawing pictures of windows. Moving them needs Accessibility alone. In Let's Switch, for instance, Screen Recording is optional — decline it and the switcher still works, just with names and icons instead of live previews.
Windows move, then land somewhere wrong
If the shortcut works but the result is wrong, permissions aren't your problem:
- Stage Manager reserves a strip down the side of your screen. A window manager that fills the screen will cover Stage Manager's app strip, and windows won't sit where you expect. If you're a heavy tiler, turn Stage Manager off in Control Center and see whether everything settles.
- Full-screen windows can't be tiled. A window in native full screen lives on its own Space, and no window manager can resize it. Take it out of full screen (⌃⌘F or the green button) first.
- Multi-display setups send windows to whichever screen macOS thinks is active. Check your layout in System Settings → Displays → Arrange, and see our multi-monitor guide if windows keep landing on the wrong screen.
- Spaces are per-desktop. A window on another Space won't come to you; you go to it.
Quick reference
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing moves in any app | Accessibility grant stale after an update | Remove the app with –, relaunch, re-grant |
| Permission is on but ignored | TCC database out of sync | sudo tccutil reset Accessibility, restart, re-grant |
| Broke right after you granted it | App was already running | Quit with ⌘Q and relaunch |
| Works from Applications, not from Downloads | App Translocation | Drag the app to /Applications and relaunch |
| One app only | That app ignores the Accessibility API | Relaunch that app; some (Electron, old Adobe) never comply |
| Breaks after every reboot | Login-item race with the permission service | Relaunch after login, or delay the login item |
| Prompted for Screen Recording monthly | Sequoia's 30-day re-confirmation | Normal — approve it |
| Windows land in the wrong place | Stage Manager, full screen, or display arrangement | Turn Stage Manager off; leave full screen; check Displays → Arrange |
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to give a window manager Accessibility access? It's the permission the job requires — there is no way to move another app's window without it. What matters is who you're granting it to. Prefer tools that are clear about what they collect; Let's Tile and Let's Switch have no telemetry, no tracking and no account at all, so nothing about your windows leaves your Mac.
Why do I have to re-grant permission after every app update? You usually don't — but when an app's bundle or signature changes, macOS can stop honouring the previous grant while still displaying it as active. Removing and re-adding the entry rebuilds it cleanly.
Does tccutil reset delete anything?
No files. It clears permission grants, so apps will ask again. Run it when the settings pane and actual behaviour disagree, not as a first step.
Why did it break when I ran the app straight from the disk image? macOS runs newly downloaded apps from a randomised read-only location (App Translocation) until you move them. Permission granted to that temporary copy won't survive. Drag the app into /Applications before granting anything.
If you're setting one up from scratch
Most of the pain above comes from granting Accessibility in the wrong order — before the app is in Applications, or while it's still running. Get that right once and a window manager tends to be invisible for years.
Let's Tile has a step-by-step install walkthrough that covers exactly that sequence, with the deep links into the right System Settings pane. It's a keyboard tiler with a visible grid — press one shortcut, steer with the arrow keys, press return — so there's nothing to memorise, and the free tier's 3 × 2 grid (halves, thirds, quarters, full screen) is yours permanently. Pro is $9.99 once, no account, no subscription, up to 20 devices per key.
And if the reason you're fighting your windows is that you can never find the right one, that's a different job — see Let's Switch or our guide to keyboard-first window workflows.