Features · Free

Keyboard shortcuts

Click a window and press a shortcut. Shortcuts work in any app except your ignored programs.

Left halfTwo thirdsOne third

CtrlAlt←

Press Ctrl+Alt+← three times: half, two thirds, one third.

Default shortcuts

Action	Shortcut	Action	Shortcut
Left Half	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`←`	Right Half	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`→`
Top Half	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`↑`	Bottom Half	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`↓`
Top Left	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`U`	Top Right	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`I`
Bottom Left	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`J`	Bottom Right	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`K`
First Third	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`D`	Center Third	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`F`
Last Third	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`G`	First Two Thirds	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`E`
Last Two Thirds	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`T`	Maximize	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`Enter`
Almost Maximize	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`Shift`+`Enter`	Maximize Height	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`Shift`+`↑`
Smaller	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`-`	Larger	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`=`
Center	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`C`	Restore	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`Backspace`
Next Display	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`Shift`+`→`	Previous Display	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`Shift`+`←`

Every other action starts without a shortcut. Give it one, or run it from the tray menu.

Repeat a shortcut to cycle

Press a half shortcut again on the same window: two thirds, one third, then half again.
Press First Third again to step to the center third, then the last third. Last Third goes the other way.
Top Third and Bottom Third do the same vertically. Center Third and Middle Third stay put.
Moving or resizing the window by hand starts the cycle over.
To change this, use Pressing a half, quarter or third shortcut again on the Behavior page, or a custom size with a “Then” action.

First thirdCenter thirdLast third

CtrlAltD

Press Ctrl+Alt+D three times: first, center, then last third.

Change a shortcut

Open Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts. Type in the filter box to find an action by name or keys.
Click Record Shortcut on its row (or the keys already there) and press the new keys. Win works like any other modifier; Esc cancels.
Click Save. The shortcut works at once.

To remove one, click × on its row (or press Backspace while recording) and save.
Each combination belongs to one action. If two rows share keys, the page marks both and offers to clear the other.
Shortcuts are also in the [hotkeys] section of the config file.

Arrow keys

Windows Snap is paused while TesseraSnap runs. To snap with the arrow keys again:

Open Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts.
Under Arrow keys, change the Hold row from Ctrl and Alt to the keys you want, for example Ctrl and Win.
Click Set arrow keys, then Save.

Now ← and → snap to the left and right half, ↑ maximizes and ↓ restores. Any other action using those combinations loses them.

Tip Windows keeps Win+arrow keys for itself, so hold at least one other key with Win.

When a shortcut does not work

Cause	What to do
Another app owns it. TesseraSnap shows Some shortcuts are taken by another app and logs each one.	Pick a different combination.
Windows reserves it, as with many `Win` combinations.	Pick a different combination.
An Intel graphics driver uses `Ctrl`+`Alt`+arrow keys to rotate the screen.	Turn that off in the Intel graphics control panel, or move the halves to other keys.
Settings is open. Shortcuts pause while it is.	Close Settings.
The window belongs to an administrator app.	See Troubleshooting.

All actions

Any action can have a shortcut, be a throw target or snap area, or run from the command line. The config file and command line use the Name column; “screen” means the display without the taskbar.

Halves, quarters and thirds

Action	Name	Where the window goes
Left / Right / Top / Bottom Half	`left_half`, `right_half`, `top_half`, `bottom_half`	That half. Repeat for ⅔ and ⅓.
Center Half	`center_half`	Middle half of the width, full height.
Top Left / Top Right / Bottom Left / Bottom Right	`top_left`, `top_right`, `bottom_left`, `bottom_right`	That quarter.
First / Center / Last Third	`first_third`, `center_third`, `last_third`	Left, middle or right third, full height.
First / Last Two Thirds	`first_two_thirds`, `last_two_thirds`	Left or right two thirds.

Additional Thirds

These are not in the tray menu until you turn them on in the menu settings.

Action	Name	Where the window goes
Center Two Thirds	`center_two_thirds`	Middle two thirds of the width, full height.
Top / Middle / Bottom Third	`top_third`, `middle_third`, `bottom_third`	Top, middle or bottom third, full width.
Top / Bottom Two Thirds	`top_two_thirds`, `bottom_two_thirds`	Top or bottom two thirds, full width.

On a portrait display, the plain thirds and Center Two Thirds become rows. The full-width bands stay bands.

Fourths, fifths, sixths, eighths and ninths

The on-screen names match the Name column, for example Top Center Left Eighth for top_center_left_eighth.

Group	Where the window goes	Name
Fourths	Four columns, full height.	`first_fourth`, `second_fourth`, `third_fourth`, `last_fourth`
Fifths	Five columns, full height.	`first_fifth`, `second_fifth`, `center_fifth`, `fourth_fifth`, `last_fifth`
Sixths	Two rows of three.	`top_left_sixth`, `top_center_sixth`, `top_right_sixth`, `bottom_left_sixth`, `bottom_center_sixth`, `bottom_right_sixth`
Eighths	Two rows of four.	`top_left_eighth`, `top_center_left_eighth`, `top_center_right_eighth`, `top_right_eighth`, `bottom_left_eighth`, `bottom_center_left_eighth`, `bottom_center_right_eighth`, `bottom_right_eighth`
Ninths	Three by three.	`top_left_ninth`, `top_center_ninth`, `top_right_ninth`, `middle_left_ninth`, `middle_center_ninth`, `middle_right_ninth`, `bottom_left_ninth`, `bottom_center_ninth`, `bottom_right_ninth`

Maximize and size

Action	Name	What it does
Maximize	`maximize`	Maximizes the window. See Maximize uses the real Windows maximize state.
Almost Maximize	`almost_maximize`	Centered, 90 % of the screen's width and height (adjustable).
Maximize Height	`maximize_height`	Full height. Keeps the left edge and width.
Larger	`larger`	Grows by the step (40 px) on every side, keeping the center.
Smaller	`smaller`	Shrinks by the step on every side, down to 200 × 150 px.
Larger Width / Smaller Width	`larger_width`, `smaller_width`	Width only, by the step on each side.
Larger Height / Smaller Height	`larger_height`, `smaller_height`	Height only, by the step on each side.
Center	`center`	Moves to the middle of the screen. Keeps the size.
Upper Center	`upper_center`	Like Center, but higher: a third of the free space above, two thirds below.
Restore	`restore`	Back to where it was before TesseraSnap first moved it.

Move

Action	Name	What it does
Move Left / Right / Up / Down	`move_left`, `move_right`, `move_up`, `move_down`	Slides to that edge of the screen. Keeps the size.
Nudge Left / Right / Up / Down	`nudge_left`, `nudge_right`, `nudge_up`, `nudge_down`	Moves by the step (40 px).
Next Display	`next_display`	Moves to the next display at the same relative position and size. A maximized window stays maximized.
Previous Display	`previous_display`	The same, to the previous display.

Displays are ordered left to right, then top to bottom.

All windows

Action	Name	What it does
Tile All Windows	`tile_all`	Tiles every window on the front window's display in a near-square grid. The front window goes top left.
Cascade All Windows	`cascade_all`	Stacks every window on that display from the top left, 40 px apart, each 70 % of the screen. The front window stays on top.

After either one, Restore puts each window back.

Pin & Stash Pro

Action	Name	What it does
Enable Pin Mode	`toggle_pin`	Pins the front window to a strip at the side of its display, or unpins it. See Pin Mode.
Pin Window	`pin_window`	Pins the front window, moving the pin from any other window.
Reflow Around Pinned	`reflow_pin`	Moves windows that overlap the pinned strip out of its way.
Stash Left / Right / Up / Down	`stash_left`, `stash_right`, `stash_up`, `stash_down`	Slides the window off that edge with a sliver showing. See Stash.
Stash All	`stash_all`	Stashes every visible window at its nearest side.
Stash All Except Front	`stash_all_except_one`	Stashes every visible window but the one in front.
Unstash	`unstash`	Brings back the stashed window in front, under the pointer, or stashed last.
Bring Back All	`unstash_all`	Puts every stashed window back where it was.
Unstash Left / Right / Up / Down	`unstash_left`, `unstash_right`, `unstash_up`, `unstash_down`	Brings back every window stashed at that edge.
Cycle Stashed Windows	`cycle_stashed`	Shows the stashed windows one after another.
Show or Hide Stashed	`toggle_stashed`	Shows every stashed window until you run it again.

Menu, custom sizes and layouts

Action	Name	What it does
Show Menu	`show_menu`	Opens the TesseraSnap menu at the pointer. See Menu & icon.
Custom 1 … Custom 10	`custom_1` … `custom_10`	Your own sizes. See Custom sizes.
Save Current Layout Pro	`save_layout`	Saves where every window is as a new layout. See Layouts.
Layout 1 … Layout 5 Pro	`layout_1` … `layout_5`	Restores a saved layout.