Raycast Window Management Setup 2026: The Complete Config Guide

Published April 23, 2026 • 10 min read

If you've landed here, you already know Raycast does window management. What you want is the actual configuration — the hotkeys, the order of setup, the fixes for the things that go wrong. This guide is the step-by-step companion to our broader Raycast window management overview, built specifically to get you from a fresh install to a fully tiled desktop in under five minutes.

Answer box — How do you set up window management in Raycast? Install Raycast and grant Accessibility permission in System Settings. Quit any existing window manager like Rectangle or Magnet. Open Raycast Settings, navigate to Extensions, and assign hotkeys to Left Half, Right Half, Maximize, and Center. Add hotkeys for thirds, quarters, and multi-display commands. Optionally, save a multi-app layout with Raycast Pro. Total setup time: about five minutes.

What Raycast Window Management Does

Raycast's Window Management extension is built into every install. It provides around 40 commands for tiling, resizing, moving, and positioning windows. The core set covers the same ground as any dedicated window manager — halves, quarters, thirds, centering, maximize, almost-maximize, and restore — plus a handful of Raycast-specific extras like Remember Window Position per app.

What makes it different is context. You're not launching a separate menu bar utility. You trigger Raycast once, and from the same palette you can launch Slack, paste a snippet, ask an AI question, and tile two windows side by side. That consolidation is the real value — fewer tools fighting for the same hotkeys, one sync layer keeping everything aligned across Macs.

Prerequisites

You need macOS 12 Monterey or later, Raycast installed and running, and Accessibility permission granted in System Settings. That's it for basic window management. Raycast Pro is not required for the tiling commands, hotkeys, or multi-display support — all of that ships on the free tier.

The one feature gated behind Pro is saved multi-app Window Layouts — the ability to capture an arrangement like "editor-left, browser-right, terminal-bottom-right" and restore it with a single command. If you only care about tiling the active window, the free plan is everything you need. If you want named, recallable workspaces, Pro unlocks that. Our free versus Pro breakdown covers the full feature split.

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Install Raycast and grant Accessibility permission. Download Raycast from the official site, drag it to your Applications folder, and launch it. On first run, macOS prompts for Accessibility permission — open System Settings, go to Privacy & Security, then Accessibility, and flip the Raycast toggle on. Without this permission, Raycast cannot resize or move windows owned by other apps, and every tiling command will silently fail.
2. Open the Window Management extension. Trigger Raycast with your root hotkey (Command-Space if you've replaced Spotlight, or Option-Space by default). Type "Window Management" and open the bundled extension's command palette. This is where every tiling, centering, and sizing command lives. Browsing the full list first helps you decide which ones deserve hotkeys.
3. Disable any conflicting window managers. Quit Rectangle, Magnet, BetterSnapTool, Moom, or any other window utility. Two apps competing for the same global hotkey produces unreliable behavior — sometimes one wins, sometimes the other, and you'll waste an hour debugging "why did my split stop working." Once Raycast is set up and stable, fully uninstall the old manager so it doesn't relaunch at login.
4. Assign hotkeys to your core tiling commands. Open Raycast Settings (Command-Comma), go to Extensions, select Window Management, and click the Record Hotkey field next to each command. Start with four must-haves: Left Half, Right Half, Maximize, and Center. Use modifier combinations like Control-Option-Left, Control-Option-Right to match the muscle memory of Rectangle users, or pick a scheme that avoids conflicts with your IDE.
5. Bind thirds and quarters for ultrawide monitors. On a 34" ultrawide or 4K display, thirds matter more than halves. Assign hotkeys to First Third, Center Third, and Last Third, plus the four quarter commands (Top-Left, Top-Right, Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right). These aren't exposed by default hotkeys — binding them turns a wide monitor into a true three- or four-column workspace without any third-party tooling.
6. Configure multi-display navigation. If you use more than one screen, assign hotkeys to Move to Next Display and Move to Previous Display. Also bind Restore Window Position — it's the command that rescues windows that drift or disappear after a sleep-wake cycle or a monitor disconnect. Laptop users who dock and undock every day feel this command's value within the first week.
7. Create a saved window layout. This is the Pro-only step. Arrange your working apps exactly how you want them — code editor on the left half, browser on the right, terminal in the bottom-right quarter, Slack minimized. Open Raycast and run Save Current Windows as Layout. Give it a descriptive name like "Coding" or "Writing." Recalling that layout later instantly repositions every app, which is the closest thing macOS has to Windows virtual desktops.
8. Add the Window Management extension to your Quicklinks or Favorites. Pin the Window Management command to the top of your Raycast home view. Even with hotkeys configured, you'll occasionally want a command you didn't bind — and having one-keystroke access to the full palette prevents you from falling back to a mouse.
9. Test on real workflows for two days. Spend a couple of working days using only your new hotkeys. Every time you reach for a command you haven't bound, that's a candidate for a new shortcut. Every time a hotkey feels awkward under your fingers, rebind it. Window management muscle memory settles in within three days of deliberate use — after that, you stop thinking about it entirely.
10. Sync your config to your other Macs. If you have Raycast Pro, cloud sync via iCloud carries your hotkeys, extensions, and saved layouts to every Mac you're signed in on. There's nothing to configure — just sign in with the same Raycast account. Free users have to manually export and import, which is tolerable for a one-time move but painful across frequent machine changes. Our full Raycast setup guide walks through the sync options in more detail.

Default Hotkeys

Raycast ships with no default hotkeys assigned to window management commands — you pick your own. Below is a recommended default set that mirrors Rectangle's shortcuts, making the transition nearly invisible for existing Rectangle users.

These are starting points. The beauty of Raycast is that every hotkey is editable, and the settings pane makes rebinding a two-second task. If Ctrl-Option conflicts with your IDE's debugger, switch to Hyper key (Control-Option-Shift-Command) via Karabiner-Elements and avoid every collision at once.

Creating Custom Window Layouts

The Window Layouts feature (Raycast Pro only) is the closest macOS gets to true workspace management. Instead of arranging apps every time you switch contexts, you save the arrangement once and recall it with one command.

Start by arranging your apps manually — use the tiling hotkeys you just configured. A typical coding layout might be VS Code on the left half, Chrome DevTools on the right half, Terminal in the bottom-right quarter, and Slack minimized. Once everything is positioned, open Raycast and run Save Current Windows as Layout. Give it a meaningful name.

To recall the layout, trigger Raycast, type the layout name, and hit Return. Every app opens (if it's not already running) and snaps into position. You can build as many layouts as you want — Coding, Writing, Email Triage, Design Review, Standup — and swap between them in one keystroke. For power users who juggle contexts, this is often the feature that justifies Pro on its own.

Multi-Display Setup

Multi-monitor work is where most window managers get frustrating. Raycast handles it cleanly because each command is display-aware — Left Half on your external monitor snaps to that monitor's left half, not your laptop's.

The two essential multi-display commands are Move to Next Display and Move to Previous Display. Bind both. A common scheme is Ctrl+Option+Cmd+Right and Ctrl+Option+Cmd+Left, which chains naturally onto the halves shortcuts. Power users on three-plus monitors often bind Move to Specific Display as a Quicklink for direct jumps.

Laptop users who dock and undock should also bind Restore Window Position. macOS occasionally piles windows on your smaller laptop screen when an external monitor disconnects. One keystroke puts them back where they belong. The best Raycast extensions roundup includes a few community-built alternatives if the built-in options ever feel limiting.

Raycast vs Rectangle vs Magnet

If you're choosing between Raycast and a dedicated window manager, the decision usually comes down to whether you want one tool doing many jobs or several tools each doing one job well.

Rectangle wins on price and openness. Magnet wins on drag-to-snap feel. Raycast wins on consolidation — one tool, one hotkey scheme, one sync layer across every Mac you own, plus it's already doing your app launching and AI work.

Troubleshooting

Hotkeys aren't firing. Almost always an Accessibility permission issue. Open System Settings, go to Privacy & Security, then Accessibility, and make sure Raycast is toggled on. If it was on and still broken, toggle it off, remove Raycast from the list with the minus button, then add it back. A full Raycast restart afterwards clears any lingering hotkey state.

A window won't resize. The window is likely in a macOS full-screen Space, which no window manager can modify. Exit full-screen (Ctrl-Cmd-F or the green traffic-light button) and the hotkey will work normally. Some Electron apps also block resizing below certain dimensions — that's an app-level limit, not a Raycast bug.

Raycast and Rectangle are fighting. If you see inconsistent behavior after installing Raycast, Rectangle is probably still running in the background, intercepting the same hotkey. Open Rectangle's settings, clear the conflicting shortcuts, and ideally quit or uninstall it entirely while you evaluate Raycast.

Windows drift across displays after sleep. This is a macOS quirk, not a Raycast one, but Raycast has the fix. Bind Restore Window Position to a hotkey, trigger it after reconnecting your external monitor, and your windows snap back to their pre-sleep locations.

Saved layout won't restore correctly. Layouts capture app state at save time. If an app has been updated or reinstalled since then, its window identifier may have changed. Re-save the layout with the current apps open, and the mapping refreshes. Layouts are Pro-only, so if you're on the free plan you'll only see the tiling commands.

FAQ

Do I need Raycast Pro for window management?

No. Core window management commands — split screens, halves, quarters, center, maximize, and default hotkeys — all work on the free tier. Raycast Pro is only required for saving custom window layouts with multi-app arrangements. If you just want to replace Rectangle or Magnet, the free plan is fully sufficient for day-to-day tiling.

Does Raycast window management support multiple monitors?

Yes. Raycast detects each connected display independently and includes dedicated commands to move windows to the next or previous screen, restore them to their original monitor, or center them on any display. Hotkeys work per-display, and custom layouts can be saved that span multiple monitors, which is useful for laptop-plus-external-monitor setups.

How is Raycast window management different from Rectangle or Magnet?

Raycast bundles window management into the same command palette you already use for launching apps, snippets, and AI. Rectangle is free and open-source with more granular grid control. Magnet is $9.99 one-time with snap-to-edge drag. Raycast wins on consolidation — one launcher, one hotkey scheme, one sync — rather than running three separate menu bar apps.

Why aren't my Raycast window hotkeys working?

The most common cause is missing Accessibility permissions. Open System Settings, go to Privacy & Security, Accessibility, and make sure Raycast is enabled. If another app like Rectangle or BetterSnapTool has the same hotkey bound, Raycast will silently lose the conflict. Quit or rebind the other app, then restart Raycast to release the hotkey.

Can I save multi-app window layouts in Raycast?

Yes, via the Window Layouts feature. Arrange your apps exactly how you want them, then run Save Current Windows as Layout from Raycast. This captures each app's position, size, and display assignment. Recalling the layout later repositions every window automatically. Custom saved layouts are a Raycast Pro feature; the default tiling commands remain free.

Does Raycast window management work with Stage Manager or full-screen Spaces?

It works alongside Stage Manager in most cases, but windows moved into macOS full-screen Spaces can't be resized by Raycast — that's a macOS-level limitation applied to any window manager. For best results, keep windows in a regular Space. You can still use Raycast commands to switch Spaces or cycle between windows within Stage Manager.

Get Raycast Pro for Layouts and Sync

If you've worked through this guide on the free tier and found yourself wanting saved multi-app layouts or config sync across machines, Raycast Pro is the upgrade. It's $8/month billed annually, there's a free 14-day trial, and an 80% discount applies automatically at checkout — no coupon code needed. Claim the discounted Raycast Pro trial here and the savings lock in the moment the trial converts.

For context on the full Pro feature set, see the current Raycast discount homepage, or dive deeper into the window management parent article for non-setup context on how Raycast fits the broader macOS tiling landscape.