Never Waste Time Switching Between Windows Again - Learn How To Keep Your Mac App Window Always On Top!

Are you tired of constantly switching between windows on your Mac while working on a task, only to find that the window you were working in has disappeared? It can be frustrating and time-consuming, causing you to lose concentration and productivity.

Luckily, there’s a solution to this problem - keeping your Mac app window always on top. With this feature, you can ensure that the app you’re working in stays visible at all times, helping you stay focused and efficient.

In this article, we’ll show you how to keep your Mac app window always on top using some simple yet effective methods.

Method 1: Use The built-in Dock Functionality

The Dock is one of the most useful features of macOS. It’s a quick and easy way to access your most frequently used apps and documents. By customizing the Dock, you can keep your app window always on top.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open the app whose window you want to keep always on top.
  2. Click and hold its icon in the Dock until a contextual menu appears.
  3. Click on “Options.”
  4. Select “Keep in Dock” and “Show in all desktops.”

Now, the app icon will remain visible and accessible in the Dock, regardless of how many other windows you have open.

Method 2: Use a Third-party App

Another option is to use a third-party app to keep your window always on top. There are many such apps available, but we recommend using “Afloat” for its simplicity and effectiveness.

Here’s how to install and use Afloat:

  1. Go to the Afloat Github page.
  2. Download the latest version of Afloat.
  3. Open the downloaded .zip file and move the Afloat.bundle file to the “/Library/InputManagers” folder.
  4. Restart your Mac.
  5. Open the app whose window you want to keep always on top.
  6. Press “Command + Option + A” to open the Afloat menu.
  7. Select “Keep Afloat.”

Now, the app window will stay on top of all other windows until you deselect “Keep Afloat” from the Afloat menu.

Method 3: Use Keyboard Shortcuts

If you don’t want to use a third-party app or edit the Dock, you can keep your Mac app window always on top by using keyboard shortcuts.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open the app whose window you want to keep always on top.
  2. Press “Command + Shift + '” to bring the app window to the front.
  3. Press “Command + Control + F” to enter full-screen mode.
  4. Press “Command + Tab” to return to the previous app.

The app window will remain on top of all other windows until you switch to another app.

Conclusion

Switching between windows can be a time-consuming and frustrating task, but it doesn’t have to be. By keeping your Mac app window always on top, you can stay focused, efficient, and productive.

Using the built-in Dock functionality, a third-party app like Afloat, or keyboard shortcuts, you can keep your app window visible and accessible at all times.

Try out these methods and see which one works best for you. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder how you ever worked without this feature.

Most, if not all, Linux distros come with a way to keep application windows “always on top” and pinned to the screen. Despite sharing the same architecture, macOS makes this more difficult, but it’s possible with some work.

In this post, we show you how to keep application windows always on top using native functionality on the Mac and third-party window managers. We also mention Afloat – a common way to achieve this on Mac but an approach that has a lot of caveats.

Using Afloat to Keep Your Application Window “Always On Top”

The traditional way, and probably the only way to keeping your Mac application window always on top is to use Afloat. For many years, this has been a top-notch solution that many users rely on.

Even so, there are a few negatives about Afloat in 2021:

  • It hasn’t been updated in six years, which means it may not work with current Mac models or Apple Silicon chips.It requires dependencies such as SIMBL. In fact, there are many sources for it, and some go in and out of favor depending on the Operating System (OS) and compatibility.The setup takes some work and relies on two apps working well on your machine.You have to disable certain security settings on your Mac, which for an end user, is too much of a hurdle (and dangerous to boot).

Despite this, you may want to give Afloat a try. Though, user beware – Afloat is an outdated and complex piece of software to install on your Mac.

Other Ways to Keep Your Application Window “Always On Top”

If you use macOS Catalina or later, there’s a solution that keeps your windows visible but not necessarily on top.

You’re able to use Split View to tile windows and switch between them as needed. First, though, head to the System Preferences screen and choose Mission Control.

Here, check that “Displays have separate Spaces” is active, then open some apps. With the toolbar of one app, hover over the green window button. You’ll see a pop-up asking you to choose a tile format.

Once you choose one, it will be replicated within your Spaces.

It’s not the best approach, and we can see how it may not be the best option for you. Instead, you may want to consider a dedicated window manager.

Using Dedicated Window Managers to Keep Your Application Window “Always On Top”

The unfortunate news is that there is no native way to pin elements to the screen in the way Afloat does. This is disappointing, but there are some great alternatives to help keep windows visible rather than always on top.

The kicker is that you have to be disciplined in order to keep a window within a specific part of the screen. Though, you get lots more choice than Apple’s native functionality.

Popular paid options are BetterSnapTool and Magnet.

Though, there’s a free, open-source solution that mimics almost everything both of these apps can do: Rectangle.

It sits in your toolbar and lets you add windows to a number of different areas of the screen. In fact, there are a wealth of locations at your disposal.

Each also has a quick shortcut available to give a power user an instant way to organize windows. For further control, you can set windows into areas of the screen divided by fourths and sixes too. This means you can create unique layouts based on your situation.

Of course, you need some discipline here in that to keep a window always on top, it would need to be within its own part of the screen with no other windows near it. It’s more correct to say that this approach lets you keep a window visible at all times rather than pinned to the screen.

Wrapping Up

It seems strange for macOS not to have a way to keep windows always on top given that this is available within Linux and both have the same core architecture. Still, there are ways to keep windows visible, and with some discipline, you can still act as though windows are always on top. If you’re feeling brave, you could try to install Afloat. Though, note that it’s tough to get working, and buggy at the best of times.

Here are a few other ways to manage your windows on Mac – check them out! How do you keep application windows always on top, and will any of our suggestions help you? Let us know in the comments section below!

Tom Rankin is a quality content writer for WordPress, tech, and small businesses.

When he’s not putting fingers to keyboard, he can be found taking photographs, writing music, playing computer games, and talking in the third-person.

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