Tessera 2026.7

Tessera is a menu-bar window tiling app for macOS that arranges your overflowing windows into tiles with the keyboard alone. It is built for people whose terminal windows keep multiplying because they run AI coding agents and assistants in them, five, ten or more at a time. Pick a target app and Tessera lays out all of its open windows at once into a grid, halves, or two-thirds of the screen; switching windows and resizing the whole group work from the same keyboard-driven panel, without touching the mouse. Requires macOS 15 Sequoia or later. 14-day free trial, US$9.99 one-time purchase.

Key features

• Tile Grid (full screen) — Arranges every open window of the target app into a grid that fills the screen. Rows and columns are computed from the window count, so 5 or 12 windows settle in one action
• Left / Right Half, Top / Bottom Half, Left / Right 2/3 — Places the target app's windows in part of the screen, leaving the rest for another app
• Select a region and tile — Drag a rectangle on screen and the windows tile inside it. Useful when only part of a large display should be the work area
• Group resize — Drag a corner or edge of the frame around the tiled group; when you release, every window re-tiles to the new area
• Bring all to front — Raises all windows of the target app above other apps
• Window list switching — Pick any open window from a list and bring it forward
• Keyboard HUD panel — Opens from a shortcut or the menu-bar icon. Choosing the target app, tiling, switching, favorite folders, settings and quit all work from the keyboard. Mouse hover works too
• Global shortcuts — Assign any key combination you like to open the panel and to each layout (grid, halves, two-thirds and more). Change them any time in Settings
• Adjustable gap — The space between windows can be set from 0 to 32 pt (default 8 pt). An option restores minimized windows and includes them in the layout
• Favorite folders — Register the folders you use most and they are listed in the menu-bar panel, ready to open
• Menu-bar resident, launch at login — Stays out of the Dock and appears only when called
• Themes — A standard theme that matches macOS, and a sci-fi HUD theme with two custom accent colors and adjustable background opacity

Requirements

• macOS 15 Sequoia or later. Universal binary for Apple silicon and Intel
• Target apps: Terminal first, plus Finder, Claude, ChatGPT, ChatGPT Atlas, Cursor, VS Code, Chrome, Comet and Slack (switch at the top of the panel)
• Interface languages: English, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese (follows the system language)
• Moving and resizing windows requires macOS Accessibility permission. A prompt appears on first use
• Signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple. Not distributed on the Mac App Store (see the FAQ)

How it differs from macOS window tiling

Since macOS 15 Sequoia, the system can place a window in a half, a quarter, a corner, the full desktop or the center by dragging it to a screen edge, using the green button or the Window menu, or with keyboard shortcuts. For placing one window at a time, that is often enough.

Tessera differs in these ways:

• Any number of windows in one action — The built-in tiling goes up to halves and quarters and positions one window at a time. Tessera arranges every open window of the target app into a grid sized to the window count
• Per-app scope — Choose Terminal only, Claude only, and so on, and tidy just that app's windows
• Two-thirds, region select and group resize — Layouts and operations the built-in tiling does not offer, including resizing the whole group after tiling
• Switch windows from the panel list — Jump to the terminal you want with the keyboard when there are too many to spot

Built-in tiling suits two to four windows placed quickly. Tessera is for when the count reaches five, ten or more. Using both together is fine.

Shortcuts

Assign any key combination you like to open the panel and to each layout. A shortcut must include Control (⌃) or Option (⌥), so standard macOS shortcuts such as ⌘V are never taken over, and keys that conflict with other apps are not registered. Once the panel is open, Tab and the arrow keys move between items and Enter runs the selected action, so there is no need to reach for the mouse.

How to use

1. After installation a grid icon appears in the menu bar. The first action asks for Accessibility permission; enable Tessera in System Settings.
2. Press the shortcut you assigned or click the menu-bar icon to open the panel.
3. Choose the target app (Terminal, Claude, Cursor and so on) at the top of the panel.
4. Pick Tile Grid, Left Half, Right 2/3 or another action. All open windows line up at once.

Who it is for

• Developers who run several AI coding agents such as Claude Code in the terminal and watch the window count keep growing
• Anyone who wants less time hunting in Mission Control and less mouse work resizing windows one by one
• People who tried the built-in tiling and found it does not keep up once the window count grows
• Anyone who wants to tidy the screen without leaving the keyboard

FAQ

Q. Isn't the built-in macOS tiling enough?
A. For two to four windows, yes. Tessera is for arranging all windows of an app at once, placing them in two-thirds or a chosen region, and resizing the group afterwards.

Q. Does it work with apps where the built-in tiling is greyed out?
A. Tessera moves windows directly through the macOS Accessibility API, independently of the built-in tiling settings. If the app is in the target list and Accessibility permission is granted, it can be tiled.

Q. Why isn't it on the Mac App Store?
A. The App Sandbox required for App Store apps prohibits the Accessibility API used for window control. Tessera is therefore signed with a Developer ID, notarized by Apple, and distributed directly from this site. Gatekeeper shows no warning at install.

Q. What does the free trial include, and how many Macs can I use?
A. All features for 14 days. After purchase one license covers up to 3 Macs. It is a one-time purchase with no subscription.

Q. What if it doesn't suit me after buying?
A. We refund within 14 days of purchase for any reason. See the refund policy in the Terms.