macOS features a window management system known as Split View. If you click and hold the green full-screen button in the top-left corner of any application window, macOS will suddenly shrink the window and ask you to snap it to either the left or right side of your screen, perfectly splitting the display with another app.
While excellent for side-by-side productivity on large monitors, this feature can be highly annoying on a small MacBook screen. If you slightly hesitate or hold the green button for a fraction of a second too long when trying to maximize a window, your screen violently splits in half, completely disrupting your workflow. If you prefer to manually resize your windows or only use true full-screen mode, you can disable the Split View trigger.
How to Turn Off Split View Snapping on a Mac
You can disable the hold-to-snap functionality from the Desktop & Dock settings.
- Click the Apple Logo in the top-left corner of your Mac’s screen.
- Select System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions).
- Scroll down the left-hand navigation sidebar and click on Desktop & Dock.
- Scroll down the main window on the right until you find the “Windows” section.
- Look for a toggle switch labelled Displays have separate Spaces. Ensure this is turned ON (this is required for the next step to work correctly).
- Now, look slightly above it for a setting labelled Tiling or Tile by dragging windows to screen edges. (Note: On macOS Sequoia and later, Apple moved this to a dedicated “Window Tiling” section. On older versions, the setting is tied to “Displays have separate spaces”).
- Toggle Window Tiling to Off.
With this feature disabled, clicking and holding the green button will no longer trigger the aggressive Split View mode. The green button will strictly act as a standard full-screen toggle, preventing accidental side-by-side snapping when you simply want to maximize your workspace.