Is There a Keyboard Shortcut to Maximize a Window on Mac?

On macOS 15 Sequoia and later, press Fn+Control+F to make the front window fill the screen without entering full-screen mode, and Fn+Control+R to put it back. Older macOS versions have no maximize shortcut at all. The closest options there are full screen (Control+Command+F) or the Zoom command in the Window menu, which you can assign your own shortcut to. Which one is right depends on whether you want to keep the menu bar and Dock visible.

What is the difference between maximize, zoom and full screen on Mac?

Three different things hide behind the word 'maximize' on a Mac:

• Full screen gives the window its own Space and hides the menu bar and Dock. Shortcut: Control+Command+F.
• Zoom resizes the window to what the app thinks is a sensible size. For a text editor that may be nearly the whole screen. For a browser it might be a bit smaller, and for Finder it fits the content.
• Fill (macOS 15 and later) stretches the window to the full usable area of the display, leaving the menu bar and Dock where they are. This is what most people mean by maximize.

Zoom is decided by each app, which is why the green button seems to behave differently from app to app. Fill is decided by macOS and acts the same everywhere.

How do I maximize a window with the keyboard on macOS Sequoia?

Press Fn+Control+F. The front window expands to fill the screen. Press Fn+Control+R to return it to its previous size. These sit alongside the tiling shortcuts: Fn+Control+C centres the window, and Fn+Control with an arrow key tiles it to a half.

If nothing happens, check three things:

1. You are on macOS 15 or later (Apple menu → About This Mac).
2. The shortcuts are switched on in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Windows.
3. The app has a resizable window. Settings panels and some utility windows ignore Fill.

If the tiling shortcuts misbehave in general, this guide to Mac window tiling shortcuts not working covers the usual causes.

What if I'm on an older macOS, or Fill does nothing?

There are two routes, and neither needs extra software.

Option-click the green button. Hold Option and click the green button at the top left of the window. In most apps this zooms the window instead of entering full screen. It is a mouse action, but it is quick.

Give the Zoom command your own shortcut. The Window menu in nearly every Mac app contains Zoom, and you can bind a key to it:

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → App Shortcuts.
2. Click +, and set Application to All Applications.
3. Type the menu title exactly: Zoom.
4. Choose a shortcut, for example Control+Option+Command+M, and click Add.

Press your shortcut with any app in front and the window zooms. You can repeat the steps with the menu title Fill on Sequoia and later. If the shortcut does nothing in a given app, that app doesn't have a menu item with that exact name. Avoid combinations an app already uses, because the app's own shortcut usually wins.

Why does maximize give me a different size in every app?

Because Zoom asks the app, and apps answer differently. Safari and Chrome zoom to a size that suits the page. Finder zooms to fit its contents. Some apps remember a size you set by hand and ignore the request. Electron apps such as Slack and VS Code often behave differently again. Fill avoids most of this because macOS applies it to the window frame, though a few apps with fixed-size or odd windows still ignore it.

How do I maximize on one monitor, or get the same sizes every time?

Fill and Zoom work on whichever display the window is on. They don't remember anything. If you maximize your browser, shrink it for a call, and then want your whole arrangement back, you are resizing windows by hand again.

There are two sensible next steps:

• For single-window maximize with a hotkey, Rectangle is free and solid. Its default maximize shortcut is Control+Option+Return. If that is all you need, use it. Mac window snapping like Windows goes into snapping tools in more detail.
• For a whole arrangement of windows, Layoutish saves where every app's windows sit across all your displays and puts them back with a hotkey. Maximize your browser on the main display, put Slack and Notes where you want them on the second, save it as a layout, and press the hotkey to restore all of it at once. Layoutish isn't a one-window maximize shortcut. It restores the whole arrangement. A layout hotkey needs Command or Control (or a function key on its own), because macOS 15 refuses Option-only shortcuts. Layoutish costs $9.99 once after a 7-day free trial with no card, and runs on macOS 13.5 or later.

If you are choosing between the native tools and a third-party one, the Sequoia tiling bugs post lists what is flaky in the built-in options.

Common questions

What is the keyboard shortcut to maximize a window on Mac?

On macOS 15 Sequoia and later it is Fn+Control+F, which fills the screen while keeping the menu bar and Dock. On older versions, use Control+Command+F for full screen or assign your own shortcut to the Zoom menu item in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → App Shortcuts.

How do I resize a window with the keyboard on Mac?

On macOS 15 and later, Fn+Control plus an arrow key tiles the window to a half of the screen, Fn+Control+C centres it, and Fn+Control+R restores its previous size. There is no built-in shortcut for dragging a window to an exact size. For that you need a window manager.

Why doesn't the green button maximize my window?

By default the green button enters full screen, or on Sequoia opens a tiling menu. Option-click it, or choose Window → Zoom, to get an ordinary maximize. Apps that don't allow resizing, such as many Settings windows, ignore it entirely.