In this guide
Check whether it is running at all
Start with the least interesting possibility, because it is the most common. A window manager is a background utility with no dock icon; if it quit, or never launched after a restart, the symptom is identical to a total malfunction — shortcuts simply do nothing. Look for the icon in the menu bar. If it is absent, the application is not running.
If it is missing after every restart, the launch-at-login setting is off. Turn it on in the application's own preferences rather than only in System Settings, since the two can disagree after a migration. This single check resolves a surprising share of reported problems with Rectangle.
Accessibility permission — the cause of most real failures
macOS requires explicit permission before any application can move another application's windows. That permission lives in System Settings under Privacy and Security, in the Accessibility list. Without it the app launches, the menu bar icon appears, the shortcuts register — and nothing moves.
- Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Accessibility.
- Find the entry in the list and confirm the toggle is on.
- If it is already on and still failing, switch it off, then on again.
- If that does not help, remove the entry with the minus button, quit the app, relaunch it and grant permission fresh.
The remove-and-re-add step is the important one. Major macOS upgrades occasionally leave a permission entry that looks enabled but points at a stale application record. The toggle shows on, the permission is not actually in force, and no amount of restarting fixes it.
This is also why problems appear immediately after a system update. Nothing about Rectangle app changed; the permission database was rebuilt underneath it.
Shortcut conflicts
When some shortcuts work and others do nothing, the cause is almost always a collision. Another application has claimed the same combination and, depending on which registered first, one of them silently loses.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing works at all | Not running, or no permission | Check menu bar, then Accessibility |
| Some shortcuts work | Conflict with another app | Change one side of the conflict |
| Works in most apps, not one | App captures the key itself | Rebind, or use the menu bar item there |
| Broke after an update | Stale permission entry | Remove and re-grant Accessibility |
| Wrong screen or size | Display arrangement changed | Re-check display layout in settings |
Common culprits are launchers with their own window commands, screenshot utilities, virtual desktop tools and remote-desktop clients that forward keystrokes to the remote machine. Test by quitting suspects one at a time. If you run a launcher that includes window management, disable its window commands rather than trying to make both coexist.
Applications that refuse to move
A small number of applications ignore external positioning entirely. Anything drawing a fully custom window, some virtual machine and remote desktop clients, and applications in native macOS full screen fall into this category. Full screen is the one people miss: an app in native full screen occupies its own Space and is no longer an ordinary resizable window, so nothing external can position it.
Exit full screen first, then snap. Where an application genuinely will not cooperate, the workable approach is to place it manually once and arrange everything else around it. This is a limitation of the application's window handling, not something the Rectangle window manager can override.
Multiple displays behaving strangely
Windows landing on the wrong screen usually means macOS's display arrangement does not match the physical one. Open the Displays panel and drag the screen rectangles so their relative positions match reality. Once that is right, next-display commands behave predictably again.
Windows that scatter after undocking are normal macOS behaviour: when a screen disappears, its windows are relocated to whatever remains. There is no way to prevent it, but rebuilding a layout with keyboard shortcuts takes seconds. If you dock and undock several times a day, this is the strongest practical argument for learning the shortcuts properly.
The reset sequence
If everything above has failed, do a clean reinstall in this order rather than reinstalling first: quit the application entirely, remove its Accessibility entry, delete its preferences, reinstall from the official Rectangle download page, launch it, grant permission when asked, and verify with a single simple shortcut before rebinding anything.
Reinstalling before removing the permission entry is the mistake that makes this loop. The new copy inherits the same broken record, the symptom persists, and the reinstall gets wrongly ruled out as a fix.
Rectangle is free and open source
Halves, thirds, quarters and sixths from the keyboard, on any Mac. No trial, no account.
Download Rectangle for Mac →Frequently asked questions
Why did it stop working right after a macOS update?
System updates can rebuild the Accessibility permission database. Removing and re-granting the entry restores it.
Why do some shortcuts work and others do nothing?
A conflict. Another application registered the same combination; change one of the two.
Can I use it without granting Accessibility?
No. macOS does not permit one application to move another's windows without it. The permission covers window geometry only, not content.