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My daily case: I usually have .pdf viewer for articles + MS Word side by side and Web browser + markdown side by side.

My struggle is windows stretching - for example, when I read .pdf I would like to shring MS Words window to minimum, however, macOS allow me to like 35 % (my guess), some goes for the Web browser + markdown.

Is there a way to set the stretching percentage of each window?

This is an illustration of my question:

enter image description here

Josh E.
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  • Haven't you consider https://www.spectacleapp.com. It's no longer under active development, but is still usable under macOS 10.15.6 Catalina – modlin Aug 02 '20 at 15:23
  • Can you illustrate this with a diagram? Pictures of what you want might let us suggest a better window manager or roll like moom, divvy, many others (so many other great options) – bmike Aug 02 '20 at 15:38
  • @modlin No, I haven't, I will look into it. However, my intention is to always avoid 3rd party Apps for such purposes if possible. – Josh E. Aug 02 '20 at 21:19
  • It’s not macOS that’s stopping you. Applications themselves can set how “small“ or “large” the window can be; in other words, it can limit its dimensions to a certain point. You may need to rethink your workflow. – Allan Aug 02 '20 at 22:21
  • I use a tool called Magnet to arrange my Windows similar to what you want to do. – Allan Aug 02 '20 at 22:23
  • Brilliant diagram! Thanks - when I’m back at a Mac I’ll see if I can help any. – bmike Aug 02 '20 at 22:55
  • @Allan That's what I was thinking. Honestly, I didn't expect there is much I can do - I tried to google advice, but couldn't find any, so I tried this forum. As for Magnet, I bought this App few months ago :) However, I couldn't enter full windows mode and the Apps didn't change its size together, which let's say is still "OK", but for this I don't even need to use Magnet - I can just open two windows side-by-side. – Josh E. Aug 03 '20 at 06:01

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You can do this with Applescript. Set the boundaries for the front window to be a certain width. Then after clicking on the window you want to shrink, run your Applescript. Name your script something like narrow_front_window.sc. The script could look something like:

tell application "Finder" to set the bounds of the front Finder window to {36, 115, 511, 674}

Just run the script after bringing window to the front. The widows do have a minimum size.

bmike
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Natsfan
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  • Thanks for the suggestion, however, this won't change the possibility of windows shrinkage boundaries "forever", am I correct? – Josh E. Aug 02 '20 at 15:26
  • @Josh E. RE: " this won't change the possibility of windows shrinkage boundaries "forever"" -- What do you mean by this? It is as unclear as your question! – user3439894 Aug 02 '20 at 15:52
  • jmh, Not all apps and windows have or use the bounds property, nor do all apps have the direct ability to manipulate its windows using AppleScript unless System Events is used to do it using position property and or size property. Therefore your tell application "Finder" ... example doesn't cover all scenarios. Even the linked answer that bmike edited into your answer is not complete and is only specific to the question asked that I wrote that answer for. RE: "Name your script something like narrow_front_window.sc." -- AppleScript scripts have a .scpt extension. – user3439894 Aug 02 '20 at 16:03
  • Ah yes, i see the problems now looking back at the question. i should have read it a few more times. Thanks for your input. – Natsfan Aug 02 '20 at 16:09
  • @user3439894 From the reply I understood that I should repeat this step every time - so that the setting won't stay. I am not that good with scripts or any macOS management via terminal. I just wanted to allow re-sizing either left or right window, while I'm having two windows opened side by side, to "absolute minimum / maximum" it stops at certain width extension. – Josh E. Aug 02 '20 at 20:57