Double click title bar makes app take up entire screen.

Question

Level 1

9 points

Double click title bar makes app take up entire screen.

Is there a way in Big Sur to make a double click of the title bar of make the window take up the whole screen like it does in Catalina? At the moment when I double click the window gets bigger, and is vertically maximised, but not horizontally.

Just bought a new MBP and it's super frustrating that after 9 years of this feature on my 2012 MBP that I now have to reach for the keyboard for such a simple function. I do this literally hundreds of times a day and it's affecting my workflow.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Mar 4, 2021 2:28 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

VikingOSX

Community+ 2024

Level 10

111,263 points

Mar 4, 2021 2:36 PM in response to reecefromaus

In System Preferences > Dock & Menu Bar panel, set the Double-click a windows title bar to [zoom]. This will fill the screen and though it appears to be full screen it is not officially a full-screen application until you click the green traffic light in its title bar.

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Answer 2

reecefromaus Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 4, 2021 2:40 PM in response to VikingOSX

Already did that. Doesn't solve the problem. That maximises the window's vertical height on the screen but not the horizontally. I don't use that "full screen mode" thing that you get from the green button. I hate that, and would gladly disable that feature if possible. I just want the window to expand to the entire screen when I double click. I know I can get what I want by clicking the green button while I hold the option key, but this is a waste of keystrokes to me. I've built up a lot of muscle memory for just double clicking the title bar like I can in Catalina on my 2012 MBP and now I just find my flow gets broken every time I try to do this and don't get the full screen I'm after.

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Answer 3

reecefromaus Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 4, 2021 2:52 PM in response to brbo

Nope. Hate split screen mode, hate "full screen mode", would happily disable them from my Mac if possible.

I want to double click the title bar and have the window automatically resize itself to the maximum available space on the screen, while retaining the title bar at the top. Then when I double click the title bar again, I want the window to automatically resize itself to the previous size and position on the screen.

I don't want to hold anything down, I want this to be a one handed task completely fulfilled with one hand on the trackpad and nothing more. This is a VERY basic feature that for some reason isn't working in Big Sur with my 2020 Intel MBP, but works perfectly on my Catalina 2012 MBP. So frustrating!

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Answer 4

paulyb12

Level 1

4 points

Mar 12, 2021 7:52 AM in response to reecefromaus

In Big Sur it depends on the application you're running as to whether it will zoom 100% of the screen or not. It's application dependent now... instead of the same for all apps.

Example, Safari will zoom vertically 100% but not horizontally on double-tap of the menu bar. But double-tapping the menu bar in the Slack application will zoom both vertically and horizontally 100%.

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Answer 5

brbo

Level 7

34,798 points

Mar 4, 2021 2:45 PM in response to reecefromaus

Hi reecefromaus,

Wondering ... sounds as if you may be working in split-screen mode, accidentally, or without noticing ?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204948

Article tells how to go back and forth from this mode.

Only recently found I could use this useful feature.

Cheers

(Also from aus)

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Answer 6

Mar 4, 2021 2:54 PM in response to reecefromaus

I have a 32 inch 4K display, and when I double-click on an application window's title bar in macOS 11.2.2, every bit of the screen is filled with that application, not disproportionately as you relate. When I double-click the titlebar again, it reverts to its previous size and location on the Desktop.

I tested this before I posted my response. The green traffic light doesn't change my result. I don't have Catalina here to test how this works on it, and as Apple has proven, there is no assurance that what works one way on the previous operating system is guaranteed to work exactly the same way on a redesigned, current operating system.

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Answer 7

brbo

Level 7

34,798 points

Mar 4, 2021 3:06 PM in response to reecefromaus

The double click title-bar to full window works for ok for me in Big Sur (15" 2017 MacBook Pro).

Not quite sure it is relevant:

Wondering whether you have "Displays have separate spaces" ticked / unticked in System Preferences > Mission Control

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Answer 8

Mar 4, 2021 3:39 PM in response to dialabrain

Mac applications can use an NSWindow mask named NSWindowStyleMaskFullSizeContentView

that their Window ViewController expects in order to expand the application window correctly. If the developer omits that mask, then a double-click of the application's title bar does not behave as expected. Safari is an example of this.

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