Rich Basecki

Q: how to split screen in El Capitan?

How to start split screen in El Capitan?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Sep 30, 2015 10:20 PM

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Q: how to split screen in El Capitan?

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  • by alex_h1,Solvedanswer

    alex_h1 alex_h1 Oct 1, 2015 7:18 AM in response to Rich Basecki
    Community Specialists
    Oct 1, 2015 7:18 AM in response to Rich Basecki

    Howdy Rich,

    Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.

     

    If you'd like to get started with the new Split View feature in OS X El Capitan, then I suggest taking a look at the article below.

     

    Use two Mac apps side by side in Split View - Apple Support

     

    Take care.

  • by rkv_apple,

    rkv_apple rkv_apple Oct 1, 2015 8:29 AM in response to Rich Basecki
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 8:29 AM in response to Rich Basecki

    Click and Hold Green Window control dot. The screen should change, that is go into Mission Control mode and you can drag window to right or left side. Then other windows which are eligible for selection for the other half will be displayed in that half, select one.

     

    If holding the green window control dot doesn't do anything, make sure "Displays have separate Spaces" is checked in the Mission Control System preferences pane.

  • by Halfmoonh4,

    Halfmoonh4 Halfmoonh4 Oct 4, 2015 12:00 PM in response to rkv_apple
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 4, 2015 12:00 PM in response to rkv_apple

    Thanks RKV !    You don't see this Mission Control "Displays have separate spaces" option anywhere in Apple's how to on Split Screen.    This fixed the Split Screen feature for me on a 13" mid-2013 MBP.   Thank you!

     

     

    I've always thought Mission Control & spaces was lame and confusing and wind up using Cmd-Tab.   I can never remember shortcuts or which corner does what. Plus, the corners activate when I don't want them to...     If you force yourself the learn the 4-finger gestures on a MBP, its not bad.  But switch to a desktop w/o a trackpad and ugh!, now I have to remember all kinds of shortcuts.

     

    But I digress,  Split screen on a MBP is not very useful, mail is too tiny to be useful, but I have a 34" wide screen thunder bolt monitor where it will be useful.

     

    As always, some people will love it, others will just say Meh!    I wouldn't call this a killer feature.  And, there's better 3rd party window organizer apps out there.

  • by rkv_apple,

    rkv_apple rkv_apple Oct 4, 2015 12:14 PM in response to Halfmoonh4
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 4, 2015 12:14 PM in response to Halfmoonh4

    Halfmoonh4 wrote:

    ...

     

     

    I've always thought Mission Control & spaces was lame and confusing and wind up using Cmd-Tab.   I can never remember shortcuts or which corner does what. Plus, the corners activate when I don't want them to...     If you force yourself the learn the 4-finger gestures on a MBP, its not bad.  But switch to a desktop w/o a trackpad and ugh!, now I have to remember all kinds of shortcuts.

     

    ...

     

    A bit off topic, but here's my 2 cents on navigating Spaces. I've grown to using Spaces rather heavily. The shortcuts for navigating which I use are Ctl with right arrow or left arrow to cycle through Spaces in order. Ctl with up arrow to Display Mission control overview. Also, if you arrange your spaces in some stable order, Ctl with the number of the space is a fast way for switching. I'm now using split screen with spaces. I actually find the split screen on a large monitor to be more useful than single window viewing.

  • by Halfmoonh4,

    Halfmoonh4 Halfmoonh4 Oct 4, 2015 2:19 PM in response to rkv_apple
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 4, 2015 2:19 PM in response to rkv_apple

    Thanks.   Ctrl-Arrow, Left & Right ... didn't even know that existed.  Maybe I just need a better tutorial. 

     

    I haven't been able to get used to spaces;  I understand the concept, but, the whole maximize window & spaces thing just makes it more difficult to navigate (IMO).    I can cmd-tab from a "space" to an App, but I can't cmd-tab back to the "space" I just left.     I've just gotten away from maximizing windows completely.   It makes no sense why you can't cmd-tab to go back to a space from the main desktop, but you can cmd-tab between spaces.    I'd like to just turn spaces OFF.  I wish Apple would separate maximizing a window from spaces.      If there's an option to do that, let me know.