Getting started

Install

brew install --cask orthant-app/tap/orthant

Or download the disk image and drag Orthant to Applications. Either way you get the same build: signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a trip through System Settings. Orthant needs macOS 13+.

Launch it

Open Orthant from Applications, like any other app. On this first launch it opens a small window to walk you through the next step. What it never does is appear in the Dock: look for its icon in the menu bar, at the top of the screen. That is Orthant, running.

Every launch after this one is quieter: once permission is granted, Orthant starts straight into the menu bar and gets on with it, which is what you want from something that is always running.

Grant Accessibility permission

On first launch, Orthant opens a small window and walks you through granting Accessibility permission. It needs this because it positions other apps’ windows through the macOS Accessibility API, the same mechanism every window manager uses, and macOS gates that capability behind System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Accessibility. It asks for nothing else, and the window gets out of the way the moment the permission is on.

Having trouble granting permission? See Troubleshooting.

Press one shortcut

Click any window to focus it, then press ⌃⌥←. It fills the left half of its display. Orthant never becomes the frontmost app, so the window you are arranging stays active.

Open the grid

Press ⌃⌥O to open a grid over every display. Drag from one cell to another, or move the selection with the arrow keys and hold ⇧ to extend it, then release (or press ↩) to place the window. Esc dismisses the grid without moving anything.

The grid is 2–12 cells per axis, set in Settings ▸ General.