Getting Started with WinPin
Overview
WinPin is a macOS menu bar app that captures, restores, tiles, and organizes your windows across displays. It runs silently in the background — no dock icon, no floating windows — and all interaction happens through global hotkeys, a Quick Switcher popup, an Organizer panel, and a hover tile menu.
Step 1: Grant Permissions
On first launch, WinPin appears in the menu bar. Two permissions are required:
- Accessibility — Required for all window management. Click "Grant Accessibility..." in the menu bar, then approve in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility.
- Screen Recording — Required for reading window titles. Click "Grant Screen Recording..." in the menu bar, then approve in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Screen Recording.
Both permissions require an app restart to take full effect.
Step 2: Choose Your Modifier Key
Open Settings (menu bar > Settings...) > Keyboard tab. The default modifier is Option (⌥). If this conflicts with your workflow, hold your preferred modifier combo (e.g. Control+Option) and WinPin will record it.
The shortcut reference table updates to show all hotkeys with your chosen modifier.
Step 3: Try the Quick Switcher
Press Mod+Tab. A popup appears showing all your open windows organized by screen. Navigate with arrow keys, type to filter, press Enter to switch to a window. Press Escape to dismiss.
Step 4: Try Tiling
Enable the Hover Tile Menu in Settings > General. Then hover over any window's yellow traffic light button — a layout picker appears with 38 snap positions. Click a layout to snap the window.
Alternatively, open the Organizer (Mod+Shift+Tab), click a window, and use the Tile Inspector on the right to choose a layout.
Step 5: Save Your First Workspace
Arrange your windows the way you like them. Then: menu bar > Workspaces > Save Current as Workspace... > give it a name. Now you can restore that arrangement anytime with Mod+1.
Step 6: Auto-Restore
WinPin silently captures your layout every 5 seconds. When you wake from sleep or reconnect a monitor, your windows automatically return to their saved positions. No action needed.
Step 7: Focus Mask
Press Mod+F to dim everything except the focused window. Great for distraction-free work on a large or multi-monitor setup. Adjust opacity in the Quick Switcher toolbar or Settings > General.