Is it possible to maximize a Finder window without third-party software?

Question

How can I maximize a window in Finder without using third-party software? I read this post but none of these tricks seemed to work.

Many of those tricks are third-party appellations which would work fine. What problem did you have? — jtbandes, Aug 08 '11 at 19:38
Related: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/9659/what-window-management-options-exist-for-os-x — ghoppe, Aug 08 '11 at 20:35
Thanks, I was looking for native solution, not a third-party.. — jrara, Aug 09 '11 at 05:33

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 09 '20 at 07:48

2

Move the mouse to the corner of the window where it becomes a resizing arrow and option double-click to fill the screen.

A double-click on any side or corner will move that side/corner to the edge of the screen. Adding option will affect the opposite side as well.

edited Aug 09 '20 at 07:48

benwiggy

35,635

answered Aug 09 '20 at 06:03

Andy Swift

2,210

More details: double click on any side to move that side to the edge of the screen, and add option to affect the opposite side as well. – Andy Swift Aug 09 '20 at 06:03
That is brilliant! All these years and I never knew that! I've added your comment to the answer. – benwiggy Aug 09 '20 at 07:49
I have been using Apple computers since the Lisa, and I found the shortcut a couple of days ago on this page: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24091707, but the poster didn't really realize what it could do. – Andy Swift Aug 09 '20 at 11:35

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 08 '11 at 23:03

1

I bought Moom by Many Tricks to solve the Finder's inconsistent zoom behavior. Get it from their website for a free trial and 60-day money-back guarantee. It's been a great solution for me, not just for the Finder problem, but for all my work on a 30-inch Cinema Display.

answered Aug 08 '11 at 23:03

Bill

31

It's on the App Store as well, no trial of course. BTW, I personally think Moom is the best of it's genre. You should make it the first one you check out. – John Aug 08 '11 at 23:30
Buy Witch ( http://manytricks.com/witch/ ) while you're there. It finally makes Alt+Tab work properly. – Fake Name Aug 09 '11 at 00:01
So there is no way doing this without a third-party application? – jrara Aug 09 '11 at 05:34
Don't think so, but Moom is really, really good. One of those apps that should just be integrated into the OS. – chrismanderson Sep 21 '11 at 23:33
This question is asking for a solution without third-party software. – Nathan Greenstein Sep 23 '11 at 02:48

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 23 '11 at 02:13

Launch /Applications/Utilities/AppleScript Editor.app and turn on the preference: General » "Show Script menu in menu bar"
In Terminal, type or copy/paste

mkdir -p ~/Library/Scripts/Finder

cd ~/Library/Scripts/Finder

curl --remote-name http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18414/ase/MaximizeWindow.scpt
Go to Finder, open a new (non maximized) window
In the menu bar, look for the the "Scripts" item, then look for Finder, and then MaximizeWindow

Select that, and Voilà!

p.s. - please note that I am not the original author of that AppleScript. I found it at http://olivierfabre.com/shortcut-to-maximize-the-finder-with-applescript and simply tested it and found it worked really well. It appears to be designed with hard-coded values for the screen-size, but if it can't make the window that big, it simply maximizes it.

p.p.s. - the scripts menu isn't all that convenient, but there are ways to assign keyboard shortcuts to them, etc. If you were not averse to 3rd party solutions, I would immediately recommend FastScripts and mention that it is free for up to 10 scripts :-)

The first two links are both broken. Anyway, I posted a similar AppleScript to How would I make a keyboard shortcut to *maximize* the current window?. — Lri, Jun 27 '12 at 15:53

Is it possible to maximize a Finder window without third-party software?

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