how to

How to fling windows on a Mac with flingdows

the short answer

To fling windows on a Mac, install flingdows, grant it Accessibility access in System Settings, then drag any window and release with speed — it glides with momentum and springs back from the edges; tune the feel from the menu bar.

macOS has no built-in way to throw a window; drag-and-drop just drops it where your cursor stops. flingdows adds the missing gesture, but because moving other apps' windows is a privileged action, there is a one-time permission step before it works.

Here is the whole process, start to finish: get the app, give it the access macOS requires, and fling. It takes a couple of minutes once.

1permission grant, then flinging just works
get flingdows →about flingdows

The one permission that matters

flingdows lives in your menu bar as a small icon and does nothing until you grant Accessibility access, the macOS permission that lets one app move another app's windows. Without it, your flings will look like they do nothing.

Grant it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility by adding flingdows and switching it on, then relaunching. Always open the app bundle itself, not the raw binary, or the permission won't stick. Because flingdows is open source, you can confirm it only uses that access to move windows.

Flinging, and adjusting the feel

Once access is granted the gesture is just a drag with follow-through: grab a window, move it, and let go while still moving. The faster you release, the further it flies. A slow, deliberate drag still places windows normally.

If the default feel is too floaty or too stiff, open the menu-bar icon and adjust the sliders. There is no wrong setting; it is about matching the physics to how you like to move.

how it works

  1. 01

    install flingdows

    Grab a release or build it from the GitHub source, then move flingdows.app to Applications.

  2. 02

    grant accessibility

    System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → add flingdows and turn it on, then relaunch.

  3. 03

    fling a window

    Drag any window and release while still moving; it glides on with momentum.

  4. 04

    tune the feel

    Open the menu-bar icon and adjust strength, friction, and elasticity to taste.

frequently asked

Why isn't flinging doing anything?
Almost always missing Accessibility access. Add flingdows under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, turn it on, and relaunch by opening the app bundle.
Do I need to learn a keyboard shortcut?
No. The fling is a mouse/trackpad gesture: drag and release with speed. There's nothing to memorise.
Can I turn it off temporarily?
Yes. The menu-bar icon has an enable/disable toggle, so you can pause flinging without quitting the app.
Is it safe to give Accessibility access?
flingdows is open source under MIT, so you can read exactly how it uses the permission. It uses it only to move windows.

Last updated June 6, 2026

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