Setup guide

Set up ChainYourMac

A few macOS settings decide whether every feature works, above all the trackpad swipe. This takes about five minutes, and you only do it once. In ChainYourMac 2.0.4 and later, Mac Setup in the app checks all of them for you.

last updated: september 24, 2026 · for ChainYourMac 2.0.4

Check the requirements

MacM1, M2, M3, M4 or later. Intel Macs are not supported.Apple silicon

macOSVentura or any later version.13 or later

PermissionNothing else: no Screen Recording, no Input Monitoring, no SIP changes.Accessibility only

Trackpad swipeA built-in trackpad or a Magic Trackpad. Mice don't send multi-finger swipes; use the keyboard instead.Trackpad

Check this before you buy. Licenses can't be refunded (see the terms), so if anything here doesn't match your Mac, email support first.

Install it in Applications and update it

Open the .dmg from your Gumroad receipt and drag ChainYourMac into Applications. Run it from there, not from the disk image or Downloads: macOS ties the Accessibility permission to that location.
Open it, then enter the license key from your Gumroad email.
Click the ChainYourMac icon in the menu bar and choose Check for Updates… Install anything it offers.

On an older version? Update. Swipes work properly from 2.0.4: earlier versions could barely move the strip and snap back once macOS's desktop swipe was turned off. 2.0.4 also adds Mac Setup, which checks every setting on this page for you (steps 3 to 7) and ticks each one green as you fix it.

Allow Accessibility

macOS only lets an app move other apps' windows through Accessibility. ChainYourMac asks for it the first time you start it.

System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility → turn ChainYourMac on.

Then click Start in the menu bar menu. It should say Running.

Switch is on, but ChainYourMac still says it has no permission? That happens after moving or replacing the app. Select ChainYourMac in the list, remove it with –, add it again with + from Applications, and click Restart in the menu bar menu.

Free up a swipe for the strip Most important

You scroll the strip by swiping left or right with 4 fingers (the default) or 3 fingers. That swipe must not also be one of macOS's own gestures.

Why this matters. macOS sends every swipe to the system and to ChainYourMac. ChainYourMac can follow a swipe, but it can't stop macOS from acting on it too. If macOS uses the same swipe to switch desktops, you get both at once: the strip starts to move and then the whole desktop slides away.

On many Macs, macOS switches desktops with four fingers as well as three, even when System Settings shows "three fingers". That's why a 4-finger swipe can change desktops on your Mac while ChainYourMac works fine on someone else's.

Pick one of these two setups:

Recommended

Swipe the strip with 4 fingers

Open System Settings › Trackpad › More Gestures.
Set Swipe between full-screen applications to Off.
In ChainYourMac, leave Swipe to Scroll the Strip on 4 Fingers.

Switch desktops with ⌃ ← / ⌃ →, or with Mission Control.

If you want to keep desktop swipes

Swipe the strip with 3 fingers

In Trackpad › More Gestures, set Swipe between full-screen applications to four fingers.
Set Swipe between pages to Scroll left or right with two fingers.
In ChainYourMac, set Swipe to Scroll the Strip to 3 Fingers.

This only works if Three Finger Drag is off (see below).

Also check

Swipe between pagesTrackpad › More Gestures. With "three fingers", a 3-finger swipe would also go back a page in Safari and other apps.Two fingers

Three Finger DragAccessibility › Pointer Control › Trackpad Options › Dragging style. If you use it, keep the strip on 4 fingers (the recommended setup), because three fingers would drag windows.Your choice

Mission Control and App ExposéThese are up and down swipes. ChainYourMac only uses left and right, so they can stay on.Keep on

If macOS still switches desktops after you change the setting, log out and back in. Trackpad changes sometimes only apply after that.

Mission Control settings

Open System Settings › Desktop & Dock and scroll to Mission Control.

Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent useKeeps your desktops in a fixed order, so each strip stays where you left it.Off

Displays have separate SpacesGives each display its own strip. Takes effect after you log out.On

Stage ManagerDesktop & Dock › Desktop & Stage Manager. Stage Manager moves and resizes windows too, and the two will fight over them.Off

Turn off macOS window tiling macOS 15 and later

macOS Sequoia added its own tiling, which resizes windows when you drag them to an edge. That clashes with the strip and with dragging a window to reorder it. In System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Windows:

Drag windows to screen edges to tileOff

Drag windows to menu bar to fill screenOff

Hold ⌥ key while dragging windows to tile⌥ is ChainYourMac's shortcut key.Off

Arrange multiple displays Optional

Each display has its own strip, and windows leave it through the left and right edges. In System Settings › Displays › Arrange…, place your second display above or below the main one.

Side by side works too, with one catch: toward the other display, a window can only slide halfway off before it hides. If it went any further, macOS would move it onto that display.

Find the app's settings

Click the ChainYourMac icon in the menu bar → Open ChainYourMac. Clicking the app's Dock icon does the same. Then:

ConfigurationSwipe fingers and direction, gaps, the Dock, focus border, drag to reorder, window rules.Settings

ShortcutsEvery key binding. The defaults use ⌥. If you type accented letters with ⌥, remap any that clash.Keys

HelpA guide to every action, plus Reveal Engine Log in the Help menu for support.Guide

Open Configuration in the menu bar menu shows the raw settings file in Finder. That's for advanced editing; everything in it is also in the app's Configuration screen.

Troubleshooting

Swiping does nothing, or barely moves and snaps back

Update to 2.0.4 or later (step 2). In the app, check that Swipe to Scroll the Strip isn't Off and that you swipe with that many fingers. The menu bar menu should say Running. Use a trackpad; mice don't send multi-finger swipes.

Swiping switches to another desktop

macOS uses the same swipe. Follow step 4: turn off Swipe between full-screen applications, or set it to the other number of fingers. Log out and back in if it keeps happening.

A 3-finger swipe goes back a page in Safari or Chrome

Set Swipe between pages to Scroll left or right with two fingers (step 4).

Nothing moves, or the app says Accessibility is needed

Follow step 3. If the switch is already on, remove ChainYourMac from the list and add it again, then click Restart.

Windows come back shorter than the screen

This happened with a display arranged below the main one. It's fixed in 2.0.3, so update.

I closed the window and can't find the settings

Click the ChainYourMac icon in the menu bar and choose Open ChainYourMac, or click its Dock icon.

Still stuck? Email adgan.business@gmail.com with your macOS version, your ChainYourMac version and what you see. The engine log helps a lot: in the app, open Help › Reveal Engine Log. You'll get a reply from the developer who built it.