Tutorials / Power Features
Build an Auto-Tiling Coding Layout with Bento Box
Bento Box is BetterStage's automatic tiling mode: every window you open is placed into a non-overlapping grid, and you reshape that grid by dragging, not by hunting for window edges. This tutorial walks through building and shaping a tiled coding layout.
Step by step
- 1
Turn on Bento Box for a monitor
Set the monitor's Window Mode to Bento Box. Existing windows tile into a grid immediately, and from now on every new window is inserted into the layout automatically — no manual placement.
- 2
Resize tiles by dragging dividers
Hover over the divider between two tiles and drag to resize them. With ghost-frame previews enabled, you see exactly where the split lands before you release. Neighboring tiles reflow to keep the grid full.
- 3
Swap and insert windows by dropping
Drag one tile onto another to swap their positions. Drop a window onto the edge of a tile to insert it there and split that region. This is how you reshape the layout without ever resizing a window by its corner.
- 4
Retile when things get messy
After opening a burst of windows or closing several, press Ctrl+Opt+T to retile the monitor into a clean, balanced grid. Layout changes are undoable, so experiment freely.
- 5
Set the gap and make it your default
Adjust the tiling gap in Settings to taste, then set Bento Box as the default Window Mode for new stages so every fresh workspace tiles automatically.
Tips
- Snap zones are disabled on an auto-tiling monitor by design — the grid handles placement, so you don't need them there.
- Every retile and resize is undoable. If a drag goes wrong, undo and try again instead of dragging back manually.
Frequently asked questions
What is Bento Box mode?
It's BetterStage's automatic tiling mode. Windows are arranged into a non-overlapping grid (a BSP tree under the hood), and new windows are inserted automatically. You reshape the grid by dragging dividers and dropping tiles.
How is dropping-to-swap different from dropping-on-edge?
Dropping a window onto the center of another tile swaps their positions. Dropping onto the edge of a tile inserts the window there and splits that region, creating a new tile.
Can I undo a tiling change?
Yes. Retiles and resize operations go through an undo stack, so you can revert any layout change.
Try it yourself
BetterStage is free for up to three stages with full snap zones, and includes a 10-day trial of every Pro feature — AI Staging, Bento Box auto-tiling, Tabbed Layouts, and Pinned Displays.
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