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View multiple windows at once using snapping.

Quick reference

Snap Windows

Arrange windows on the screen using the snap windows feature. 

When to use

We snap windows whenever we want to arrange multiple windows on the screen quickly and easily. 

Instructions

In Windows 10 we had a few ways to snap and arrange windows. For example, if we have a Word document and an Excel spreadsheet open and we want to arrange them so each takes up exactly half of the screen, we could drag the Word window to the left and the Excel window to the right to snap them into place. This is useful as it means we can review the Word document and the Excel spreadsheet at the same time. 

We could also drag windows to the top or bottom corner to organize 4 windows equally on the screen. 

This snapping functionality still works. However, we have some additional options for snapping and arranging in Windows 11. 

Snap Options

In Windows 11, all applications come with new snapping options. 

  • Open an application e.g. Word. 
  • Hover the mouse over the maximize icon in the top right-hand corner. 

Notice we get a pop-up that shows additional layout grids. We can use these grids to snap 2, 3, or 4 ways in the configuration displayed. We simply select the part of the grid we want to snap the application to. We can then open another application and repeat the process to organize our windows.

Hints & tips

  • We can use the shortcut key Win+Z to open the snap grids in any window. 
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  • 00:03 In Windows 10,
  • 00:05 we had a few different ways that we could arrange multiple windows on our screen.
  • 00:10 And arranging our windows correctly really helps us when it comes to productivity.
  • 00:15 It means we can have an Internet browser open in one-half of the screen and
  • 00:20 maybe our mail account open in the other.
  • 00:23 Or maybe we want to have four different applications spaced evenly on one screen,
  • 00:29 that is called snapping.
  • 00:30 Now, in Windows 10, we did have minimal snapping features, and
  • 00:34 it basically involved us just dragging and dropping windows to the left, right, or
  • 00:39 to the corners of the screen.
  • 00:40 Now, we still have that functionality in Windows 11.
  • 00:44 So let's look at that first.
  • 00:46 So I have four applications open, and
  • 00:48 I want these to be organized equally within my screen so I can see everything.
  • 00:53 Now, if I just wanted to have two windows organized side by side,
  • 00:58 for example, Excel and another application,
  • 01:01 I can simply grab the top bar of Excel and drag it all the way over to one side.
  • 01:06 Now, notice we have this kind of ghosting outline, and
  • 01:09 that means when I let go, it's going to snap to that part of the screen.
  • 01:14 It's then going to show me all of my other open applications in a thumbnail view,
  • 01:19 and I can choose the other one to snap to the other side of the screen.
  • 01:24 So maybe I want to have PowerPoint in the other side, I can simply select it,
  • 01:29 and I get equally spaced and equally arranged windows.
  • 01:32 Now, we can do this in a slightly different way.
  • 01:35 I could grab Excel, and instead of dragging it over to the side,
  • 01:39 I could drag it to the top corner.
  • 01:41 Now, notice as soon as I do that, I get a smaller window.
  • 01:45 When I click, it's going to snap, I can then choose the other applications that I
  • 01:50 want to snap into the other quarters of the screen.
  • 01:53 So I'm going to go for PowerPoint, let's do Word, and then my Internet browser.
  • 01:59 So it's a really nice, quick way of arranging windows.
  • 02:02 So we have this functionality in Windows 10, and as you can see,
  • 02:07 we still have it in Windows 11.
  • 02:09 However, we have some additional functionality when it comes to snapping in
  • 02:13 Windows 11.
  • 02:14 We can now choose from a series of snap grids,
  • 02:17 which allow us to view our windows in a slightly different way.
  • 02:21 So let's take a look at how it works.
  • 02:23 Now, I'm going to maximize Excel, and what you'll find is that if you hover
  • 02:28 your mouse over the maximize button on any application that you have open,
  • 02:32 you're going to get a series of grids.
  • 02:35 So what I could do here is say I want to put Excel in this part of the screen.
  • 02:40 So if I click it, it's going to do that, and I can then choose the other
  • 02:44 applications that I want to fill the rest of the screen.
  • 02:47 So in the top corner, I want to have Word, and
  • 02:50 I'm happy with my Internet browser being down there.
  • 02:53 If I hover over the maximize button on the Word application,
  • 02:57 I get those same snapping grids.
  • 03:00 And if I hover over on the Internet browser, I get the same thing again.
  • 03:04 So these snap grids are kind of universal across all of the applications that you
  • 03:09 have open on your PC.
  • 03:10 Now, another way that you can bring up those snap grids without actually having
  • 03:14 to use your mouse to hover over the maximize button is to use the shortcut
  • 03:18 key, Windows key, Z.
  • 03:19 That's going to pop down those grids, and
  • 03:22 we can then choose where we want to place our windows.
  • 03:25 Remember, if you want to get rid of the snap grid layout, you can simply
  • 03:29 maximize one of the application windows to pull that back to full screen.
  • 03:33 So those are the new snapping options that we have in Windows 11.
  • 03:37 I find them really useful, and I hope you will, too.

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