Split-Screen Multitasking Made Easier to Use on Windows
It’s no surprise that the operating system called Windows has historically had excellent window management functionality. Microsoft has always made it easy to connect two windows side by side using a keyboard shortcut. However, as nice as it was, Windows hid this shortcut. Now, in Windows 11, Microsoft has improved what it calls “snap layouts” and they are now much easier to find and use.
How to use Snap layouts
To use Snap on Windows 11, hover your mouse over the Maximize button in any window and you’ll see a grid of multiple window layouts. You can divide the windows equally, fix a thin window to the right, divide them into four quadrants of windows, and much more. Click a position and the current window will take that specific position. You can then select windows to add to other open slots.
After creating a window layout, the windows are grouped. You will find the group in the taskbar and can access the entire group using the Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut.
If you like keyboard shortcuts and drag-and-drop gestures, you’ll be glad to know that Windows still supports them. Drag the window to the top of the screen and you’ll see the same “Grid Layouts” option. You can also use the Windows key + Z keyboard shortcut to get started.
If you want to configure or disable this feature, go to Settings > System > Multitasking and look for the Windows Linking section.
Snap windows faster using drag gestures
Old-school Windows multitasking is still available in Windows 11, and I suggest you move on to using these gestures once you’ve mastered the Snap layouts.
All you have to do is drag the window to one of the edges or corners of the screen. If you drag it to the left edge, the window will snap to the left half of the screen; if you do this for the left corner , it will take up the top left quadrant of the screen. The same thing works with the top and bottom. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll find yourself flying through window management. This feature is so good that there are third party apps designed to replicate this feature on the Mac .
You can also use the Windows key combination + Up / Down / Left / Right to snap a window to a specific part of the screen.