{"id":5815,"date":"2021-10-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hdbka.com\/snap-layouts-are-windows-11s-best-new-feature\/"},"modified":"2021-10-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T00:00:00","slug":"snap-layouts-are-windows-11s-best-new-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hdbka.com\/snap-layouts-are-windows-11s-best-new-feature\/","title":{"rendered":"Snap Layouts are Windows 11’s best new feature"},"content":{"rendered":"
My favorite keyboard shortcut since the days of Windows 7 has been Windows + Left\/Right, which lets me fling a window to either side of my screen, automatically resizing it to take up 50% of my monitor. Great for viewing a document and a web browser side-by-side or keeping Chrome permanently in place while I use the other half of my monitor for chat windows or file explorer or whatever I need in the moment. Microsoft has made some improvements to window snapping over the years, but Windows 11’s overhaul is easily the best snapping has ever been.<\/p>\n
The same keyboard shortcuts still work, but on top of them Microsoft has added a really useful, intuitive mouse interface and the ability to easily snap multiple windows into a grid. This ain’t just about 50\/50 splits anymore. Snap Layouts are a great evolution of an already great feature.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n Windows 11’s Snap Layouts give you six different grid options for arranging your desktop: <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n This is probably a lot easier to visualize than it is to read. Thankfully, when you hover your mouse over a window’s maximize icon, you get this little pop-up to initiate a Snap Layout.<\/p>\n If you prefer a keyboard shortcut, that’s an option too: Windows + Z pulls up the Snap Layout menu. The shortcut is important because some apps, like Steam and Discord, have customized their title bars, so the maximize buttons can’t trigger the pop-up the way most Windows apps can.<\/p>\n Once you click one of the Snap Layout icons to initiate it, each of the other screen regions will show you the windows you have open. Clicking on one will zap it into place. The animations are really nice, too.<\/p>\n I find myself primarily using the 70\/30 layout, which closely mirrors how I typically laid out my screen before Snap Layouts were a thing. I like having one primary Chrome window and another one for Twitter, my calendar, and other secondary tasks. I may start experimenting with the 50\/25\/25 split, though, since I don’t always need the entire vertical space for my secondary window.<\/p>\n\n