53

For snapping your window to the left, or right side of your screen, you can use Winkey - Arrow left/right. But I have a screen rotated 90 degrees, and want to snap the window to the upper or lower part of the screen. Is there a shortcut for that?

PSVSupporter
  • 543
  • 1
  • 4
  • 5
  • Did you try same shortcuts? You can use third party app for windows setup. http://www.sector-seven.net/software/gridy – dukasvili Mar 15 '17 at 16:39
  • Try `Alt+Ctrl+down` or `Alt+Ctrl+left` or `Alt+Ctrl+right`... you can get it back to normal with `Alt+Ctrl+up` to make it upright. Not sure if this is what you are asking about but easy enough to try. – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Mar 16 '17 at 02:11
  • This question is remarkably similar to  [Is there a Windows 7 shortcut key to dock to the top of screen?](https://superuser.com/q/618298/150988), which is a duplicate of [Possible to “snap” top/bottom instead of just left/right in Windows 7?](https://superuser.com/q/618298/150988)  Also related: [Any shortcut to resize a window to half top/down of screen?](https://superuser.com/q/1202378/150988), which is specific to Windows 10. – Scott - Слава Україні Apr 24 '17 at 04:13
  • 1
    Still not ideal, but in Windows 11 has some nice options. You can Win+up to snap to top, and then Win+alt+down to snap a different window to the bottom (I remember there being a fill available space setting under system->multitasking that I'm not seeing now). Win+alt+arrow will otherwise snap in thirds but will snap to bottom rather than minimize. Win+arrow within unused space next to snapped window will further subdivide the remaining space. Win+z will open a menu which can be navigated by mouse, arrows, or numeric keys to choose from snap layouts. – Rich Oct 15 '22 at 23:24
  • 1
    I also find the above *much* easier to use with "When I snap a window, suggest what I can snap next to it" disabled (system->multitasking). While it has a nice feel, I canceled out of it 99% of the time, so it's just a time wasting workflow interruption. – Rich Oct 15 '22 at 23:28
  • 1
    "Powertoys" is another option provided for free by Microsoft (not a third party) that adds additional windowing features, but I think it lacks polish compared to the built-ins. I ended up uninstalling it because I found it caused system instability and other normal operations to slow to a grinding halt. – Rich Oct 15 '22 at 23:32

1 Answers1

46

Unfortunately, Windows 10 does not come with the feature to position your windows to upper / lower half of the screen.

What is possible though is:

Keys - Operation

Win + Left - Position a window on the left half of the screen

Win + Right - Position a window on the right half of the screen

Win + Up - Maximize a window

Win + Down - Restore a window, Minimize a window

Win + Shift + Up - Snap a window to maximum height

Win + Left / Right then Win + Up / Down - Position a window to one of the four possible quadrants

Win + Shift + Left / Right - Shift a window to the next / previous display

Win + M Minimize all windows

Win + Home Minimize all but active window

Win + D Toggle Desktop View

Hope this helps you.

Kalpesh Panchal
  • 603
  • 6
  • 6
  • 1
    `Win-shift-down` seems to maximize to lower half of screen, maybe an update added it. Thanks for this list. I didn't think of trying shift-combo before reading it. – matt wilkie Jan 16 '19 at 22:02
  • 31
    can not confirm that `windows-shift-down` maximizes to bottom half, for me its still minimizing the window (windows 10 pro, version: 10.0.17134 build 17134) – kmera Mar 22 '19 at 07:00
  • 11
    I think the intuitive shortcut Windows should add is when a window is snapped to one of the quadrants and you press **Win + Left / Right** to the direction of the empty space on left or right, then it maximize the width first, then pressing that arrow button again move it to the quadrant on the other side. We already have similar behavior for **Win + Up / Down** – orad Sep 30 '19 at 04:15
  • 1
    I was not satisfied with this and am now using some software called [WindowsGrid](http://windowgrid.net/) and [AquaSnap](https://www.nurgo-software.com/products/aquasnap?referrer=alternativeto) found this on [Alternativeto.net](https://alternativeto.net/software/spectacle/?platform=windows) – Shadoath May 28 '20 at 15:35
  • 1
    I've used AquaSnap for a few years, but I'm beginning to find the built-in Windows behavior more polished and easier to use in some ways. However I have portrait monitors to the left and right of a widescreen landscape, so the omission of top/bottom snap shortcuts in Windows is really unacceptable; i.e. for portrait monitors. – Rich Feb 09 '22 at 05:47
  • Expanding on my earlier comment: I like how Windows built-in guides laying out the entire monitor without using a mouse; but appreciate Aquasnap's flexibility to shift-click to drag adjacent window boarders together, and also to add more tiles via "glue" (boarder snap). I often don't like how Aquasnap uses past window boarder boundaries when using keyboard shortcuts. – Rich Feb 09 '22 at 06:02