How to split screen in Windows 11 (Snap layouts)

Applies to: Windows 11, with notes for Windows 10. Microsoft’s Snap your windows page covers both versions; Snap layouts (the grid of layouts on the maximize button) are a Windows 11 feature, while dragging to an edge and the arrow-key shortcuts work on Windows 10 as well. Windows calls the whole feature Snap; “split screen” is simply what most people search for.

Split the screen in two with the mouse

This is the quickest way to put two apps side by side, for example a browser next to a document you’re writing:

1. Grab the first window by its title bar, the empty strip along the top.
2. Drag it to the left or right edge of the screen until an outline shows where it will go, then release the mouse button.
3. Windows shows thumbnails of your other open windows in the empty half. Microsoft calls this Snap Assist. Click the one you want there.
4. If you don’t want a second window yet, press Esc or click anywhere else, and the empty half stays as desktop.

Dragging to a corner instead of a side snaps the window into that quarter of the screen. Dragging it to the top edge works differently: on Windows 11 it brings up the layout bar described in the next section.

Use Snap layouts for three or four windows

Snap layouts are ready-made arrangements: two equal halves, a wide window with a narrow one, three columns, a large window with two stacked beside it, four quarters and so on. Microsoft notes that the layouts you’re offered depend on your screen size, so a small laptop display shows fewer than a large or ultrawide monitor. There are two ways to open them:

• From the maximize button: hover the pointer over the maximize button (the square between minimize and close) of the window you want to place, or press Win + Z while that window is active. A small panel of layouts appears.
• From the top of the screen: drag the window by its title bar to the top edge. A bar of layouts drops down; move the window onto the zone you want and release it.

Click or drop onto the zone where the current window should go. Snap Assist then offers your other windows for each remaining zone, one zone at a time. Pick one for each, or press Esc to leave the rest empty.

Tip: the zone you click matters, not just the layout. In the three-column layout, clicking the middle column puts the current window in the middle and asks you to fill the outside columns afterward. With Win + Z open, the number keys usually pick a layout and then a zone, which is handy if you’d rather not aim at small targets; the exact numbering depends on the layouts your screen offers.

Split screen with the keyboard

Every shortcut below acts on the active window, the one you last clicked. Microsoft’s keyboard shortcuts list describes them as follows:

Shortcut	What it does
Win + Left arrow	Snaps the window to the left side of the screen
Win + Right arrow	Snaps the window to the right side of the screen
Win + Up arrow	Maximizes the window
Win + Down arrow	Minimizes the window
Win + Z	Opens Snap layouts
Win + Shift + Up arrow	Stretches the window to the top and bottom of the screen
Win + Shift + Left arrow or Right arrow	Moves the window to the monitor on the left or right
Win + Home	Minimizes or restores every window except the active one
Win + Tab	Opens Task View

To build quarters from the keyboard, combine the arrows. Microsoft’s Snap page says you can keep holding the Windows key and press more arrows to change the window’s position: Win + Left arrow followed by Win + Up arrow normally moves a left-snapped window into the top-left quarter, and Down arrow in place of Up arrow takes it to the bottom-left. Once you release the Windows key, Snap Assist offers windows for the remaining space.

Pressing Win + Up arrow or Win + Down arrow on a window that’s already snapped to a half usually moves it to a quarter rather than maximizing or minimizing it, which is why the same keys behave differently depending on where the window is.

Change how much space each window gets

Halves don’t have to stay equal. Hover over the line where two snapped windows meet until the pointer turns into a double arrow and a bar appears, then drag it. Microsoft says the windows on either side resize together, so you don’t end up with a gap or an overlap. Use it to give a document most of the screen and keep a chat or reference page in a narrow strip.

Some apps have a minimum width and stop shrinking past it; if a window won’t get any narrower, that’s the app’s limit, not a Snap problem.

Get a set of snapped windows back

When you snap windows together, Windows 11 remembers them as a Snap group. If you switch to another app and want your arrangement back:

1. Hover over the taskbar icon of any app in the group.
2. In the preview, choose the group to restore all of its windows in their layout, or the single window to bring back just that app.

Microsoft says Snap groups also show up in Task View (Win + Tab) and in the Alt + Tab switcher. A group usually lasts until you move or close one of its windows, so expect to snap again after a restart.

If you keep separate arrangements for different tasks, such as email and calendar for admin work and two documents for writing, virtual desktops keep them apart. Microsoft lists Win + Ctrl + D to create a desktop, Win + Ctrl + Left arrow or Right arrow to switch between them, and Win + Ctrl + F4 to close the one you’re on.

Split screen on two monitors

Snap works on each display separately. Drag a window to the edge of the monitor it’s on, or use the layouts on that monitor, and it stays there. Two points trip people up:

• Moving between screens: Win + Shift + Left arrow or Right arrow sends the active window to the other monitor. Then use Win + Left arrow or Right arrow to snap it on that screen.
• Dragging past the shared edge: where two monitors meet, there’s no screen edge to snap to, because the pointer just crosses to the other display. Use the layout panel or the keyboard for the inner sides instead.

If Windows only sees one of your monitors, sort that out first; our guide to a second monitor not detected in Windows 11 starts with the Detect button in display settings.

Turn Snap on or off and choose what it shows

All of Snap’s options live in one place. Open Settings > System > Multitasking (you can also type ms-settings:multitasking in the Run box, Win + R) and look at Snap windows:

• Snap windows switch: turns the whole feature on or off. Switch it off if you keep snapping windows by accident.
• Expand the section (the arrow next to the switch) to choose individual parts. Microsoft lists options to show what you can snap next to a window (Snap Assist), show snap layouts on the maximize button, show snap layouts when you drag a window to the top of the screen, show snapped windows on the taskbar, in Task View and in Alt + Tab (Snap groups), and snap a window without dragging all the way to the screen edge.

A common tweak is to keep Snap but turn off the layout bar at the top of the screen, for people who drag windows upward a lot and find it gets in the way. The exact wording of each option can shift slightly between Windows 11 versions.

When snapping doesn’t work

Work out which part is failing, because the fixes differ.

Nothing happens when you drag to an edge

• Check that the Snap windows switch in Settings > System > Multitasking is on.
• Make sure you’re dragging by the title bar and that the pointer itself reaches the edge. The option to snap without going all the way to the edge makes this easier.
• Some apps, especially older ones, small dialog boxes and fixed-size windows, can’t be resized and so may refuse to snap or snap oddly. Try a browser or File Explorer to confirm Snap itself works.

The layout panel doesn’t appear on the maximize button

• Turn on the option to show snap layouts when you hover over the maximize button, under Snap windows in Multitasking settings.
• Some apps draw their own title bar, and the hover panel may not appear on their maximize button. Press Win + Z with the window active instead, or drag it to the top of the screen.
• If only a few layouts appear, that’s expected on a smaller or lower-resolution display. Microsoft says the choices depend on screen size.

The Windows key shortcuts do nothing

If Win + Left arrow and Win + Z do nothing but dragging works, test another shortcut such as Win + E. If that fails too, the Windows key is being blocked, often by a Win Lock or Game Mode key on gaming keyboards; see how to turn off Win Lock. Keyboard utilities and window managers you’ve installed can also take over these shortcuts, so close them and try again.

Windows snap when you don’t want them to

Turn off the specific part that bothers you rather than the whole feature: the top-of-screen layout bar, the snap-before-the-edge option, or Snap Assist’s thumbnails. If you’d rather never snap, switch off Snap windows entirely; dragging and maximizing still work as usual.

Working side by side: once two windows are snapped, moving text between them is easier with clipboard history, which keeps your last 25 copied items, and Alt + PrtScn captures just the active window if you need a picture of one half; our screenshot guide explains where that image goes.

Related guides

• How to use clipboard history in Windows 11
• How to take a screenshot on Windows 11
• Second monitor not detected in Windows 11: how to fix it
• Windows key not working: how to fix it in Windows 11 and 10

Official sources

• Microsoft: Snap your windows
• Microsoft: Keyboard shortcuts in Windows