Show windows side by side in windows 10

I’ve always right clicked on the taskbar and selected «Show windows side by side.» Now on my Windows 10 laptop, the two windows display very narrow and only on one half of the screen. Is there something I can do to make two documents display across the entire width of the screen?

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Aero Snap is one of the interesting features of Windows 10 that automatically arrange windows by tiles or side by side. Here are the different methods on how you can customize your windows view on your desktop using Aero Snap:

Method 1: Side by side windows.

This method will make each window take half of the computer screen allowing you to arrange it side by side.

1. Press and hold Windows logo key.

2. Press the left or right arrow key.

Method 2: Vertical Snap

You can also use Aero Snap to maximize or minimize the open windows on your desktop.

1. Press and hold Windows logo key + Up arrow key to snap the window to the top halves of the screen.

2. Press and hold Windows logo key + Down arrow key to snap the window to the bottom halves of the screen.

3. Press Windows logo key + Up arrow key twice to maximize the window.

4. Press Windows logo key + Down arrow key twice to minimize the window.

Method 3: 2×2 Snap

2×2 Snap will let you put up to 4 windows on your desktop using a combination of the Windows logo key + left/right/up/down arrow key.

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have other questions.

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Based on this thread and another in a different forum, the problem with side by side and stacked windows not working is due to a bug whereby various apps come up and appear to be on the desktop. When you do a side by side, you might have only 2 windows you see — everything else is minimised — but after the operation you wind up with screen real estate as if you were sharing with 2 3 4 or more shadow apps that do not show up.

If you use task manager, you will see phantom apps — e.g. calculator, calendar, skype, all of these come from C:\Program Files\WindowsApps. You might also see SystemSettings. If you kill these, you will generally find that Side-By-Side and Stacked windows behave as expected. Rarely, you may also have to stop/start (re-cycle explorer).

A guaranteed fix is to logoff (not reboot — just logoff) and login. Things work ok until you use a few modern apps and then they start to leak and screw things up.

Randomish8 (from other forum) may have reduced the problem to ApplicationFrameHost.exe as opposed to the mix of Apps I have stumbled across. I have not run into it yet but his solution may be more comprehensive.

I use Cygwin and I have a script that looks for processes in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps or named Systemsettings and kills those. If that is not sufficient I have another script that also recycles Explorer. So far that has always fixed things. I will try to look for ApplicationFrameHost.exe instead to see if that works.

In any event, you are not going nuts. The windows arrangement features works expected and as they always did when you log in and eventually degenerate as apps start to leak. Microsoft is definitely on the hook to fix this but in the meantime, there are ways of coping.

Windows «Side by side» in windows 10

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Is it possible that while working you are pressing the windows key and the down arrow?
this will restore down from full screen to window, and then to minimised if pressed again.

it is possible to turn off the windows hotkeys using group policy (if you are running pro), editing the registry or using a third party app.

if you would like to try disabling the windows hotkeys, please let me know which edition of windows you are running.
settings -> system -> about
look under windows specifications for the edition.

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I have been trying to replicate your issue and have been unable to on either home or pro, which is why i asked about possible hotkeys.

the method i gave first is to disable this function, lets check the registry and if the change has not happened there you can manually change it.

warning :- incorrectly editing the registry can cause serious issues to the windows installation. Take care.

click start, type regedit and press enter
in the left panel navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
in the right panel right click on WindowArrangementActive and select Modify
change the value data to 0 (zero) and click Ok
close the registry editor and restart windows.

see if the issue remains.

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Windows 10 «side-by-side»

Original title: Windows 10 desktop

Windows 10 will not allow me to show Windows «side-by-side». I usually have two windows open. With Windows 10, they do not resize so that each takes about 1/2 of the screen, rather they take about 1/3 each. Today, both windows became very small as if I had about 8 open instead of only 2, and I had to manually resize them. Can anyone offer a suggestion; it’s annoying.

Replies (7) 

Thanks for posting your query to Microsoft forum. I will certainly help you with this.

Method 1:

Step 1: Change the resolution

1. Press Windows key on the keyboard
2. Click on System
3. Go to Display
4. Click on Advance display settings
5. Change the resolution (1280×1024 recommended)

Step 2: Enable Show windows side by side

Make sure that you have at least two windows open.

1. Then right-click anywhere on the taskbar and select Show windows side by side.
2. The windows are resized according the number of windows to be displayed. You should note that windows that are minimized are not shown through this side by side interface.
3. When you are done you can close the side by side interface. You can do this by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Undo Show all windows side by side

Additional information : Applies to Windows 10 too.

The video cannot be played here. Click here to view this video.

Method 2: Update display adapter driver.

Step 1: Check for the latest display driver update through Windows Updates.

1. At the Start screen, type Windows Update.
2. Click or tap Settings on the right side of the screen, and then select Install optional updates from the left results.
3. When the Windows Update control panel opens, click on “Check for Updates” on the top left corner to receive a fresh list of updates.

Step 2: Follow the steps below to update the Bluetooth drivers.

1. Press Windows + X key on the keyboard.
2. Go to device manager.
3. Right-click your display/graphic devices.
4. Click Update Driver Software and then follow the steps in the wizard that appears.

Restart the computer and check.

Let us know if you need further assistance. We will be glad to help you further.

Windows «Side by side» in windows 10

Replies (5) 

1 person found this reply helpful

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Is it possible that while working you are pressing the windows key and the down arrow?
this will restore down from full screen to window, and then to minimised if pressed again.

it is possible to turn off the windows hotkeys using group policy (if you are running pro), editing the registry or using a third party app.

if you would like to try disabling the windows hotkeys, please let me know which edition of windows you are running.
settings -> system -> about
look under windows specifications for the edition.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn’t help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn’t help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

I have been trying to replicate your issue and have been unable to on either home or pro, which is why i asked about possible hotkeys.

the method i gave first is to disable this function, lets check the registry and if the change has not happened there you can manually change it.

warning :- incorrectly editing the registry can cause serious issues to the windows installation. Take care.

click start, type regedit and press enter
in the left panel navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
in the right panel right click on WindowArrangementActive and select Modify
change the value data to 0 (zero) and click Ok
close the registry editor and restart windows.

see if the issue remains.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn’t help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

Windows 10 «side-by-side»

Original title: Windows 10 desktop

Windows 10 will not allow me to show Windows «side-by-side». I usually have two windows open. With Windows 10, they do not resize so that each takes about 1/2 of the screen, rather they take about 1/3 each. Today, both windows became very small as if I had about 8 open instead of only 2, and I had to manually resize them. Can anyone offer a suggestion; it’s annoying.

Replies (7) 

Thanks for posting your query to Microsoft forum. I will certainly help you with this.

Method 1:

Step 1: Change the resolution

1. Press Windows key on the keyboard
2. Click on System
3. Go to Display
4. Click on Advance display settings
5. Change the resolution (1280×1024 recommended)

Step 2: Enable Show windows side by side

Make sure that you have at least two windows open.

1. Then right-click anywhere on the taskbar and select Show windows side by side.
2. The windows are resized according the number of windows to be displayed. You should note that windows that are minimized are not shown through this side by side interface.
3. When you are done you can close the side by side interface. You can do this by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Undo Show all windows side by side

Additional information : Applies to Windows 10 too.

The video cannot be played here. Click here to view this video.

Method 2: Update display adapter driver.

Step 1: Check for the latest display driver update through Windows Updates.

1. At the Start screen, type Windows Update.
2. Click or tap Settings on the right side of the screen, and then select Install optional updates from the left results.
3. When the Windows Update control panel opens, click on “Check for Updates” on the top left corner to receive a fresh list of updates.

Step 2: Follow the steps below to update the Bluetooth drivers.

1. Press Windows + X key on the keyboard.
2. Go to device manager.
3. Right-click your display/graphic devices.
4. Click Update Driver Software and then follow the steps in the wizard that appears.

Restart the computer and check.

Let us know if you need further assistance. We will be glad to help you further.