Move a Window with the Keyboard in Windows 7/8/10

Comes in handy once in a blue moon

So for those of you who do not like to use a mouse, it would be pretty cool if you could move a window using just the keyboard in Windows 7 right? Well, there are a couple of ways to do this and even though you may not need to do it very often, it does come in handy on the rare occasion!

In this article, I’ll tell you how to move a window in small increments to the exact position you want, how to snap a window to the left or right and how to move a window between monitors on a multi-monitor setup, all by just using the keyboard!

Method 1 – Incremental Move

For exact positioning, you first need to click on the window. Now this is obviously going to only work for windows that are not fully maximized. If it’s fully maximized, there is really nowhere to move the window.

Step 1: Either click on the window or if you want to use the keyboard, press ALT+TAB and make the window you want to move active.

Step 2: Now go ahead and press ALT+SPACEBAR and you’ll see a small menu appear in the window.

Step 3: Now press M, which will basically choose the Move option in the menu.

Step 4: Now use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the window to the new position that you desire.

Step 5: Press the Enter key to get out of the move mode. Also, if you want to have the window go back to the original position before you started the move, press the Esc key instead.

Method 2 – Windows Snap

Windows has a nifty feature that lets you snap windows to the left-hand or right-hand side of the screen. If you drag a window to the right or left, it will automatically resize and snap to the side.

To do this using the keyboard, press the Windows Key + the right or left arrow. Make sure to hold down the Windows key while pressing the left and right arrow keys. It’s actually pretty neat and much faster than dragging the window around the screen.

Method 3 – Multi-Monitor Setups

Lastly, for moving between multiple monitors, all you have to do is add SHIFT to the above key combo, so it would simply be Windows Key + Shift + right or left arrow.

For the power users who really want to control their windows, moving may not be enough. So here’s a few other shortcuts that could come in handy if you are left with nothing but a keyboard and Windows:

End – Will display the bottom of the active window (in case you need to scroll using the keyboard)

Home – Will display the top of the active window

F11 – Will either maximize or minimize the active window

Ctrl + Tab – If you have a window with tabs, then this will move you forward through the tabs

Ctrl + Shift + Tab – Will move you back through the tabs

Windows Key + Shift + Up Arrow – This will stretch a window to the top and bottom of the screen.

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications. Read Aseem’s Full Bio

MoveWindow function (winuser.h)

Changes the position and dimensions of the specified window. For a top-level window, the position and dimensions are relative to the upper-left corner of the screen. For a child window, they are relative to the upper-left corner of the parent window’s client area.

Syntax

Parameters

A handle to the window.

The new position of the left side of the window.

The new position of the top of the window.

The new width of the window.

The new height of the window.

Indicates whether the window is to be repainted. If this parameter is TRUE, the window receives a message. If the parameter is FALSE, no repainting of any kind occurs. This applies to the client area, the nonclient area (including the title bar and scroll bars), and any part of the parent window uncovered as a result of moving a child window.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

If the bRepaint parameter is TRUE, the system sends the WM_PAINT message to the window procedure immediately after moving the window (that is, the MoveWindow function calls the UpdateWindow function). If bRepaint is FALSE, the application must explicitly invalidate or redraw any parts of the window and parent window that need redrawing.

Windows: Bring Off-Screen Window Back Onto Screen

By Mitch Bartlett 115 Comments

While using Microsoft Windows, I had a window that had somehow fallen completely off of my screen. Right-clicking the window in the Taskbar and selecting Maximize brought it back, but there was no way I could get the window restored to where I could move it around my screen with my mouse.

Luckily, there are a couple of ways to bring off-screen windows back to the desktop screen.

Fix 1 – Resolution Trick

Windows 10 & 8

1. Start the problematic application.
2. Right-click a blank area of the Desktop, then choose “Display settings“.
3. Select “Advanced display settings” at the bottom of the window.
4. Temporarily change the “Resolution” to another value, then choose “Apply“.
5. See if you can see the window on your screen now.
6. Change the resolution back to the previous value, then select “OK“.

Windows 7

1. Start the problematic application.
2. Right-click a blank area of the Desktop, then choose “Screen Resolution“.
3. Temporarily change the “Resolution” to another value, then choose “Apply“.
4. See if you can see the window on your screen now.
5. Change the resolution back to the previous value, then select “OK“.

Fix 2 – Show Desktop Toggle

1. Hold down the Windows Key, then press “D“. Repeat these steps to see if it makes the window you are looking for reappear.
2. Alternately, you can right-click a blank area of the taskbar, then choose “Show the desktop“, then repeat.

Fix 3 – Move Option 1

1. Select the program in the task bar.
2. Hold the Windows Key while pressing Left Arrow or Right Arrow repeatedly to move the window back into view.

Fix 4 – Move Option 2

1. In Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista, hold down the “Shift” key while right-clicking the program in the taskbar, then select “Move“. In Windows XP, right-click the item in the task-bar and select “Move“. In some instances, you may have to select “Restore“, then go back and select “Move“.
2. Use your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the window back onto the screen.

Fix 5 – Cascade Windows

• Right-click a blank area of the task-bar, then select “Cascade windows“.
  

Fix 6 – Maximize

Sometimes a single app will get stuck in a state where it cannot redraw onto the Window. You can usually alleviate this by doing the following.

• Hold “Shift” and right-click on the program icon in the taskbar, then choose “Maximize“.
  

How do I prevent my application from starting off the screen every time I launch it?

Most applications will stop doing this if you properly exit out of the application while it is on the screen. If you have already properly exited the application, you might need to uninstall and reinstall it.

Otherwise, you can try right-clicking the icon for the application, then choosing “Properties“. Under the “Shortcut” tab, change the “Run” setting to “Maximized“, then select “OK“.

How to Move Off-Screen Window Back To Screen in Windows 10

It probably happens to all of us. Sometimes an app starts normally, but its main window appears off-screen. This often happens with portable apps, when you run them from a flash drive on a display which has lower display resolution than the previous one. Here is how to resolve this issue.

To move an off-Screen window back to the Screen in Windows 10, do the following.

1. Press and hold the Shift key and right-click the app’s taskbar icon.
2. Select Move in the context menu.
3. Use the left, right, up and down arrow keys on the keyboard to move your window. When you have moved the window to the desired position, press Enter.

There is an alternative way to achieve the same. It involves the keyboard only. You might find it faster. Also, it is the only way to move a window when it does not have a taskbar button, e.g. if it appears only in the system tray.

Move an Off-Screen Window With Keyboard Only

1. Press Alt + Tab and select the app’s window thumbnail. The app window will become active, but still not visible.
2. Press Alt + Space , then press M . This will activate the Move option of the window.
3. Use the left, right, up and down arrow keys to move your window. When you have moved the window to the desired position, press Enter.

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About Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer from Russia who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

7 thoughts on “ How to Move Off-Screen Window Back To Screen in Windows 10 ”

Thank you for the Shift key tip.

there is no option to move

this is impossible.

alt space M then move mouse on to the correct screen worked for me!

The Shift-click didn’t work for me (I’m using a later version of Windows 10 with a dark context menu so they might have forgotten to re-implement it with the updated design), but thankfully the keyboard method worked!

What do you do when it’s a window within an application and it doesn’t get a button on the taskbar nor does it show up in the Alt-Tab sequence?

Doesn’t seem to work anymore, three monitor setup, monitor 3 switched out with HDMI switch then launch Acrobat, it always opens on monitor 3 ! I can alt+tab select it and get the alt+space+m with a beep, cursor turns to a move cursor but arrow keys do nothing, taskbar cascade windows does nothing .

Windows 10 — How to move window to other monitor by using keyboard shortcuts?

I try to switch a window from my second monitor to the first, because my OS always opens some windows where they were last closed. E.g. if I open up VLC Player to watch a video and then move the window to monitor B, close it and reopen it, then it is opened on monitor B the next time.

This is obviously very annoying, especially if monitor B is not on.

Is there a shortcut so I can move the windows easily to monitor A again if it has focus?

I tried to give the window focus and press

Windows + SHIFT + → or: Windows + SHIFT + ←

But nothing happens.

5 Answers 5

I solved it by unchecking the box which you can see in the following screenshot.

Go to Control Panel > Ease of Access Center > Make the Keyboard Easier to Use

Then search for the setting «Make it easier to manage windows» and un-check «Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen»

After unchecking this option, it works again.

Go to Settings -> System -> Multitasking

The first section in the Multitasking settings is called Snap. I had the first four items in the list set to Off. When I changed them to On, it (moving windows with Windows + Shift + → / ← (Right / Left arrow key) started working again.

(Click image to enlarge)

An alternative method of moving desktop applications using the keyboard, is to open the application system menu by pressing ALT + Space and then press m to select move. Then you can use the arrow keys to move the application window. I regularly use this to move applications that are placed outside my desktop.

Note that this will not work if «move» is disabled in the application. Which will be the case if the application is maximized.

This method also works when «Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen» is checked in the control panel.