Move active window with keyboard shortcut gone in Windows 10?

Avid Win8.1 lover here, and am currently running the W10 Technical Preview x64 (which ROCKS!)

The reason I am here today, is because previously we were able to move a window (let’s say Windows Explorer) from Monitor 2 to Monitor 1 (or however) by pressing the Windows Key + Left/Right Arrow. The behavior is still the same, where it will push the window to the border of whichever monitor it is ON, but will not transfer over. Would the be because of the new way Alt + Tab works or something to do with the overlay? More importantly, is it intentional for this to no longer be capable, or is it a new shortcut? Thanks everyone 🙂

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Are what is causing your issues?

Right now on Windows 8.1 — Windows Logo + Left or Right arrow does the following for me on my dual screen system I am on.

I have a window (the one I am typing this message in actually) not ‘locked’ anywhere and at a ‘random’ size on my right-most monitor. I press and hold the Windows Logo key on my keyboard and tap the left-arrow key and it slaps to the left side of my right-most monitor. I press the left arrow key again and it is now on the right side (half) of the left-most monitor. I press the left arrow key again (never letting up on the Windows logo key) and it is now at the random size it was on the right-most monitor, but still on the left-most monitor. Again pressing the left-arrow key and it is on the far left half of the left-most monitor.

I only have Windows 10 TP installed on a VM without multiple monitors — so I would be interested to know if the Virtual Desktops and such will be messing with the functionality I am seeing there. Seems like the Virtual Desktops *might* mess with that somewhat — but honestly — it could just be because this is a Pre-Preview. 😉

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Thanks for the reply. No I was not talking about the new KB Shortcuts, but thanks 🙂

I do not experience the same behavior as you do with switching the window to the other monitor. In all other versions of Windows I was able to do this just as you described.

» I press and hold the Windows Logo key on my keyboard and tap the left-arrow key and it slaps to the left side of my right-most monitor.» Right, mine does this also.

» I press the left arrow key again and it is now on the right side (half) of the left-most monitor. «

This is not working for me. The window simply snaps on the Left/Right side of the SAME monitor only. I’ve double and triple-checked my Monitor/Resolution settings, and verified that they are configured side by side (not up and down, and not surround wrap).

If I want that window to go to the other monitor. I must click and drag.

For reference, I am on a fresh install on a new partition on my SSD. No other WinXX sources on the same drive. On a Physical Machine (not a VM). Booting from my other partition (Win 8.1 x64) the window snaps and transfers over monitors as expected.

Thanks again for your explanation. Again, I know how to do it. It simply is not working in Windows 10 Tech Preview x64 (Build 9841, which I’m sure is the same build everyone else is on).

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Here is a small recording I did to demonstrate the erratic behavior.

When it starts, I do a couple Down Arrows and Up Arrows to show minimize/restore is working fine. I do about 4-7 taps repeatedly to all directions respectively. When I do My Left Arrows, or Right Arrows, the window just shifts position on the same monitor, rather than move to the next (and yes, I am using the same direction, not switching to a different arrow key). I then drag and drop the window with the mouse, and attempt on the other monitor. This gives the same result.

I am just trying to chip in and help Microsoft with a small bug. Well and it also bothers me lol.

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Are what is causing your issues?

Right now on Windows 8.1 — Windows Logo + Left or Right arrow does the following for me on my dual screen system I am on.

I have a window (the one I am typing this message in actually) not ‘locked’ anywhere and at a ‘random’ size on my right-most monitor. I press and hold the Windows Logo key on my keyboard and tap the left-arrow key and it slaps to the left side of my right-most monitor. I press the left arrow key again and it is now on the right side (half) of the left-most monitor. I press the left arrow key again (never letting up on the Windows logo key) and it is now at the random size it was on the right-most monitor, but still on the left-most monitor. Again pressing the left-arrow key and it is on the far left half of the left-most monitor.

I only have Windows 10 TP installed on a VM without multiple monitors — so I would be interested to know if the Virtual Desktops and such will be messing with the functionality I am seeing there. Seems like the Virtual Desktops *might* mess with that somewhat — but honestly — it could just be because this is a Pre-Preview. 😉

I would like to see snap work like this with the mouse interface. With 2 side by side monitors, holding Win + Right/Left moves a window to 6 different positions. Each monitor gets a right and a left snap and the «restore» window. (only talking about side by side) When using the mouse you only can get 3 different positions. Right most on the right screen, left most on the left screen and «restore». I would like to see the mouse be able to snap a window to the inner part of the 2 screens. The left side of the right monitor and the right side of the left monitor. Keep in mind I do not have Win 8 or 10 set up in multi-monitor setup and never tested it. I use Win 7 and wish it had this. I am not a keystroke kind of guy.

Moving windows from the keyboard

Is it possible to move windows from the keyboard itself without touching the mouse?

I know I can do a Alt + Left Click and drag the window, however I am hoping there is something I can use to move it from the keyboard without the mouse.

3 Answers 3

You can move a window by pressing

Alt + F7 , then moving it around with the arrow keys, and finish by hitting Return .

The same goes for resizing, using Alt + F8

You can also press Esc to cancel

Also, while I’m at it:

Alt + F9 minimises the window

Alt + F10 maximises it

You can also bring up the application’s window menu with Alt + space :

If you want to change those shortcuts, you can go to System → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts and find them under Window Management:

Here is a list of shortcuts:

• Ctrl + Alt + Num 1 = moves the window to the bottom left corner
• Ctrl + Alt + Num 2 = moves the window to the bottom half of the screen
• Ctrl + Alt + Num 3 = moves the window to the bottom right corner
• Ctrl + Alt + Num 4 = moves the window to the left half of the screen
• Ctrl + Alt + Num 5 = maximizes the window
• Ctrl + Alt + Num 6 = moves the window to the right half of the screen
• Ctrl + Alt + Num 7 = moves the window to the right left corner
• Ctrl + Alt + Num 8 = moves the window to the top half of the screen
• Ctrl + Alt + Num 9 = moves the window to the right right coner

How to move a window using keyboard only in Windows 10 and other versions

It is not often that you need to move a window using the keyboard only in the Windows operating system. Windows is designed to be used with a mouse besides the keyboard, and now touch. Every Windows user at least has a touchpad or mouse these days. However, if the keyboard is what you prefer to use, then here is how you can move a window using the keyboard! Moving a window using the keyboard can be useful if your window is partially or fully out of the screen or if some buttons that you need to click are under the Taskbar which usually appears always on top covering them.

1. Switch to the desired window using Alt + Tab .
   Tip: See how to tweak Alt+Tab to enlarge thumbnails and disable live aero peek preview. Also see two secrets of Alt + Tab dialog in Windows 10 you might not be aware of.
2. Press Alt + Space shortcut keys together on the keyboard to open the window menu.
3. Now, press M . The mouse cursor will move to the title bar of the window and turn into a cross with arrows:
4. 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 .

Modern operating systems like Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7 allow you to perform few extra actions with windows. They allow you to control the size and positioning of open windows better by dragging them to the edge of the screen. If you drag a window using its title bar to the top edge of the screen, it will be maximized. With the mouse pointer touching the left or right edges of the screen when dragging a window, it will be snapped to the left or right side of the screen respectively. This feature is called Snap.

If you grab the title bar of a window with the mouse and drag and shake it, all other background windows will be minimized. This is called Aero Shake. Both actions have their own hotkeys:
Win + Home : Same as Aero Shake (minimizes all windows except the foreground window)
Win + Left arrow key: Snaps an app window to the left.
Win + Right arrow key: Snaps an app window to the right.
Win + Up arrow key: Maximizes a window.
Win + Shift + Up arrow key: Maximizes/resizes a window vertically.
Win + Down arrow key: Minimizes a window if it’s not maximized, otherwise it restores the window to its original non-maximized sized.

Aero Snap in Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7 can also be customized. While the operating system does not allow you to control individual options, you can use my freeware Winaero Tweaker to enable or disable snapping, drag to maximize and vertical resizing options:

Bonus tip: You can also resize a window to a specific size or move it to specific position using the free app, Sizer.

Also, using the free AquaSnap, you can get Windows 10 Snap features in Windows 7 and XP.That’s it.

Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:

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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 a window using keyboard only in Windows 10 and other versions ”

I want to add that you can hold down Ctrl when using arrow keys to move window more precise.

Hey thanks Ivan, I didn’t know this. Great tip.

Could you add how to send a window to another virtual desktop (Windows 10), and/or that this is not possible with keyboard shortcuts?

win+cltr+ right arrow to go virtual desktop and left arrow to back

Fantastic – thank you!

My computer, a Dell PC with Windows 10, powers up just fine, but I cannot use it because the Aps page sizes are so big that I cannot access and use Restore to restore back to normal page size. I am not at my computer now, obviously, so I just copied your Aero Shake and Snap info to take home with me to see what I can do with it. If your info saves my butt, you can be sure that you will get a donation from me.

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