How to resize a window

Resizing a window can be useful in many situations. For instance, when you need to fit more than one on the same screen. The following sections show you how to resize a window in using both Windows and macOS.

A window that is maximized cannot be resized. Furthermore, certain types of windows cannot be resized at all.

Basic resize in Windows

As you can see in the image below, there are two buttons for resizing a window automatically.

• Minimize — Clicking this button, which looks like a dash, collapses the window onto the Taskbar.
• Maximize / Resize — Clicking this button, which looks like a box or two boxes, toggles the window between full and nearly full (not maximized) screen.

Custom resize in Windows

When the upper-right section of the window looks like , your window is now in «resize mode,» meaning you can use the mouse cursor to make the window any size you want. To do so, move the cursor to any edge or corner of the window until a double-headed arrow appears. When this arrow appears, click-and-drag it to make the window larger or smaller. If this double-headed arrow does not appear, the window cannot be resized.

The below animation shows a double-headed arrow on the bottom, left, and corner of a window and how it resizes a window. To make the window horizontally bigger, move the cursor to the left or right edge of the window until it turns into the double-headed arrow. To make the window vertically bigger, do the same thing at the top or bottom of the window. To resize both horizontally and vertically, use one of the corners of the window.

How to resize a window using the Windows key and keyboard

If you are running Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, you can use Windows key keyboard shortcuts to resize and arrange windows on your computer. For example, pressing the Windows key and the left arrow key resizes it to fit only the left half of the screen. Windows key and the right arrow key resizes the window to fit the right half of the screen.

How to resize a window using Windows menus

A window can also be resized using a series of keyboard shortcuts. Below are the steps for resizing a window only using the keyboard.

1. Press Alt + Spacebar to open the window menu.
2. If the window is maximized, arrow down to Restore and press Enter , then press Alt + Spacebar again to open the window menu.
3. Arrow down to Size.
4. Press the up or downarrow key if you want to resize the window vertically, or the left or right arrow key if you want to resize horizontally.
5. Once an arrow key is pressed, you can press the same arrow key or the opposite arrow key to resize the window.

How to resize a game window

When playing a computer game, it most likely defaults to a fullscreen mode that prevents the game from resizing. To resize a game window, the game must first be capable of being played in a windowed mode. If available, the setting is found in the game settings and may be labeled «borderless fullscreen» or «window mode» or be a checkbox. Once in a window mode, it may be possible to resize the window using any of the methods mentioned on this page. However, keep in mind that some games only have a window mode for performance reasons and may still not support the ability to be resized.

How to resize a window on a Mac

A Mac window can be resized using the mouse and the buttons located in the upper-left corner of the desktop.

• Minimize — Clicking this button (yellow circle), which looks like a dash, collapses the window into the Dock.
• Maximize / Resize — Clicking this button (green circle), which looks like a box or two boxes, toggles the window between full and nearly full (not maximized) screen.
• Custom size — First, make sure that the window is not maximized. Then, hover your mouse cursor over the corner, bottom, or top of the window. Click and drag to resize the window to the size you desire.

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

How to resize the on-screen keyboard on Windows 10

• If your Windows 10 touch keyboard is too big, you can adjust some registry settings to resize it.
• If you’re wondering how to make the on-screen keyboard smaller, the answer lies in the same registry values.
• For some adjusting the Windows 10 touch keyboard size might seem complicated.
• There are alternative on-screen keyboards to use and we’ve got just the right recommendation.

The on-screen keyboard is a feature conveniently built into the Windows 10 platform. If the virtual keyboard is too small or too big and you cannot properly use it, read the troubleshooting steps below and learn how to resize it.

The solution listed in this tutorial will work regardless of what Windows-based device you are currently using.

What can I do if on-screen keyboard is too big/ too small?

1. Modify the registry

1. Press Win+R hotkeys. The Run box will be displayed on your device.
2. In the Run field type regedit and press Enter.
3. From Registry Editor access the following path:
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer
4. Right-click on the Explorer folder and select New – > Key.
5. Rename this key into Scaling.
6. Now, under Explorer you should see the recently created Scaling entry.
7. Right-click on the Scaling folder and choose New – > String Value.
8. Name this Value MonitorSize.
9. Next, double-click on MonitorSize and enter the string value ‘25’ (this is the default value for a half-screen-width keyboard).
10. Close Registry Editor and restart your Windows 10 system.
11. Enter a different string value for resizing the virtual keyboard if that’s needed.

2. Change the keyboard

If the solution above seems too complicated, you can always try an alternative on-screen keyboard.

We recommend Comfort On-Screen Keyboard Pro, given the versatility of this tool in terms of features and usefulness.

The Comfort keyboard is compatible with any device running on Windows XP or later. Users can easily customize it in terms of key layout, skin, gestures or icons.

If you’re happy with the product and go to the premium version, you also get support for programmatic control of the on-screen keyboard.

Comfort On-Screen Keyboard Pro

This solution should help you adjust the on-screen keyboard size when you think that it’s too big or too small.

Speaking of virtual keyboards, if your on-screen keyboard won’t work at all, check out this troubleshooting guide to fix the problem.

If you have questions or if you cannot successfully complete the steps from above, don’t hesitate and share/describe your experience with our team. We will try to find the perfect fit for your problem based on the info that you provide us with.

Use your keyboard to move and resize windows

Put the brakes on your mouse and rearrange your open windows with your keyboard’s arrow keys.

There were some important shortcuts left off the list I described a couple of months ago. I wanted to be able to use my PC without requiring a mouse or any input device other than the keyboard. Since I can’t remember all the shortcuts I might need, I listed them in a text file I can open in Notepad using just two easy-to-remember keyboard combinations.

Unfortunately, some very useful keyboard shortcuts were omitted from the initial list, including those that let you move and resize windows by pressing Alt-Spacebar-M and Alt-Spacebar-S, respectively. (Note that the Move and Size options are grayed out when the window is maximized. To set it to the «normal» view, press Alt-Spacebar-R.)

Access controls for moving and resizing windows by pressing Alt-Spacebar. Microsoft

The Move command places a four-arrow icon on the screen. Press the arrow keys to reposition the window, and press Enter when it’s in place to return to the normal view. The Size option uses the same icon, but the arrow keys move the top, bottom, left, or right side of the window. Once again, press Enter when you have the desired size to return the focus to your application.

If you want to move the top down and the bottom up, or the right side in and the left side out, you have press Enter and repeat the shortcut. Or use the Move command first to place one side where you want it and then the Size command to resize it.

Cursor control by the numbers
There’s no substitute for a mouse’s ability to move the pointer around the screen in any direction and as fast as your hand can drag it. Your keyboard does offer an alternative way to slide your mouse pointer across the screen. Press the left Shift key, the left Alt key, and the Num Lock key to open the Mouse Keys dialog box. Press Enter to activate the feature. Now move the pointer by pressing the numbers along the outside of your number keypad, and press the 5 key to click. Press the left Alt, left Shift, and Num Lock keys again to turn the feature off.

Activate Windows’ Mouse Keys feature to convert your number pad into a mouse-pointer controller. Microsoft

Tomorrow: Take a closer look at Vista’s Ease of Access Center.

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

It is not often that you need to resize 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 resize a window using the keyboard!

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 S . The mouse cursor will turn into a cross with arrows:
4. Use the left, right, up and down arrow keys to resize your window.
   
   When you have set the desired window size, 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’s AquaStretch feature you can resize windows by double clicking their edges. That’s it.

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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.

8 thoughts on “ How to resize a window using keyboard only in Windows 10 and other versions ”

“It is not often that you need to resize 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 resize a window using the keyboard!”

Yes, and we’ve been doing it for years. Been using computers every day at home and work.. as an IT tech working on other people’s computers all day. The reason this is becoming “popular” as of late, is because M$ has seen fit to reduce the window border to 1 pixel ( yes ONE PIXEL) in Windows 10. I’m annoyed beyond words that once again, M$ takes 3 steps forward, and 2 steps back. I’ll put this in the same annoying category as the “BLINDING” white file explorer that they refuse to address, even though there have been many complaints. These small, and sometimes painful (eye burn) annoyances are so they can use the same scheme on their phone OS that nobody uses. Just let us break free and customize, give us WinXP grade control. XP let you do anything.

To the author. thanks for reminding me about the long-forgotten and personally never used keyboard shortcut. Cheers.

you are welcome

Just like LG, I used this to fix a 1 pixel window size issue. This article is amazing!

Didn’t work on my new Windows 10 installation.

Well it doesn’t work any longer. I just tried it in Windows 10 Home v V 1709 Build 16299.1029. Alt+F4 still works, and Alt+Space does access the file menu, press S does NOT bring up the resizing pointers.

I have tried all the methods and tricks i have window in for setting cnc machine. that is for big i can not hit ok in that , i have tried to minimize, none of the trick worked i have updated drivers, tried short cut keys , all tricks on line but no luck. i need help to this problem, if some one has clu . i have windows 10 labtop. thanks