How to Split Screen on Windows 11

Drag any window to the left edge of the screen. It snaps to fill the left half, and Windows shows thumbnails of your other open windows on the right side — click one and it fills the other half. That’s Snap Assist, it’s been in Windows since 7, but 11 made it better.

Keyboard is faster. Win+Left Arrow snaps the current window to the left half. Win+Right Arrow, right half. Already snapped? Win+Up/Down from a half-screen cycles through quarters. So Win+Left then Win+Up puts a window in the top-left quarter. Four windows, four corners, no mouse needed.

Hover your mouse over the maximize button on any window (the square in the top right, between minimize and close). A popup shows six layout options — side by side, thirds, quarters, three-column asymmetric. Pick a zone, the window fills it, then Windows asks you to fill the remaining zones. This is Snap Layouts and it’s the thing most people don’t know about.

Snap Layouts and Snap Groups

The layout popup gives you different options based on your screen size. A 1080p monitor shows four layouts. An ultrawide or 4K screen might show six because there’s enough room for three columns. If you don’t see the popup at all, it might be disabled — Settings, System, Multitasking, toggle on “Snap windows.” Check all four sub-options while you’re there, especially “When I snap a window, show what I can snap next to it.”

Snap Groups remember your layout. If you have Chrome on the left and Word on the right, then minimize both and click either one in the taskbar, Windows restores both in the same arrangement. Hover over the taskbar icon and you’ll see the group as a separate thumbnail. Works across monitor configurations too — dock your laptop and your Snap Groups from yesterday are still there.

Third-party tools do more. Microsoft PowerToys has FancyZones — Win+Shift+backtick opens the zone editor, you draw custom layouts with whatever sizes and positions you want. I keep a main zone taking 65% of the screen with two stacked smaller zones on the right for chat and terminal. Thirty-second setup, saves it permanently.

Multiple Desktops

If you run out of screen space, add a virtual desktop instead of splitting further. Win+Ctrl+D creates a new desktop. Win+Ctrl+Left/Right switches between them. I keep one desktop for work (email, docs, browser) and one for personal (Spotify, chat) — switching is instant and keeps the taskbar uncluttered.

Task View (Win+Tab) shows all desktops with their windows. Drag a window from one desktop to another. Right-click a window and choose “Move to” to send it to a specific desktop.

If Snap doesn’t work at all — windows won’t snap to edges, no layout popup appears — check Settings, System, Multitasking first. Toggle Snap windows off and back on. If it still doesn’t work, a third-party window manager like DisplayFusion or AquaSnap might be intercepting the snap shortcuts. Check your startup programs. If your taskbar itself isn’t working, that’s a different problem entirely.