How to make two windows stack to fill the screen

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  1. Posts : 40
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #1

    How to make two windows stack to fill the screen


    As I recall, in XP/7/8 if you have two windows open and opt to stack them vertically, you get them stacked to fill the screen, each taking 1/2 of the vertical space.

    Now with Windows 10 (I'm a late-comer), when I stack two windows, they stack as if there were 3 open windows, leaving the lower 1/3 of the screen showing desktop.

    If I try to stack 3 windows (not something I normally use, just checking to see how it functions), I get them tiled 2x2, with the lower right quadrant showing desktop.

    With 4 windows, it tiles them in a 2x3 pattern, with 3 tiles on the right, the lower one showing desktop space.

    Bizarre.

    Anyone know how to fix this? I just want to be able to stack two windows to fill the screen. Is that too much to ask?

    Running 20H2, but have seen this on earlier versions, and more than one PC.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 43,014
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    How do you make stacking and side-by-side work?

    I don't know. I've always found this quite unsatisfactory and never made use of it.
    Nor does it handle 3rd party windows appropriately that do not need resizing at all but may be (e.g. Duckcapture).

    You might like to experiment with
    How to use FancyZones, Windows 10’s new tiling window manager >> OnMSFT.com
    - part of MS's Powertoys (free).

    Anyone know how to fix this? I just want to be able to stack two windows to fill the screen. Is that too much to ask?
    Of course there's snap, built in, which does work reasonably.
    - Win key + arrow keys
    - drag windows to boundary of screen
    Turn On or Off Snap Windows in Windows 10

    Want better than Windows snap e.g. for larger monitors?
    AquaSnap Window Manager: dock, snap, tile, organize
    - free
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 40
    Windows 10 Home x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Very slick, thanks. Fancy Zones looks like it will do the trick, and the Shortcut piece is nice too. Had tried Snap before but never got the hang of it. - looks like it doesn't do stacking, just side by side, unless I'm missing something.

    The old stack option did have problems with some 3rd party software, but was otherwise pretty useful. Glad someone fixed the Windows 10 corruption of it.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 43,014
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #4

    looks like it doesn't do stacking, just side by side, unless I'm missing something.
    correct
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 6,856
    22H2 64 Bit Pro
       #5

    Well try right clicking the taskbar (when you have two open windows) then select:

    Show windows side by side
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 40
    Windows 10 Home x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Side by side works fine. Stacking is the one that no longer works the same in W10.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 6,856
    22H2 64 Bit Pro
       #7

    Two windows stacked fills the screen for me. 20H2.

    How to make two windows stack to fill the screen-stacked.jpg
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6,856
    22H2 64 Bit Pro
       #8

    @spoolin01

    I think you just need to turn this off then reboot.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails How to make two windows stack to fill the screen-snap.jpg  
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 40
    Windows 10 Home x64
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Voila, that worked, turning off Multi-tasking. Oddly, after reboot, the first time I tried it, with two Firefox windows, it did the thirds thing again, but now with FF, Windows Explorer, and even MSOutlook open, I get the proper half-screen stacking of two maximized windows, even with other windows open but minimized.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 7,909
    Windows 11 Pro 64 bit
       #10

    I only ever use the Windows Key plus the up or down arrow to stack windows side by side. It's odd MS don't provide a simple way of stacking them vertically.
      My Computers


 

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