How to Enable or Disable Drag to Snap Windows in Windows 10  

    How to Enable or Disable Drag to Snap Windows in Windows 10

    How to Enable or Disable Drag to Snap Windows in Windows 10

    Published by Category: General Tips
    06 Dec 2021
    Designer Media Ltd

    How to Enable or Disable Drag to Snap Windows in Windows 10


    Your screen can get cluttered if you have a lot of opened app windows. The Snap windows (aka: Aero Snap) feature includes Snap Assist and 2x2 snapping to help you organize these opened windows on your desktop.

    This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the ability to drag to snap windows without disabling the keyboard shortcuts to snap windows for your account in Windows 10.

    Keyboard shortcuts:

    Win + Left arrow
    Press to snap the current active window to the left half of the screen. If you have multiple screens, then you can keep pressing to move and snap the window to the screen to the left.

    Win + Right arrow
    Press to snap the current active window to the right half of the screen. If you have multiple screens, then you can keep pressing to move and snap the window to the screen to the right.

    Win + Up arrow
    If the window isn't snapped, then it will maximize the window. If the window is snapped to a side, then it will snap the window to the top quarter of that side.

    Win + Down arrow
    If the window isn't snapped, then it will minimize the window. If the window is maximized, it will restore down the window. If the window is snapped to a side, then it will snap the window to the bottom quarter of that side.


    EXAMPLE: Snap windows in Windows 10

    Music in video is "Do the Pump" by Mr Juan licensed under a Attribution 3.0 France License.






    Here's How:

    The downloadable .reg files below will modify the string value in the registry key below.

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

    DockMoving REG_SZ

    0 = Disable
    1 = Enable


    1 Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


    2 To Enable Drag to Snap Windows

    This is the default setting

    A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

    Enable_drag_to_Snap_windows.reg

    Download


    3 To Disable Drag to Snap Windows

    A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

    Disable_drag_to_Snap_windows.reg

    Download

    4 Save the .reg file to your desktop.

    5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

    6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

    7 Sign out and Sign in or restart the computer to apply.

    8 If you like, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.


    That's it,
    Shawn


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  2. SpacemanSam
    Posts : 91
    10 pro
       New #1

    Not working


    It's not working for me. I tried it on both a live machine (W10 build 17134) and a VM (W10 build 19363), and it had no effect.
      My Computer
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  4. Brink
    Posts : 68,972
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       New #2

    SpacemanSam said:
    It's not working for me. I tried it on both a live machine (W10 build 17134) and a VM (W10 build 19363), and it had no effect.

    Hello Sam,

    Just to confirm, did you sign out and sign in to apply after disabling?
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  5. SpacemanSam
    Posts : 91
    10 pro
       New #3

    Oops! That was the problem.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  6. Brink
    Posts : 68,972
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    SpacemanSam said:
    Oops! That was the problem.
    No worries. I'm just glad that's all it was.
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  7. rseiler
    Posts : 301
    Windows 10 Enterprise x64 (Insider)
       New #5

    When set like this and attempting to use Win+Left or Win+Right to move a (full height but not full width) window from the left side of the screen to the right (or vice-versa), is it expected that the window will resize?

    Despite those settings, Windows very much still wants to resize things into quarters. I end up having to use all 4 of the key sequences just to get back to where I started and at the right size, which means it's not worth using for me. It doesn't appear to simply be a way to move a window around without resizing despite what the settings seem to imply.

    How to Enable or Disable Drag to Snap Windows in Windows 10-capture.jpg
      My Computer
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  8. srpen6
    Posts : 1
    windows 10
       New #6

    This registry edit disables snapping windows to a portion of a screen, but does not disable the most frustrating behavior when you have 2 monitors: you can't drag a window between monitors unless you drag really fast. Dragging at a normal speed causes the cursor to get stuck on the current monitor. update, here is correct change:

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
    "DockMoving"="0"
    "SnapSizing"="0"
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  9. Brink
    Posts : 68,972
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    srpen6 said:
    This registry edit disables snapping windows to a portion of a screen, but does not disable the most frustrating behavior when you have 2 monitors: you can't drag a window between monitors unless you drag really fast. Dragging at a normal speed causes the cursor to get stuck on the current monitor. update, here is correct change:

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
    "DockMoving"="0"
    "SnapSizing"="0"
    Hello srpen6, and welcome.

    The SnapSizing string value is for this below.

    Enable or Disable Double-Click to Maximize Windows Vertically in Windows Tutorial | Windows 11 Forum
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    Quote Quote

 

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