How to open multiple windows in Windows 10. Arranging windows in Windows using Snap

It seemed that just a few years ago, when creating Windows 8, Microsoft was close to upending everything we were used to, relying on full-screen applications and a tiled interface. However, years have passed and in Windows 10 the corporation again puts nothing more than windows at the forefront.

Unlike its predecessor, where the window management functionality received virtually no development, Windows 10, as if catching up, is ready to offer a whole arsenal of new functions related to windows in one way or another. Let's take a look at what Microsoft has been working on all this time.

The Snap feature debuted in Windows 7. It allowed a gesture to open windows to fill the entire screen, open them along the vertical axis, and also place them side by side, dividing the screen into two equal parts. The latter, perhaps, turned out to be the most convenient solution, since in two movements it made it possible to quickly create something like a two-panel file manager.

However, time passes, resolutions and display diagonals are growing, and therefore Microsoft is introducing new feature called Corner Snap. Thanks to it, you can now position any window exactly on a quarter of the screen. This opportunity, in turn, allows you to create not only two-panel manager, but also slightly more specific window combinations.

In Windows 7, just “move” the window to the left or right edge and it will expand to half the screen. However, the option of dividing strictly in half is not always reasonable. In Windows 10, autoscaling supports asymmetrical window layouts. This feature is called Snap Fill. Thanks to it, when scaling one window, the system takes into account the location of another and fills all unoccupied space.

For example, in previous versions Windows, in the scenario depicted in the screenshot above, the “This PC” window would take up exactly half the screen, leaving part of the desktop visible between itself and the other window.

Windows 8 already did something similar for full-screen applications, but now a similar mechanism is available for desktop mode.

For a long time, the Snap function was only responsible for scaling and snapping windows, but not for arranging them. A new sub-function of the Snap mechanism, called Snap Assist, solves this shortcoming.

Let's say you brought a window to the edge of the screen and thanks to Snap it filled half of it. Now you are looking for another window to do the same thing to. This search typically involves multiple clicks. Thanks to Snap Assist, you can save them: once you snap one window, the others will be automatically arranged on the rest of the screen.

One click on any of the previews and it will immediately take up the free space. The function can also work together with the Corner Snap described above.

Given Windows change 10 can hardly be called an innovation; rather, it is a long-awaited resolution of a controversial issue made in Windows 8. To the “eight”, Microsoft added a whole group of new programs called universal applications, which could only work in full screen mode, by default not even displaying the title bar and task bar.

For owners of tablets with small screens, such programs turned out to be quite convenient, which cannot be said about desktop users. Not all of them liked these “innovations”. In Windows 10 on desktops, all universal applications have learned to work and are launched by default as regular windows.

You can return them to full-screen view by activating tablet mode.

Scrolling inactive windows

In current Windows versions the user can only scroll the window that is active. To scroll another window, you must first select it, that is, click on it. In addition to the need to constantly make an extra click, in addition, remember how many times you simply made a mistake when, instead of the window over which the cursor was, when you rotate the mouse wheel, the contents of a completely different window begin to scroll.

In Windows 10, everything became different, as scrolling of inactive windows began to work here. Thanks to it, the exact window above which is scrolled will scroll. this moment the mouse pointer is located.

Updated Alt+Tab interface

Window switcher activated by pressing Alt+Tab - quite old Windows feature, which Microsoft last paid serious attention to only in Windows Vista. Then the Alt+Tab interface received the official name Flip and learned to show visual thumbnails in addition to icons. In Windows 8, this switch looks almost the same as in Vista:

But in Windows 10, the Alt+Tab interface has finally been modernized. First of all, noticeably redrawn appearance switch. Instead of tiny thumbnails, which were sometimes difficult to see, large, high-quality previews are now used.

The Alt+Tab interface no longer displays the desktop, so there is a Peek function for this. In addition, close buttons have appeared in the corners of visual previews.

Virtual desktops

After the release of Windows 8, rumors began to spread across the Internet that Microsoft intended to abandon the traditional desktop altogether in the next Windows. In fact, Windows 10 not only preserved this base element interface, but also allowed the user to create virtual desktops.

This one is well known Linux users and OS X function is designed to group open windows and, accordingly, tasks. Each desktop will contain the same set of icons, but the set open windows there will be one everywhere. For example, you can send everything related to work to one desktop, and entertainment applications to another. Thanks to this innovation, you can organize your work in such a way that unrelated tasks do not form a mess of open windows on your screen.

Task View

Task View is a special interface, closely related to the previous innovation, activated by clicking on the new shortcut of the same name on the taskbar. There are open windows in the upper part, and work tables in the lower part. From this interface you can quickly switch to the right application or desktop, create desktops and move windows between them.

In terms of convenience new interface executed perfectly: to see a set of windows on a particular desktop, you just need to hover your mouse over it. In turn, you can move windows from one desktop to another thanks to the Task View mode by simply dragging and dropping.

New life for touchpads

If you have a device or a separate keyboard with a touchpad, then Windows 10 can present another pleasant surprise. Now, like OS X, you can use three- and four-finger touchpad gestures to control windows and virtual desktops.

For example, a three-finger swipe down will minimize all open windows, and a similar swipe up will restore them to their original state. With the help of new multi-finger gestures, you can additionally switch between applications in Alt+Tab mode, call Task View mode, voice assistant Cortana and the new Action Center.

Multitasking settings

For the first time in Windows OS, a separate section dedicated to managing windows and multitasking appeared in the system settings. True, there are few settings here yet, but for a start this is not bad.

The first setting in the screenshot above will disable all Snap window scaling mechanisms. The second and third separately disable the Snap Fill and Snap Assist functions, respectively. Below are settings that allow you to set the display of windows from inactive desktops on the taskbar and Alt+Tab switch.

Summing up

As you can easily see, there are noticeably more various functions for working with windows in Windows 10 than in its predecessors. Microsoft has finally abandoned the idea of ​​obsessive full-screen on desktops and is again relying on traditional interface elements such as windows and the desktop.

Of course, all of the functionality listed above cannot be called revolutionary. However, these are precisely the small and pleasant little things that will make working on a PC for every user, without exception, a little more convenient.

Multitasking in Windows 10 is a relatively new section in Settings operating system. He contains useful settings automatic arrangement of open application windows on the desktop.

When the user drags any open window to a corner or side of the screen, the pinning function will automatically work. It will resize it and fill the free space with other windows if several are open at the same time.

You can drag not only by holding down the left mouse button on the title bar, but also by using hot keys from the keyboard. Find the Win key (in some cases it may have the Windows OS logo) and combine it with the right or left arrows.

This type of operation of the “Snap Assist” function has been familiar to us since the release of the OS. Then it was called “Aero Snap”. Now it has been significantly improved and renamed.

Some users like to use it, others don't. Regardless of your preferences, you should have information on how to disable Snap Assist in cases where there is no need for its operation.

MULTITASKING WINDOWS 10

The following are the steps you need to take to configure or deactivate Window Arrangement snapping open applications. Don't worry, you can always return everything to its original state!

Press the Win + I key combination on your keyboard for quick access or open System Settings from the Start button menu. In the window that opens, select the “System” category and go to the “Multitasking” section.

On the right, you'll see a subsection called “Snapping,” where you can disable various aspects of the snapping feature. If you want to disable Snap Assist, uncheck the “When snapping a window, show what you can snap next to it” option.

That's all. If you find that working without this feature is inconvenient, return to the same multitasking settings and enable them again.

We are always happy to provide you with all possible assistance in solving various problems related to the operation of your computer or operating system. Interaction is carried out through the comment form or e-mail.

In the original versions of Windows 10 there were no functions that allowed you to change the background or title color of the window (but this could be done using the registry editor), at the current time, in Windows 10 Creators Update such functions are present, but quite limited. Also appeared third party programs for working with window colors in the new OS (however, they are also quite limited).

Below you will find details on how to change the window title color and background color of windows in several ways. See also: , .

Another question that is often asked is how to change the background of a window (its background color). In particular, some users find it difficult to work in Word and other office programs on a white background.

There are no convenient built-in tools for changing the background in Windows 10, but if necessary, you can use the following methods.

Change the background color of a window using High Contrast options

The first option is to use the built-in theme customization tools with high contrast. To access them, you can go to Settings - Accessibility - High Contrast (or click "High Contrast Options" on the color settings page discussed above).

In the High Contrast Theme Options window, by clicking on the "Background" color you can choose your background color for Windows windows 10, which will be applied after clicking the “Apply” button. An approximate possible result is in the screenshot below.

Unfortunately, this method does not allow you to affect only the background without changing the appearance of other window elements.

Using Classic Color Panel

Another way to change the window background color (and other colors) is the third-party utility Classic Color Panel, available for download on the developer’s website WinTools.info

After starting the program (the first time you launch it, you will be asked to save the current settings, I recommend doing this), change the color in the “Window” item and click Apply in the program menu: you will be logged out, and after the next login, the settings will be applied.

The disadvantage of this method is that the color of not all windows changes (changing other colors in the program also works selectively).

Setting your own color for decoration

Despite the fact that the list of colors available in the settings is quite wide, it does not cover all possible options and it is likely that someone will want to choose their own window color (black, for example, which is not in the list).

This can be done in one and a half ways (since the second one works very strangely). First of all - using the editor Windows registry 10.

Strangely, not all colors work: for example, black, the code for which is 0 (or 000000 ), you have to use something like 010000 . And this is not the only option that I could not get to work.

Moreover, as far as I could understand, the color encoding is BGR rather than RGB - this doesn't matter if you are using black or grayscale, however if it is something "colored" then you will have to swap the two extreme numbers. That is, if the palette program shows you the color code FAA005, then in order to get the orange window color, you will need to enter 05A0FA(I also tried to show this in the picture).

Color changes are applied immediately - just remove focus (click on the desktop, for example) from the window and then return to it again (if it doesn’t work, log out and log in again).

The second method, which changes colors not always predictably and sometimes not for what is needed (for example, black color is applied only to the borders of the window), plus everything causes the computer to slow down, is to use the control panel applet hidden in Windows 10 (apparently its use in not recommended for new OS).

You can launch it by pressing the Win+R keys on your keyboard and entering rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,Advanced,@Advanced then press Enter.

After that, adjust the color the way you want and click “Save Changes.” As I said, the result may be different from what you expected.

Changing the color of an inactive window

By default, inactive windows in Windows 10 remain white, even if you change the colors. However, you can make your own color for them. Go to the registry editor, as described above, in the same section HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ DWM

Right-click on the right side and select “New” - “32-bit DWORD Value”, then give it a name AccentColorInactive and double click on it. In the Value field, specify the color for the inactive window in the same way as was described in the first method of selecting custom colors for Windows 10 windows.

Video instruction

Finally, there is a video that shows all the main points outlined above.

In my opinion, I have described everything that is possible on this topic. I hope some of my readers find the information useful.

Some new features. Read more in Greg Shultz's article.

Window management, which first appeared in Windows 7, showed good potential, but was relegated to the background in Windows 8. However, in Windows 8.1 it was revived again, with support for “modern” applications, and in Windows 10 it finally became truly useful. You can now dock windows to the four corners of the screen or divide desktop space horizontally between two windows. There are other useful features as well. Let's see which ones exactly.

Introductory part

As you know, Snap allows you to resize windows and position them on the screen by simply dragging them to one of the faces. If you drag the window to to the right place, circles appear around the cursor, and a translucent frame appears on the screen, showing the new borders of the window. As soon as it is released, it occupies the space outlined by the frame.

If you click on the title bar of a window and drag it to the top edge of the screen, it will expand to fill the entire screen. To restore the window to its previous size, simply click on the title bar and drag it back to the middle of the screen. To expand a window to half of the desktop, you need to drag it to the right or left edge of the screen (the closer to the right or left edge of the title bar you click, the less you have to drag). And to expand the window located in the center to the full height of the screen, just click on its lower or upper frame and pull it down or up.

In addition, you can use key combinations to manage windows.

+[left arrow] - Dock the window to the left half of the screen
+[right arrow] - Dock the window to the right half of the screen
+[up arrow] - Maximize the window to full screen
+[down arrow] - Reduce or minimize the window

Pinning to the corners of the screen

One of the main new features of Snap in Windows 10 is the ability to split the screen not only in half between two windows, but also into four parts (Figure A). This makes it much more convenient to work with several applications at the same time.

Figure A. Windows can now be docked not only on the right or left half of the screen, but also on four quarters.

To use this feature, you need to drag the window not just to the right or left, but to one of the corners of the screen. When a translucent frame appears, you can release the window and it will automatically take the specified position.

Keyboard shortcuts also work. If the window already occupies the left half of the screen, just press +[up arrow] to dock it in the top quarter or +[down arrow] to dock it in the bottom.

Snap Assist

To make managing windows easier, Windows 10 also includes Snap Assist. After pinning one window, it shows thumbnails of all the other open windows in the adjacent empty space (Figure B). Just click on one of the thumbnails - and the corresponding window will automatically occupy the free part of the screen. Very fast and intuitive.

Figure B: Snap Assist makes it easy to fit additional windows into available screen space.

"Modern" applications

Since "modern" apps in Windows 10 can run in windows, they too can be placed on the desktop using the Snap feature. True, only splitting the screen between two “modern” applications in half is supported - placing them in four quarters will not work.

What do you think?
Are you using the Snap feature in Windows 7 or Windows 8? What do you think of the new Snap features in Windows 10? Share your opinion in the comments!

Allowing you to easily arrange windows on your desktop. It relieved the user of the need to select the size and location of windows to fit them into a standard layout. In Windows 8, this feature has become even more convenient: for the first time, full-fledged multi-tasking work on tablets was implemented. Now you can resize several nearby applications at the same time with a simple gesture. At the same time, their windows automatically take up all available space on the screen.

When we started working on Windows 10, we stayed true to our original goal: to help you work more efficiently by making it even easier to manage your window layout. Now that the applications Windows Store can run on the desktop, we were able to combine best opportunities from Windows 7 and 8. We've also taken into account changes in PC technology over the past few years: new large format monitors with high resolution, multiple monitor configurations, touch screens, transformers. All of this has had a major impact on the way people interact with computers.

Snap Assist function

One of the features of Aero Snap in Windows 7 has gained popularity among users: if you drag windows to the left or right edges of the screen, they will automatically take up half of the screen area. By selecting any two windows, you can easily dock them side by side on the screen. This is very convenient when writing a letter or comparing products.

However, we have noticed that users typically pin one window first and then switch between the others, choosing which one to pin next. And we thought: why not immediately display a list of recent windows, so as not to waste time searching? This idea formed the basis new feature Snap Assist in Windows 10.

Now Snap Assist helps you snap two windows side by side much faster, because now you can select them yourself from the list. The Windows Insider Program found that 90% of the time, users use Snap Assist by selecting a second app from a list rather than manually. Snap Assist has other benefits as well. For example, like Task View, this new feature makes it easier to use with touch and is particularly useful as part of Continuum.

Snap Assist makes it easy to snap two windows side by side

Corner snap function

When Windows 7 launched in 2009, 4K displays were just emerging and users were generally happy with the ability to split the screen in half (even on external monitors). Today, monitors with a diagonal of 27” and higher, with a resolution of 2560×1440 and 4K, are becoming increasingly popular. Therefore we want to new version Windows users could take full advantage of the increased screen real estate.

While working on Windows 10, we learned various models interactions to create better window layouts. In the end, we decided that the windows would be fixed in the corners, and came up with new types of touches for this function. To pin a window to a quarter of its area on the screen, simply drag it to a corner and release it. Various configurations are available. For example, you can pin four windows on the screen at once, or you can divide half the screen between two windows, and place the third on the remaining half.

By fixing windows in the corners, you can place three or four windows on the screen at once

We know that many users dock windows using the Windows key + arrow keys. Therefore, now they also work when secured in a corner. Just click Windows key and while holding it, press the LEFT ARROW key and then the UP ARROW key to anchor the window, for example, in the upper left quadrant. That's it, easy and simple!

Snap fill function

Fixing windows by dividing the screen into two or four equal parts is undoubtedly convenient. However, sometimes an asymmetrical arrangement of windows is required. For example, the browser window may remain large, but the windows that display messages from social networks or a video is playing - small. Typically, in this case, selecting the optimal size of each window takes a lot of time and mouse clicks. In Windows 8, nearby Store apps automatically filled the available screen space, using it as efficiently as possible.

In Windows 10, we want this improvement to be available on the desktop for all apps. When you dock a window and change its size, these actions are recorded in the system. Then, when you try to dock a second window, it will automatically resize to fill all the available space. This seemingly small improvement turns out to be very useful when you dock multiple windows, especially if one of them takes up half of the screen and the others only take up a quarter of the screen.

Improved multi-monitor experience

It has become even more convenient to dock windows on multiple monitors. Let's say on one of them you have a complex configuration of four different windows, and on the other you have another set of docked windows arranged completely differently. Now it will be easier to work with multiple monitors. In previous versions of Windows, you couldn't dock windows along an edge shared by two monitors. Instead, I had to use hotkeys. In Windows 10 this is possible: you can drag a window to a common edge or corner and dock it as usual. Finally, Snap Assist shows all windows on all displays, making it easy to snap a second window by simply selecting it from the list. This means that if you need to dock two windows on completely different screens, you no longer have to drag them across displays.

Continuum and Snap on tablets and transformers

Windows 8 became the first OS where users could fully multi-task on tablets and thereby greatly increase productivity on them. By simply swiping from the top of the screen to the center and pinning an app to one side, you could split the screen to work with another app. In Windows 8.1, this feature has been improved by adding an on-screen app divider in different aspect ratios (50/50, 70/30, 62/38, etc.). While this flexibility was an important advancement, we wanted to make things even simpler. That's why Windows 8.1 introduced an elegant way to automatically organize windows. For example, when you open an email and click on a link or attachment, the screen immediately splits in half. So, without losing sight of the message, you can view the opened content in a new window. In other words, we've found the easiest and most convenient way to organize windows: you don't even need to learn it! If you know how to click a link or open an attachment, assume you know how to position two windows side by side.

According to data about Windows work 8.1, in half of the cases the docking occurred automatically (applications launched other applications), and in the remaining cases - manually (the user himself dragged the window to the edge). This means we've opened up the benefits of pinning to many users - without any effort on their part. So in Windows 10, it was very important to maintain that variety of options so that people could multitask on their tablets in different ways. Now you can dock windows with a simple tap, resize open apps side by side using the on-screen divider, and watch apps automatically open side by side. But we didn't plan to stop there.

First, in addition to Windows Store apps becoming regular windows on the desktop in Windows 10, desktop windows can now also be easily docked in tablet mode. Secondly, when you enter and exit tablet mode, all pinned app locations are saved to the system. So you can always continue working. Finally, in tablet mode, Snap Assist has become even more convenient: pin an application to your tablet, select a window on the other side, and you can start multitasking.

We're very pleased with the new improvements to this feature and encourage you to try them on your devices. You'll find that with the new Snap mode on Windows 10, you'll be more productive with your touch and pen, as well as your mouse and keyboard.