In our previous articles, we learnt about Windows 11. The centred taskbar and rounded corners have enhanced this new version of windows. Windows 11 doesn’t require a whole new process to learn. There are some new features in Windows 11, and one of them is Snap Layout, also called Snap Assist. It is a great UI innovation. We all know that Windows is excellent in managing and rearranging programs, but Snap Layout in Windows 11 raised it to the next level.
How do snap Layout work?
For using it, you just need to move your cursor to the maximize button of the window. It will show you the layout options of the window that you can set on your screen.
But not every application supports Snap Layout. Like when I tested it on firefox and Spotify, they only showed the old maximize button. This issue can also be resolved by opening the programs into another application that supports Snap Layout. The available options of Layout also depend upon the size of your screen.
You can float your cursor over the layout diagram in which you want to fit your current application. It will be highlighted with a blue colour, by default. You can also customize it by going to the settings then, personalization for your accent colour.
When you select any of the layout options, you can see the full-screen layout on the screen. Also, there are other available spaces and they are shown using Fluent design Acrylic effects that blur the background. You can place any running app in those spaces.
Tap one by one on the app you want in each box. In windows 10, you can resize the snapped windows and the size of the others windows changes accordingly. But you can’t drag the thumbnails to another area. You can fill each area one at a time.
Alternate way of using Snap Layout
There’s an alternative way to use Snap Layouts using a keyboard. Use Windows Key along with the arrow for moving windows towards a particular direction. If you don’t want a half screen snap, you can use the Windows Key- Arrow combination on the next screen. Like, if you want your window to be in the upper-left quadrant, so you can press Windows key + Left arrow followed by windows Key + Up Arrow.
In Windows 10, you can drag a window title bar to a corner or edge to take up exactly a half or a quarter of the screen. But in Windows 11, an Acrylic outline of the snap position appears well before you get there.
Turning off Snap Layout?
If you don’t like Snap Layouts, you can change it by going to the settings then, selecting system> multitasking> Click on Snap Windows setting> Deselect, Show snap layouts when I hover over a window’s maximize button option. Here, you can change settings, disable Snap Layouts as well as you can switch to the windowing conventions of Windows 10. But after doing so, you’ll not be able to Snap windows using keyboard shortcuts and keys.
There’s a limitation that you can’t snap a window using a touch screen. You need to move your mouse or trackpad for switching to another window. But, Microsoft is widely used by touch screen users. I hope, they’ll look into this matter.
Learn to use Snap Layouts in Windows 11
When you start using Snap Layouts, you may take a little time getting used to it. Multitasking is easy by using snap layouts. Like you can monitor your Slack account while watching a video. It depends on the size of the screen, so if the size of your screen is small so it may be a little messy to fit more than two apps on the screen. But overall, it is a good way to work on multiple apps without switching tabs again and again.
THANK YOU FOR READING: I hope this article was helpful, if it was then do let us know in the comments down below. Also, if you're interested in similar articles, then here are a few recommendations for you. How to install or upgrade to Windows 11? Can my PC upgrade to Windows 11? Windows 11 first look and review