Skip to main content

How to split your screen on Windows 11

Windows 11 took what was best about splitting your screen in Windows 10 and made it even better.

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

With new changes, Windows 11 is an even more powerful operating system for productivity. The ability to snap windows in various configurations is a powerful one, making multitasking a breeze and managing multiple applications much more efficient.

Using Snap Layouts

Snap Layouts are a new way to initiate Snap Assist and they're even more powerful than the old methods. They allow you to easily pop windows into a variety of useful layouts that make displaying and working with your windows easier than ever before.

Step 1: Simply hold your mouse over a window's minimize/maximize button. A grid will appear, giving you six different options for arranging up to four windows.

how to split screen on windows 11 snap layouts overlay
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 2: Select one of the options and the display will split and display your other available windows. In this case, we selected the two-window layout with one side wider than the other.

how to split screen on windows 11 snap layouts selection options
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 3: Once you've selected the other window(s) that you want to split, your screen will show the windows in your chosen configuration.

how to split screen on windows 11 snap layouts results
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Manually using Snap Assist

Windows 10's methods for accessing Snap Assist have carried over to Windows 11. There are two ways to manually initiate Snap Assist.

Step 1: You can simply drag a window to either side or use the Windows key along with the right arrow or left arrow key and you'll get the option to select another window.

how to split screen on windows 11 key right options
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 2: Select the window you want to display, and your screen will orient itself accordingly.

how to split screen on windows 11 key right results
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 3: You can resize the windows by simply selecting the middle bar and dragging.

how to split screen on windows 11 resize
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 4: Note that if you drag a window into one of the corners, you'll get the option to place up to four windows.

how to split screen on windows 11 snap assist multiple
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Step 5: Once you've selected your second window, you'll be presented with the option to select the third. The same goes for selecting a fourth window if you have that many to place.

how to split screen on windows 11 snap assist second window selected
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 6: Here we've selected three windows to display.

how to split screen on windows 11 snap assist three open
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Step 7: When you have windows arranged via Snap Assist, you can choose whether to open a single window or a group. Just hover over a snapped window's icon on the Task Bar and you'll get a choice to open the individual window or the group it belongs to.

how to split screen on windows 11 snap assist group selection
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Turning Snap Assist on and off

If Snap Assist is causing you problems, then it's easy enough to turn it off.

Open the Settings app and go to System Multitasking. Open the Snap Assist option and you'll see a toggle to switch it on or off. You can also select various options to customize Snap Assist to your needs.

how to split screen on windows 11 snap assist options
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Coppock
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
How to keep your Microsoft Teams status active
Man uses Microsoft Teams on a laptop in order to video chat.

We live in a work from home world, and that Microsoft Teams habit of changing your status from Available to Away can be a career killer. If your computer goes to sleep, or you push Teams to the background while you work on (or watch) something else, your status could eventually change. With no other way to know if you're working or not, your boss could leap to awful conclusions. As a result, many of you want to know how to stay active on Teams and how to keep your Teams status green. Here our our top tips on keeping Teams active and showing your boss how hard you're really working.

Read more
How to remove a Microsoft account from Windows 11
Windows 11 updates are moving to once a year.

While many people love porting their Microsoft account to their new Windows 11 PC, just as many hate the experience. One of the nicest things about having a new computer is how little tabs it has over you, and letting Microsoft in from the beginning — especially in a way that feels required — is a bit letdown for privacy-minded people.

To make matters worse, getting rid of your account feels tricky. It not only feels like it, Microsoft is your direct antagonist in getting the privacy you want. Luckily, you can make a local account that is disconnected from the rest of your life to gain back the personal feel of your computer. Here's how:
Removing a Microsoft account from Windows 11

Read more
For the first time in 30 years, your keyboard is about to be changed
The Copilot key shown on a white keyboard.

Microsoft clearly wants to make Copilot an absolute Windows staple, and to achieve that, it's making a major change to upcoming laptops and standalone keyboards. Beginning in February, new keyboards will come with a dedicated Copilot key to make the AI easier to access.

Copilot is Microsoft's all-in-one AI solution that's already available to many Windows users. The AI can help you navigate Windows, analyze documents, or write emails, and that's just the tip of the AI iceberg that Microsoft has been heavily promoting since Copilot's  introduction in 2023. Now, with its very own key on the keyboard, Copilot will be even more seamlessly integrated into the lives of Windows users.

Read more