#WINDOWS DESKTOP GROUPS WINDOWS 10#
#WINDOWS DESKTOP GROUPS WINDOWS#

#WINDOWS DESKTOP GROUPS WINDOWS#

Productivity and hybrid workflow seem to be the significant areas of development for both Microsoft and Windows in general, and essential features like Snap Layouts, Snap Groups, and Virtual Desktops are just the beginning for the future and development of Windows in the right direction. But it’s easier to believe with ongoing feedback and user requests, Microsoft testing this feature with more capabilities and a lot more options. Windows can also remember if the functionality is used on a different monitor, making it easier for those with a multi-monitor setup.įor now, the functionality is very much limited and barebone at the moment. What’s even more interesting is that this feature also works with multiple windows of the same app. You can create groups with any apps that support the layout functionality, and there aren’t any specific apps to look around. All you need to do is create a Snap Layout with a minimum of two apps, and that’s it. Using Snap Groups is a very straightforward and intuitive process. Although this might not directly enhance multitasking, it is a neat little feature that saves time and the hassle of opening individual apps one by one. It automatically creates groups/pairs of apps used in Snap Layouts and remembers them so that the next time you want to work with the same set of apps, you can resume with the previous layout and do not have to snap those apps in place again. Snap Groups is nothing but an extension to the Snap Layouts functionality. Fancy Zones not only brings the Snap Layouts functionality to older versions of Windows but also allows us to create custom templates or choose from various options.Īs of now, the ability to customize and create custom layouts is possible only through PowerToys, but we hope that Microsoft will eventually bring this to Windows 11 natively with a future update. In Microsoft PowerToys, Snap Layouts are called Fancy Zones.

#WINDOWS DESKTOP GROUPS WINDOWS 10#

Check/uncheck the settings you want to use/not use.Īlthough this feature might look new and exclusive to Windows 11, it has already been available to Windows 10 users and is a part of Microsoft’s in-house app known as PowerToys.Click on the arrow next to the Enable/ Disable toggle to see a complete list of options.Head over to the Settings App > System > Multitasking > Snap Windows.To customize the Snap Layouts experience, follow these steps: For the time being, we can only use a maximum of four apps at once with Snap Layouts, and there’s no way to create custom layouts based on usage scenarios. Microsoft has even provided the users with a dedicated settings page under the Settings app through which you can tweak the overall functionality and apply your customization to it. The Snap Layouts is certainly a refresh over the Alt + Tab functionality, which have used since Windows 7. This feature looks practical, especially when viewing things on a large display or opening multiple programs on an ultrawide monitor and stacking the programs side by side. Once you an app in the desired zone, click on it to put it there. Use the Alt + Tab keyboard shortcut to go through them. All your other apps will now appear as thumbnails in other zones.Click on it to snap the app into your selected position. Choose a layout from these options based on your requirement and hover over the zone in which you want the active app. In this menu, you will see different grid layouts, each with several zones in different configurations.Press Win + Z inside an app/window or hover the mouse cursor over a window’s maximize button to bring up the Snap Layouts menu.Snap Layouts are easily accessible in the following ways: Getting started with Windows 11 multitasking features is very easy. Instead of allowing you to only use two apps at once, Snap Layouts gives you the flexibility of using up to four apps at a time and working across them simultaneously.įor this, Snap Layouts offers you six different layouts to choose from:ĭepending on how many apps you want to use at once and the order you want them to be in, you can pick a preset from these available options. Snap Layouts are a more refined version of Snap Assist.

Windows desktop groups