System Turn On or Off Snap windows in Windows 11

Brink · Sep 12, 2021

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off Snap windows for your account in Windows 11.

The Snap windows feature in Windows 11 allows you to automatically resize and arrange windows on your screen.

References:

Snap your windows - Microsoft Support

See how to arrange all your open windows using the mouse, keyboard, or the Snap Assist feature in Windows.

support.microsoft.com

Arrange your Windows in a Snap

Windows 7 introduced Aero Snap as a way to effortlessly position windows on the desktop just the way you want them. You no longer had to frustratingly fiddle with the sizes and positions of windows just to get them into common layouts. Windows 8 increased productivity further, being the first OS...

blogs.windows.com

Starting with Windows 11 build 22563, Microsoft has made it even easier to snap the most relevant windows next to each other side by side by introducing Microsoft Edge tabs as suggested windows in snap assist. When a window is snapped, you will now see 3 of your most recent Edge tabs shown (by default) as suggestions.

If you turn off Snap windows, it will disable the ability to drag maximized windows.

Contents

Option One: Turn On or Off Snap windows in Settings
Option Two: Turn On or Off Snap windows in Control Panel
Option Three: Turn On or Off Snap windows using REG file

EXAMPLE: Windows 11 Snapping and Docking

Option One

Turn On or Off Snap windows in Settings

1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on System on the left side, and click/tap on Multitasking on the right side. (see screenshot below)

Open Multitasking settings

3 Turn On (default) or Off Snap windows for what you want on the right side. (see screenshots below)

5 You can now close Settings if you like.

Option Two

Turn On or Off Snap windows in Control Panel

1 Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Ease of Access Center icon.

2 Click/tap on either the Make the mouse easier to use, Make the Keyboard Easier To Use, or Make it easier to focus on tasks link. (see screenshot below)

3 Check (off) or uncheck (on - default) Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edged of the screen for what you want under Make it easier to manage windows, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

4 You can now close the Control Panel if you like.

Option Three

Turn On or Off Snap windows using REG file

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

2 To Turn On 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.

Turn_on_Snap_windows_for_current_user.reg

Download

(Contents of REG file for reference)

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"WindowArrangementActive"="1"

3 To Turn Off Snap windows

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

Turn_off_Snap_windows_for_current_user.reg

Download

(Contents of REG file for reference)

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"WindowArrangementActive"="0"

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 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

That's it,
Shawn Brink