Updated: W10 App Windows: 'Side by Side', & Setting Default Size/Position..

[BbWp]

With the introduction of the new and clever 'Snap' functions, two basic functions for organising the desktop seem to have been lost. I and others have tried asking the MS Community, but are struggling to find the vocabulary needed to ask the question, and are getting only non-answers.
So, I will try here..

Questions:
Noting that these very basic features have been available in all previous versions and editions of MS Windows:

1. How do I now, in W10, get two desktop app windows (DAWs) to share the desktop equally? This used to be achieved by having two DAWs active, and then selecting 'Show windows side by side'. Now, in W10, selecting 'side by side' results only in a cramped tiling of active windows.

2. How do I now, in W10, get DAWs to 'remember' their last setting of size and position, such that re-opened DAWs will open with the same size and position that they had when last closed?

3. Could someone give a direct answer to these two questions, providing the solutions as steps to be taken in W10 - or, will someone confirm that these features are no longer available, in W10?

Two windows, one desktop, i.e.:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
x..................x..................x
x..................x..................x
x.......App1.......x.......App2.......x
x..................x..................x
x..................x..................x
x..................x..................x
x..................x..................x
x..................x..................x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you.

 

[Ed Boland]

Re: W10 App Windows: 'Side by Side', & Setting Default Size/Position..

If you drag App1's title bar all the way to the left side of the screen, it'll "snap" to the left. The same for App2; drag the title bar all the way to the right side of the screen for it to "snap" to the right. (This can also be done using the keyboard short cut "Win + left/right arrow")

The old function for right clicking on the task bar and selecting "cascade windows, show side by side, etc" is still there, but now it allows for more open windows, and depends on your screen size.

As far as I can tell, open windows do remember their last position.

 

[BbWp]

Re: W10 App Windows: 'Side by Side', & Setting Default Size/Position..

Dear Ambassador Boland
Since forever in Windows it has been possible to set the launch-size and position of an application window. In my case, I prefer that all applications are set so as to open always filling half of the screen, and always one particular side of the screen, eg File Explorer always to the left-half, Internet Explorer always to the right-half. This was always possible to achieve by having two active application windows, selecting the one to be shown on the left-side, and then clicking on 'Show windows side by side' from the taskbar.

These steps could then be scripted, and assigned to a key on the keyboard. All windows could then quickly be set to have the same size, always in one of two positions.

Now, in Windows 10:
- Clicking on 'Show windows side by side' results in the two active windows being tiled as one-quarter windows on the left-side.
- The new 'Snap' feature, and likewise the Win+RtA and Win+LtA, can be used to produce the left-right-share arrangement. But..
- - This sizing and positioning is not remembered on re-launching the application window.
- - Even a 'Maximise' then 'Restore' will cause the window to lose the 'Snapped' size and position.

Even fiddling about with a click+hold manual dragging of a window to the desired size & position, while trying not to trigger a 'Snap', will not set the size & position as default, since one or both of these will be lost on closing and re-opening the window.

Therefore, every time I open an application the window must be dragged to one side or other of the screen.

- Ed, are you saying that, in your experience with W10, manipulating an application window in any of the following ways will result in the application 'remembering' a default for the window, such that when closed and re-opened the window will return to the desired size and position?
- - Drag to left or right 'Snap'
- - Drag to size and position, avoiding 'Snap'
- - Win+Left Arrow, Win+Right Arrow
- If so, does this work for all applications on your device, or only some?

Thank you for your help with this.

 

[sfmike]

You have described my frustration perfectly!

If I can Snap windows to occupy half the screen, then why oh why cannot Windows (8 or 10 in my experience) remember that??? As the other poster said, if you try to come close but accidentally hit the snap function, then you're out of luck.

As more people use big (27"+ monitors) I think this will be the default mode of working. Snap is great - but PLEASE let Windows remember the placement!!!