Windows 8.1: The Missing Manual

Window Tricks

Windows 8 carries on the window-stunt tradition of Windows 7: special shortcuts expressly designed for managing windows. Most of them involve some clever mouse gestures—special dragging techniques. Thanks to those mouse movements and the slick animations you get in response, goofing around with your windows may become the new Solitaire.

Here’s the rundown:

• Maximize a window by dragging its title bar against the top edge of your monitor.

• Restore a maximized window by dragging its title bar down from the top of the screen.

• Make a full-height, half-width window by dragging it against one side of your screen.

  Tip

  Actually, it’s faster to use the keyboard shortcuts: + to snap the window against the left side, or + to snap it against the right. To move the window back again, either hit the same keystroke a few more times (it cycles left, right, and original spot, over and over), or use the key with the opposite arrow key.

  And if you have more than one monitor, add the Shift key to move ...