How to Split Screen in Windows 11

If you ever feel like you have too many windows or tabs open on your PC, you should be using the split-screen feature to help make things more manageable. Split-screen allows you to view two or more different applications on your screen. This feature can be helpful when you’re trying to compare data or follow instructions from another document while working on one.

Enable Snap Windows

Before we start, you’ll need to ensure that the Snap Windows feature is enabled. Windows 11 allows the Snap to Windows feature by default. However, it’s good to double-check and make sure it’s switched on.

1. Open the Settings app (you can also press Windows key + I on your keyboard), then select System.

   

2. Scroll down to the Multitasking section.

   

3. In the next window, find the Snap Windows slider and make sure it’s turned on.

   

Use Snap Layout to Split a Screen

Once the Snap Windows feature is enabled, use it to split your screen. The Snap Layout feature presented in Windows 11 makes this procedure straightforward.

1. Hover your cursor over the maximize/minimize button on one window.

   

2. A moment later, a Snap Layout menu listing six screen-splitting options will appear. Each option allows you to divide your screen into two, three, or four windows, each in different layouts.

   

3. To select a layout, hover your cursor over it and click.

   

4. The window will automatically resize to fit the new split-screen arrangement.

   

5. The previous step will display several additional open windows in the space beside the window. This is the Snap Flyout

   

6. To snap an application to the unoccupied portion of your screen, click on the specific application you need.

These are the six layouts you can select from:

1. 50-50 percent split

This option will place the window on the left side of the screen in a 50/50 split with the other window.

2. 75-25 percent split

The 75-25 percent option will give the left window 75 percent of the screen space and the right 25 percent.

3. 33/33/33 percent split

A 33/33/33 percent split divides the screen into three equal-sized parts.

4. 50% left split with stacked right-hand quadrants

This screen split puts the main window on the left side of the screen, with two stacked windows on top of each other on the right.

5. Four sections screen split

This split-screen option gives you four equal-sized quadrant sections.

6. 25/50/25 split

This option splits the screen into three unequal parts. The left window takes up 25 percent of the screen, the middle window takes up 50 percent, and the far-right window takes up 25 percent.

Using Windows Snap Assist to Split a Screen

One of Windows 10’s most notable features for split-screen multitasking is Snap Assist. This approach is still accessible in Windows 11 since the new Snap Layout feature in Windows 11 builds on, rather than replaces, the Windows Snap capabilities that were previously available.

1. If you want to use Snap Assist, start by opening the window you want to split.
2. Then grab the title bar and push it against the left or right edge of the screen. It will automatically resize to fill that half of the screen. Grab the window title bar to the right of the corner
3. Doing so will cause the Snap Flyout to appear, displaying a list of all other open windows. To snap a window to the opposite half of the screen, hover your cursor over it and click.

Using Snapped Groups

The snipping tool’s ability to link multiple windows together has many additional features.

For example, suppose you split two sets of windows. In that case, you can switch between them as connected groups rather than going through each one separately.

Just hover over the taskbar icon of any window that belongs to a particular group and click the group representation next to the separate window’s popup.

Split Window Keyboard Shortcuts

If you want to use keyboard shortcuts to manage your split-screen windows, there are a few different combinations that you can use.

Here are some of the most popular shortcuts for splitting your screen on Windows 11:

• Win + Right Arrow: This shortcut will snap the current window to the right half of the screen.
• Win + Left Arrow: This shortcut will snap the current window to the left half of the screen.
• Win + Up Arrow: This shortcut will snap the current window to the top half of the screen.
• Win + Down Arrow: This shortcut will snap the current window to the bottom half of the screen.