Windows 11 comes with a handful of new productivity features that multitasking easier, and Snap Layouts and Groups are two great additions.
Windows 11 introduced many new features for Windows users, along with plenty of design changes that make the experience a bit more pleasant overall. One of the highlights of Windows 11 is the addition of Snap Layouts and Snap Groups, a feature that allows you to more easily manage your open windows and place them in any position you want.
These two new features build on top of Snap Assist, which was one of most useful features in Windows 10 (personally speaking, at least). While that gave you some options for easily snapping windows next to each other, Windows 11 makes it even easier, and it gives you more options too. If you’re wondering how to use these new capabilities in Windows 11, we’re here to help with exactly that.
How to use Snap Layouts on Windows 11
Windows 11 makes snapping apps a much more discoverable experience compared to Windows 10. Before, you could drag an app to the edges of the screen to snap it to the side, or drag it closer to the corners of the screen to split the screen into four. However, there was no indication that you could do this until you actually did it. With Windows 11, you can snap much more easily by hovering your mouse over the restore button on an app’s title bar. When you do this, you’ll see a few recommendations for snap layouts.
These layouts let you organize apps on your screen in different ways, and you can also choose which one of the slots in a layout the current app should take. You’ll see different layouts depending on the orientation and pixel density of your monitor, too. These are also far more layouts than you could have on Windows 10. You can have three apps side-by-side, and with different widths too.
Starting with Windows 11 version 22H2, you can also access Snap Layouts by dragging a window to the top center of the screen. This is so you can access the interface more easily with touchscreens, and you can just drop the window into the layout you want. It also works with a mouse though, if you prefer doing it this way.
Once you snap the first app window to a position, Windows 11 will step in to help you finish setting up the layout. You’ll be able to choose from your open apps to fill each of the remaining slots in your layout, one at a time.
Once that’s done, you can see the apps you want in a single view. It’s also worth noting that, while using this mouse hover action is a new way to start layouts, there are new layouts you can create by dragging an app to the edges of the screen. For example, you can drag an app to the top of the screen to maximize it, but if you keep dragging along the top edge, you can snap it to a side (or the center) of the screen in a three-way split.
Snap Groups
On a technical level, there isn’t a whole lot to Snap Groups. They basically allow you to save your Snap Layouts so you can come back to them later. Say you open another app on top of your snap layout, and you want to quickly get back to the layout you had before. When you move your mouse over one of the app icons on that taskbar, not only will you have the option to restore just that app, you can restore the entire snap group that app is part of. This way, you can quickly switch back to your setup, even if you opened other windows over it.
You can do this with any of the apps that are part of that snap layout, so you don’t have to look for a specific one. If an app has multiple windows open, Windows can still remember which one was part of the snap layout. As we said, it’s not mind-blowing on a technical level, but it’s a super handy feature to have if you’re juggling multiple apps at the same time. With Windows 11 version 22H2, snap groups also show up in the task switcher by pressing Alt + Tab.
It’s also worth noting that these features work if you have multiple monitors too, so you can have different snap layouts on each monitor, and each of those layouts is saved as a group too.
That’s all you need to know about Snap Layouts and Snap Groups on Windows 11. Multitasking and productivity are a big focus of this version of Windows. It also brings new virtual desktop improvements, and using multiple monitors is also better.
Microsoft is currently testing some improvements to Snap Layouts that may appear in a future update to Windows 11, but it’s not clear when that will happen. You can check out the latest Windows 11 features in preview to learn more about that. If you’re still rocking an old PC and it can’t run Windows 11, check out the best laptops you can by today. There are fantastic options on the market and it’s a great time to upgrade.