How to Split Screen in Windows 11

Do you often use more than one app at the same time? When an app doesn't work right, switching between them can be confusing, take a long time, and even be a nightmare. With Windows 11, the new Snap Layout feature makes it easier than ever to split the screen and do more than one thing at once. Windows 11's "Snap windows" feature lets you see and use multiple windows at the same time by splitting the screen into multiple sections. You can look at up to four app windows at once, or even six if your screen has a high resolution. Each window takes up a different part of the screen. Here's how to split screen in Windows 11.

How to Split Screen in Windows 11

Windows 11 has a Snap Layout feature for multitasking that lets users arrange their open windows. You must first turn on Snap windows before you can use this feature. After you turn it on, you can change how windows snap together and how they are split.

Enable 'Snap windows' in Settings

The 'Snap windows' feature is enabled by default in Windows 11, but it is advisable to confirm this before proceeding.

To check if the Snap windows feature is enabled:

1. Press WINDOWS + I to launch the Settings app on your PC; by default, it should display the System settings view.

2. In System settings, scroll down and select the Multitasking option on the right-hand side of the window.

3. Now, confirm that the switch next to Snap windows is enabled. If it is not already enabled, click the switch to activate the setting.

Additionally, explore the various options listed below it and select/deselect as needed. However, you shouldn't alter the default settings until you have a solid grasp of the concept.

Split Screen Using Windows 11 Snap Layouts

With Windows 11, splitting the screen is much easier and faster because Snap Layouts are now built right into the maximize button of each window. You don't have to hold down and drag a window to the side or use keyboard shortcuts to make Snap windows work.

1. Hover over the maximize button in the upper-right corner of a window to use Snap Layouts in Windows 11.

2. A small box will pop up with four or six ways to split the screen.

• The first option divides the display into two equal parts, so both windows will occupy the same amount of space.
• The second one also divides the screen in half, but the screen space occupied by the windows is not distributed evenly. In this instance, the object on the left occupies a larger area than the object on the right.
• The third option divides the screen into three parts, with one window occupying the left half and two divided into quarters on the right.
• The fourth option divides the display into four sections, with each window occupying one-fourth of the display.

Now, let's examine how it operates.

Split Screen into Two Sections

Launch the application windows you want to split, move the cursor over the maximize button, and choose one of the first two options.

Now, the current app window will snap to the selected half of the screen, and thumbnails of other open apps will show up in the other half. Pick the one you want to move to the other side of the screen.

You can now have two app windows open at the same time and work with them both at the same time.

You can also change the size of the windows. Just put the cursor on the line between the two windows, and a thick, dark line will appear. Now, press and drag the line in either direction to change its size.

Using the second option, you can split the screen in half and, if necessary, change the size of each window.

Split Screen into Three Sections

If you want to work on three apps at once, you can split the screen into three parts. In the third option, move the cursor over the maximize button and click. This will let you choose one of the three parts. We chose a quarter to make it easier to understand, but the idea is still the same.

The current window will grow to fill the area you chose (the top right quarter), while the other open windows will show up as thumbnails in the left half of the screen. Pick the second window you want to work on. Also, keep in mind that it would take up twice as much space as the other two, so pick the one that requires more concentration and accuracy.

When you choose the second window, it will take up the left half of the screen. The other open windows will show up in the right quarter as thumbnails. Choose the app you want to use, and it will take up the last quarter.

Based on what you chose, you now have three split windows on the screen. Changing the size of a window is still done by pressing and dragging the line between two windows.

Split Screen into Four Sections

Putting the screen into four parts is similar to what we talked about in the last section. Place the cursor over the maximize button of the current window, choose the quarter you want in the last option, and then choose the other apps you want to see on the split screen.

Nota Bene: Splitting the display into three or four windows makes it harder to see and understand, which is the opposite of what you want. Because of this, you should only do this on a bigger screen.

Split Screen by Snapping Windows to the Sides

If you had used Windows 10's split-screen feature before, the steps were very different. Windows 11 has made it much easier, but it hasn't done away with the old way, which we'll talk about in the sections that follow.

There are two ways to split the screen so that you can see more than one window at the same time. You can either hold down, drag, and drop the window to the corner you want, or you can use the shortcut keys. First, let's split the screen in half. Once you get the hang of that, we'll move on to four.

- To split the screen in half, press and drag the window you want to the left or right as far as the cursor will let you. When a fuzzy outline shows where the background app will go, you can let go of the cursor. You can also split the screen by opening the window you want to split and pressing the WINDOWS + LEFT/RIGHT ARROW KEYS.

The default settings mean that once one of the open windows takes up half of the screen, the other open windows will be shown in the other half. Pick the one you want to move to the other side of the screen.

When you have two windows on the screen, you can move the line between them to make them bigger or smaller. Resizing windows is done the same way in both cases.

- To divide the screen into three windows, hold and drag one of the open windows to a corner, then release the mouse when you see a hazy outline covering a quarter of the screen. Also, you can simply press the WINDOWS + UP/DOWN CURSOR KEYS to make a window take up a quarter of the display (when it's occupying half the screen).

Once there is an empty quarter on the screen, thumbnails of the other open applications will appear. Choose the items you wish to add.

There are currently three windows on the screen. Additionally, you can resize the windows by dragging the line separating them, as you did previously.

- Similarly, you can divide the screen into four sections and simultaneously view and access the same number of app windows. This makes multitasking incredibly simple.

So that's how to split screen in Windows 11. If you have any trouble splitting your screen, just leave a comment below and we will help you solve it.