Windows 10 Snap Assist is a useful productivity enhancer for most people. Rather than fiddling around to get windows the exact right size, it lets you drag one to the side or corner of your screen and automatically snaps windows to half or quarter of your screen. If an application is already open on part of the screen, additional Windows snap features fill the remaining space instead.
Problems with Snap Assist
Unfortunately, the feature, previously known as Aero Snap, just gets in the way for some people. Users find that they accidentally activate Snap Assist when moving between monitors. Others find that the Windows snap tool simply isn’t useful for them when they have third-party software like PowerToys for window management.
As a result, we’re going to show you how to turn Windows snap on or off at will to suit your preferences. You can use the settings app, legacy control panel, or Regedit to do so, depending on what you’re most comfortable with. We’ll also show how to adjust three individual settings – automatic sizing to fill space, suggestions of what to snap next to a window, and automatic resizing of an adjacent window once snapped.
How to Turn Windows 10 Snap Assist On of Off via Settings
The simplest way to turn Windows snap on or off is via the Settings app’s multitasking menu.
- Open settings
Press “Start” and click the settings cog in the bottom left, above the power button.
- Click on System settings
- Turn specific Windows 10 Snap settings on or off
In the left sidebar, click “Multitasking”. Under “Work with multiple windows > Snap windows”, you can untick the individual elements of snap assist to remove or enable the ones you use or don’t use.
- Turn Windows 10 Snap windows on or off as a whole
If you’d rather just remove or enable the feature entirely, you can flip the “Snap windows” toggle to on or off. The Windows snap tool will stop working on your PC immediately with no need for a restart.
How to Turn Snap Assist On or Off with the Legacy Control Panel
Those used to Windows Aero snap from Windows 7 and under may be more familiar with the legacy Windows Control Panel. Due to Microsoft’s slow progress porting every option to the new settings app, this is still in popular use.
- Open Control Panel
Press “Start” and type “Control Panel”, clicking the first result under ‘Best match’.
- Change “View by:” to “Small icons”
- Click “Ease of Access Center”
- Adjust mouse, keyboard, and ease of use settings
Window snap settings can be found in three categories in the Control Panel, “Make the mouse easier to use”, “Make the keyboard easier to use”, and “Make it easier to focus on tasks”. Click one and adjust the Windows 10 window snap setting.
- Turn automatic window arrangement on or off via mouse settings
In the settings for “Make the mouse easier to use”, tick or untick “Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen” under “Make it easier to manage windows”.
- Turn automatic window arrangement on or off via keyboard settings
In the settings for “Make the keyboard easier to use”, tick or untick “Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen” under “Make it easier to manage windows”.
- Turn automatic window arrangement on or off via focus settings
In the settings for “Make it easier to focus on tasks”, tick or untick “Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen” under “Make it easier to manage windows”.
How to Adjust Snap Windows Settings via the Registry Editor
At times, Windows 10 settings reset after a feature update. To avoid this, you can modify the registry instead. Via this method, you can adjust snap fill, snap assist, and snap auto-resize.
- Open regedit
Press “Start” and type “regedit”, then click “Registry Editor”.
- Turn Snap windows as a whole on or off via the registry
Navigate toComputer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktopand scroll until you find “WindowArrangementActive”. Double-click it.
- Turn WindowArrangementActive on or off
To turn off Aero Assist in Windows 10, set the value data to “0” to turn it on, set it to “1”. Press “OK”.
- Adjust individual Windows snap settings via DWORD
Alternatively, you can turn specific aspects of Snap assist on or off. Go toComputer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced, right-click any empty space in the main pane, and choose “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value”.
- Turn JointResize on or off via the Registry
Name the DWORD “JoinResize” to turn Snap assist’s auto-resizing feature on or off. Double-click the new DWORD to open the editing interface, changing the value data to “0” to turn it off, and “1” to turn it on.
- Turn Snap fill on or off via the Registry
Name the DWORD “SnapFill” to turn Window snap’s empty space fill feature on or off. Double-click the new DWORD to open the editing interface, changing the value data to “0” to turn it off, and “1” to turn it on.
- Turn Snap Assist on or off via the Registry
Name the DWORD “SnapAssist”. Double-click the new DWORD to open the editing interface, changing the value data to “0” to turn it off, and “1” to turn it on.
Last Updated on August 14, 2020 7:50 pm CEST
