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In Windows 11, Microsoft has made the Windows snap feature more obvious and robust. Windows 11 snap layouts let you easily snap a window to a specific area by hovering on the maximize button and clicking where the window wants to go. If you're a power user, however, this feature may be more a nuisance than an aid. As a result, today we're going to show you how to disable Windows snap layouts on the maximize button.
Why to disable the windows 11 snap layout feature
Why would you want to do this? Well, while they aren't widely utilized, you can get all the functionality of snap layouts via a few simple hotkeys. To snap your windows to the most common positions, all you really need to do is press the Windows key and the direction you want to snap your window. Press left, and you'll snap the window to the left of your screen. Press down after that, and it'll place it in the corner. On top of this, you have tools like PowerToys, which let you create entirely custom zones to snap your windows to.
Once you start using these shortcuts or tools, it only makes sense to deactivate the snap selector. It can get in the way if you hover over the maximize button for too long and can be an annoyance if you accidentally click on a layout while doing so.
Bear in mind that the tutorial today will focus primarily on how to disable the Windows 11 snap layouts button. You'll still be able to snap your Windows through other means, such as dragging it to the side of your screen. If you want to disable the functionality entirely, though, you can check the section towards the bottom of the tutorial.
How to Disable Snap Layouts on the Maximize Button in Windows 11
Thankfully, this is one of those cases where Microsoft has anticipated what users want and thankfully included a toggle. You can use Windows 11 Settings to disable the snap button flyout when you hover over maximize:
- Open Settings
Press the Start button and click the Settings icon on your Start menu. Alternatively, press “Windows + I” on your keyboard.
- Click “System” in the Setting sidebar and select “Multitasking” in the main pane
- Press the dropdown option to expand the multitasking options and disable windows snap layouts on the maximize button
You can do so by unticking the option that reads “Show snap layouts when I hover over a window's maximize button”.
That's all there is to it. The option will no longer show and you can safely close your settings window.
How to Deactivate the Snap Selector in Windows 11 via the Registry Editor
If you want to make sure your change persists through future feature updates and other OS changes, you can modify your registry instead. This is a bit more time-consuming, but we'll also be providing some .reg files so you can simply double-click them to make the changes if you wish.
Here's how to disable Windows snap on the maximize button in Windows 11 through the Registry Editor:
- Open the Registry Editor
Press the search icon and then type “Regedit”. Click the top result.
- Navigate to the correct registry key and create a new DWORD
You'll want to go to the advanced Explorer registry key, which you can do by pasting the following in your Registry Editor address bar:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AdvancedOnce you're there, right-click on white space in the main pane and select “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value”.
- Name your DWORD “EnableSnapAssistFlyout”
It's important that it's named exactly as above, including the capitals but without the quotation marks.
- Double-click the “EnableSnapAssistFlyout” registry key, type “0” in the Value data field, and press “OK”.
- Method 2: Turn on or off the Windows 11 snap layouts pop-up via a .reg file
If you don't want to fiddle around in the Registry Editor yourself, you can download our pre-made .reg files to make the same changes in a few clicks. Once you have the zip file downloaded, just right-click it and select “Extract All…” from the context menu.
- Browse to where you want it extracted and press “Extract”
- Open the extracted older and double-click the relevant .reg file
To disable Windows 11 snap layouts on hover, double-click the “Disable_Windows_11_Snap_Layouts_On_Hover.reg” file.
To enable them, double click the “Enable_Windows_11_Snap_Layouts_On_Hover.reg” file.
- Press “Run” on the Security Warning
- Click “Yes” on the Registry Editor prompt
- Press “OK” to apply the changes
You may need to sign in and out or restart your PC for the changes to take effect.
How to Disable Windows Snapping in Windows 11 Entirely
As mentioned in the tutorial, you can disable not just the snap button, but Windows Snapping in general if you wish. To do so, toggle off the “Snap Windows” toggle shown in section 1 step 3, or read our full dedicated tutorial here.
How to Open Device Manager in Windows 11
That closes out this Windows 11 snap layouts tutorial, but there's more still you might want to learn about Microsoft's latest OS. Here's our guide on how to open Device Manager in it, for example.
How to Turn Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling On or Off
In addition, if you'd like to squeeze some better performance out of your Windows 11 install, you can follow our guide on how to turn on hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling. It should decrease latency slightly across the board.