Contents
- 1 How to Bring a Window Back on Screen with the Shift and Arrow Keys
- 2 How to Move a Window that is Off-Screen with the Windows and Arrow Keys
- 3 How to Move an Invisible Window with the Mouse or Arrow Keys
- 4 How to Change Your Screen Resolution to Find a Lost Window
- 5 How Unhide Windows with the Desktop Toggle Shortcut
- 6 Extra: How to Restart Explorer.exe to Fix Taskbar Issues
- 7 Extra: How to Change Your DPI Scaling Level
For various reasons, applications can start with their window stuck off screen where you can’t move or interact with it. This behavior can persist even after you restart your PC, creating a very frustrating experience. In this guide, we’ll show you how to move a window that is off-screen so you can get back to using it as normal.
Moving a window that is off screen
There are various ways to move a window from off-screen in Windows 11. You can use keyboard shortcuts, interact with it via your taskbar, or adjust your windows resolution until it appears again.
We’ll be showing you several methods today so that you can find the one that works for you. Let’s start with how to move a window that is off-screen with keyboard shortcuts:
How to Bring a Window Back on Screen with the Shift and Arrow Keys
One of the easiest ways to store a window that’s stuck off-screen is by shift right-clicking its icon in your taskbar and then using the arrow keys. Here’s the full process:
- Shift + right-click the icon on your taskbar and click “Move”
- With the window now selected, use the arrow keys to adjust its position
How to Move a Window that is Off-Screen with the Windows and Arrow Keys
Another favorite way to restore your window is via the operating system’s snapping functionality. You can use Windows + Arrow keys to not only snap windows to different parts of your monitor but move it between monitors. Let’s take a look:
- Click the program’s icon in your taskbar and press “Windows + arrow key”
Naturally, you should press the right arrow if the window is stuck to the left of your key and the left arrow if it’s on the other side.
How to Move an Invisible Window with the Mouse or Arrow Keys
If the other methods didn’t work, you can right-click the window preview to get the move menu up instead. You’ll then have the option to move the window with either your mouse or keyboard.
- Hover over the program icon, right-click its preview and select “Move”
A cross-shaped mouse cursor will appear on your screen, which you can use to adjust your window position.
- OR: Press the left and right arrows to move your window
How to Change Your Screen Resolution to Find a Lost Window
Often your windows can get stuck off-screen because your screen is currently or was previously at a higher resolution than it supports. You can remedy this by adjusting your display settings.
- Right-click your desktop and press “Display settings”
- Adjust the resolution with the dropdown under the “Display resolution” heading
- Choose a resolution that’s equal to or lower than your screen
Once the window appears on screen, drag it to the center and then restore your resolution to its original setting.
How Unhide Windows with the Desktop Toggle Shortcut
It doesn’t always work, but sometimes you can restore a lost window by hiding and unhiding all of your windows. To do this, we can utilize the shortcut that shows your desktop.
- Press Windows + D on your keyboard
This will hide all your windows. Press it again to restore them to full size and position.
Extra: How to Restart Explorer.exe to Fix Taskbar Issues
If you can’t perform some of these fixes because your taskbar isn’t working as it should, read our guide on how to restart explorer.exe. This should remedy most problems with frozen desktops or taskbar.
Extra: How to Change Your DPI Scaling Level
Display issues in Windows can also be caused by an incorrect DPI scaling level. This can be remedied by following our dedicated DPI scaling tutorial.
