How do I get access to my window. Need cascade windows back or some other fix.

Gijs Mos 41 Reputation points
2022-01-13T10:28:11.827+00:00

I regularly use remote desktop from my notebook to my desktop. Screen sizes differ. Some misbehaving applications make child windows and remember the position of the child window for the future. But they forget to check the geometry of the actual display device when re-opening. Which can lead to the child-window to open with its title bar outside of the visible area.

In the past I could do "cascade windows" to get all title bars back. But no such thing in Windows 11 anymore. The new lay-out feature doesn't help. It will not show the child-windows at all.

So basically the question is: How to get any window back on-screen on Windows 11 when its title bar is off-screen.

Windows 11
Windows 11
A Microsoft operating system designed for productivity, creativity, and ease of use.
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4 answers

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  1. Tom Budd 26 Reputation points
    2022-03-25T05:44:04.843+00:00

    I have a very small window, Free Screen Recorder, and it's somewhere off in the boonies. Using the ALT+Space method doesn't work. I tried it and I got the move cursor but moving the mouse doesn't drag the window. It's completely off the screen, so clicking once I have the move cursor only results in me clicking on either the desktop or the taskbar and doesn't grab the window I want to move.

    I finally found something that did work before I finished writing this. Alt+Space brought up the context menu and much to my delight there was a maximize button. I maximized the window, then moved and resized it with the mouse after that.

    Cascade windows was much easier than going to a search engine to try to find some obscure method in a forum and performing some voodoo ritual to try to get the window back. Please bring back Cascade Windows the the other very useful options to the task bar that were removed for some unknown reason. Let me guess... "to make it easier". If I wanted easy, I would have bought a Mac.

    5 people found this answer helpful.

  2. Gijs Mos 41 Reputation points
    2022-01-13T10:37:40.713+00:00

    Actually found a way.

    • hover over the app's icon on the task-bar. Thumbnails of all its windows will open.
    • Hover over the one that is (partially) off-screen, and right click. The windows "position" menu will open.
    • Select Move and use the arrow keys to get the window back on screen.

    Obviously you would still need a small piece of the window already on screen to see what the arrow keys do.

    4 people found this answer helpful.

  3. Limitless Technology 39,786 Reputation points
    2022-01-13T18:55:33.977+00:00

    Hello @Gijs Mos

    Hold down Alt+Space-bar and then press the M key too. Let go of all the keys. Alternatively, you can also hold Shift down and right-click on the program's icon in the taskbar, and select Move.

    Hope this helps with your query,

    ------
    --If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept as answer--

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Jon Armstrong 6 Reputation points
    2022-05-18T07:29:38.237+00:00

    I deeply miss the cascading windows features (and full, unstacked, taskbar buttons). However, I just found this useful for some situations I have found myself in.

    Snap with a keyboard
    Select the window you want to snap and press the Windows Logo Key + Left Arrow or the Windows Logo Key + Right Arrow to snap the window to the side of the screen where you want it to be. You can also move it to a corner after snapping it. With the window selected, press the Windows Logo Key + Up Arrow or the Windows Logo Key + Down Arrow to get it into the desired corner. The window is then in its smallest possible state, which is a quarter of the screen. Then you can select the screen and use the Windows Logo Key + Arrow Keys to move it wherever you want.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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