While using Windows XP, I had a window that had somehow fallen completely off of my screen. Right-clicking the window in the Taskbar and selecting Maximize brought it back, but there was no way I could get the window restored to where I could move it around my screen with my mouse.
Luckily, I found an article on how to Bring Misplaced Off-Screen Windows Back to Your Desktop
Windows XP users can right-click the item in the task-bar and select Move, Then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move it around. Windows 7 users will need to hold down the Shift key and right click the item in the task-bar then select Move.
Once you have managed to arrow the window back onto the screen, you can use your mouse to drag it to a new position.
If this method doesn’t bring the off-screen window back, you can also try right-clicking the task-bar and select Cascade windows.
Sometimes the little things escape me. I would’ve probably never thought of these steps. I mean, who ever uses the “Move” option? :)
Last modified March 4, 2012
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I was just ready to throw computer through window. You are a life saver.
Excellent! I was stuck with this same problem using excel….stuck for 10 minutes..until now.
This method requires a bit of modification with the new Windows 7 taskbar. I’ve found that I need to hold shift while right-clicking to get the move option.
That was a nice tip. Have been uninstalling application that moved off the screen. You saved my day!
Thanks!
When you have a group of windows open and missing (eg a group of Excel spreadsheets), Move is active for each of the spreadsheets but move does not work. In this case, close each of the spreadsheets until you are left with only the empty excel window. Move is not active here but you can pop that window back onto your screen by making that your active window and search on your screens until you find the cursor (usually right in the corner of a screen) – drag that onto a visible part of your screen and your problem will be resolved – now you can open the spreadsheets that you previously needed to close.
the window that went off screen on my compute didn’t have a move button
Hi,
This is an excellent tip.
Sometimes my screen gets like that, but I think it’s more like getting stuck. Afterall I got a Pentium II at 350 MHZ…
Best regards,
José