While using Microsoft Windows, 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, there are a couple of ways to bring off-screen windows back to the desktop screen.
Fix 1 – Resolution Trick
Windows 10 & 8
- Start the problematic application.
- Right-click a blank area of the Desktop, then choose “Display settings“.
- Select “Advanced display settings” at the bottom of the window.
- Temporarily change the “Resolution” to another value, then choose “Apply“.
- See if you can see the window on your screen now.
- Change the resolution back to the previous value, then select “OK“.
Windows 7
- Start the problematic application.
- Right-click a blank area of the Desktop, then choose “Screen Resolution“.
- Temporarily change the “Resolution” to another value, then choose “Apply“.
- See if you can see the window on your screen now.
- Change the resolution back to the previous value, then select “OK“.
Fix 2 – Move Option
- In Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista, hold down the “Shift” key while right-clicking the program in the taskbar, then select “Move“. In Windows XP, right-click the item in the task-bar and select “Move“. In some instances, you may have to select “Restore“, then go back and select “Move“.
- Use your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the window back onto the screen.
Fix 3 – Cascade Windows
- Right-click a blank area of the task-bar, then select “Cascade windows“.
Fix 4 – Maximize
Sometimes a single app will get stuck in a state where it cannot redraw onto the Window. You can usually alleviate this by doing the following.
- Hold “Shift” and right-click on the program icon in the taskbar, then choose “Maximize“.
FAQ
How do I prevent my application from starting off the screen every time I launch it?
Most applications will stop doing this if you properly exit out of the application while it is on the screen. If you have already properly exited the application, you might need to uninstall and reinstall it.
Burr says
AWESOME! Thank you!! Wow, that was seriously weird. PowerPoint had slid off to the right side and I could see it but not grab it. The way that worked for me was Shift + r click on program icon on bottom, then selected “Restore.”
Feda says
Since there are many methods here, I just wanted to point the easiest one that worked for me:
1. Shift + Right Click on the window on the taskbar
2. Select “Move”
3. Press and keep pressing the arrow key in the direction you want the window to move (the one that you can’t see). Ex. If you think your window is “outside the screen to the right”, then the window must be moved to the left. You can usually see on what side of the screen your window is if you click on it on the taskbar a couple of times.
I don’t know why this isn’t considered as the 1st fix to try (moving), since the actual first fix in this article (resizing), might break the shortcuts layout one Ones desktop, but this one doesn’t cost a thing.
Feda says
Holger, I feel you ;))
I don’t usually leave comments but, man! Can’t believe that I didn’t know about this obvious shortcut. Worked for me, thanks OP! I’ve been stuck so many times with this and I had to keep changing resolutions and scaling options and resolutions again to get them back! I figured, “There must be an easier way to do this!”. And here it is…
Turbolego says
None of this works for me. Windows 10. The window that is not visible on any monitors is Slack.
Gustavo says
LIFE SAVER for people who uses multiple monitors at home and use teamviewer at a notebook or one-dysplay pc! Thanks
Madigan says
Thank you so much – I lost 25 mins this afternoon when IIS Manager just wouldn’t appear on the screen. I owe you what is left of my sanity.
Caleb Hawn says
Oh my gosh, this article helped! I’ve had this problem for a while. I use a TV as my primary screen whenever my laptop’s plugged into it, and sometimes windows open on a second screen that doesn’t exist when it’s not plugged into the TV. The Fix 2 – Move Option helped, though moving the window didn’t work for me. Maximizing it did. It maximized onto my laptop’s screen, and I was able to move it from there. Thanks so much for the help!
Dal says
Last one worked for me. Wow, never seen this before on Windows 10 and I started on Win 3.1 back in the 90’s
A. says
worked perfectly
Caden says
When i pressed shift a n d right clicked on the icon it wouldn’t bring up a menu at all, don’t know if this is a problem with my computer or the version.but i need help.
Zephram says
Thanks for this! In my case, I can’t get the “Move” option under Fix 2 to work (the cursor changes into a “move” symbol, but clicking and dragging doesn’t do anything), but I found that if I instead select “size” from the options, and then move a corner of the window to make it very much smaller, it is almost always possible to move the window afterwards.
Ange says
Thanks for this. It’s crazy that this can happen in this day & age. Really appreciate that you saved me time, but also my frustration. Great job!
Holger says
Great – This fixed my problem! Can’t belive it’s 2018 and I still struggling with problems like this one