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 – Show Desktop Toggle
- Hold down the Windows Key, then press “D“. Repeat these steps to see if it makes the window you are looking for reappear.
- Alternately, you can right-click a blank area of the taskbar, then choose “Show the desktop“, then repeat.
Fix 3 – Move Option 1
- Select the program in the task bar.
- Hold the Windows Key while pressing Left Arrow or Right Arrow repeatedly to move the window back into view.
Fix 4 – Move Option 2
- 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 5 – Cascade Windows
- Right-click a blank area of the task-bar, then select “Cascade windows“.
Fix 6 – 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.
Otherwise, you can try right-clicking the icon for the application, then choosing “Properties“. Under the “Shortcut” tab, change the “Run” setting to “Maximized“, then select “OK“.
Kahuna says
So this may be kinda late, but for anyone that comes across this page and reads this, try Alt+ Space +R it should bring up the same thing as fix 4, its just a different way of doing it because shift + right click never worked for me, hope it helps
Karen Greenough says
Peter J. de Bruin’s solution worked for Windows 10 for a sub window of an application. Took a few tries and using the arrow keys, then the touch pad.
Peter says
Err, very good – it worked on my Mac !
John says
I worked my way down the page, nothing worked until I came to Bob’s method on Oct 24. Thanks Bob
Chris George says
Found another solution that worked for me. I dragged another window I had open to one side of my monitor (as you would if you wanted to split the monitor screen to 2 panes). Windows then brings up all other open applications for you to select which go to the other half of the screen. I think this is a relatively new thing in Windows but it works!
Craig Schindewolf says
Thank you very much!
Gamal Gasser says
Google applications having a havoc with windows. If gmail is on my second monitor and I ask for am email to be expanded, it would always give me a window with its head up and off the display area.
This page has many solution, More than one worked for me.
Thank you
LF` says
Fix 4 worked for me! Thank you!
Peter K. de Wolf says
Upvote for Peter J de Bruins solution! Some “tray applications” like Slack don’t show up on the desktops, tabs, cascades etc and “move” doesnt appear on the window menu. His solution of “Alt” “Space” after selecting application on taskbar definitely is the universal solution.
Misho says
If the browser was maximized on the other screen, then the Move trick won’t do.
The easiest trick that works for me every time is Windows key+Right key few times. (or left, depending on which side is the browser stuck). No need for complicating. :)
David Bowie says
Found another fix that may help others. I tried all of the above techniques and the application would close if I tried to click on it. The fix was disconnect the second monitor and restart the app. Hope this helps others.
NICK says
Thank you!!!!!!!! lIFE SAVERS!
Peter J. de Bruin says
Correction for fix 4: one needs to press an arrow key first before one can use the mouse.
Some tools have no maximize button, neither does the ‘move’ option appear in the task bar menu, neither does any of the other fixes work.
The following ALWAYS works:
* Select the program in the task bar
* Hold down the Alt key and press space. The window menu should appear on the border of the screen.
* If it doesn’t, the window is minimized. In that case, start again.
* Select ‘Move’
* Press any arrow key.
* Move the mouse to position the window.
* Click (only) when the position is right
Bob says
My solution: None of these worked for me. After screwing around for an hour, I found a way that did for Win 7. Start program that won’t maximize, press ‘Ctrl-Alt-Del’ keys, Start task manager, click ‘applications’ tab, click ‘windows’ in top bar, click ‘maximize’. The problem program immediately maximized. I hope this helps at least one of you.
MXHowes says
While waiting for your reply I was trying a lot of other things to restore the browser. When I closed all tabs but one, right clicked on the top of the tab that was still open, I was able to drag the browser back to where it belonged. I must have done just the opposite when I dragged it off the screen by accident.