You can resize windows in Windows by dragging their edges or corners with your mouse.
Resizing windows allows you to adjust their size to fit your screen space and viewing preferences, making it easier to view multiple windows side-by-side or focus on a single task.
Methods to Resize a Window
Windows provides several intuitive ways to change the dimensions of an open application window. The primary method involves using your mouse cursor to drag the boundaries of the window.
Dragging Edges
- Vertical Resizing: Move your mouse pointer to the top or bottom edge of the window. The cursor will change into a double-headed arrow (↑↓). Click and hold the left mouse button.
- To make the window shorter, hold and drag the window down from the top edge, or drag the bottom edge up.
- To make the window bigger vertically, drag in the opposite direction – drag the top edge up or the bottom edge down.
- Horizontal Resizing: Move your mouse to right or left side of the window. The cursor will change into a double-headed arrow (↔). Click and hold the left mouse button and drag horizontally to make the window wider or narrower.
Dragging Corners
For more flexibility, you can resize both horizontally and vertically at the same time by dragging a corner of the window.
- Move your mouse pointer to any of the four corners of the window (top-left, top-right, bottom-left, or bottom-right).
- The cursor will change into a diagonal double-headed arrow (↖↗↘↙).
- Click and hold the left mouse button and drag the corner inwards to make the window smaller or outwards to make it larger in both dimensions simultaneously.
Using Maximize, Minimize, and Restore Buttons
While not strictly "resizing" to a custom dimension, these buttons adjust the window's size to standard states:
- Maximize: The square icon in the top-right corner expands the window to fill the entire screen.
- Restore Down: If a window is maximized, the maximize button changes to a double-square icon. Clicking it returns the window to its previous size and position before it was maximized.
- Minimize: The hyphen icon sends the window to the taskbar, making it disappear from the screen without closing it.
Keyboard Shortcut (Less Common for Custom Size)
You can use keyboard shortcuts in conjunction with the mouse for more precise control after initiating a resize operation:
- Right-click the window's title bar or click the program icon in the top-left corner (if available).
- Select "Size" from the context menu.
- A four-headed arrow cursor will appear. You can then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the boundary you want to resize.
- Press Enter to confirm the new size or Esc to cancel.
This method is less intuitive for freeform resizing compared to direct mouse dragging but can be useful for fine adjustments.
Summary of Resizing Methods
Here's a quick overview:
| Method | Action | Cursor | Resizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drag Edge | Click and drag Top/Bottom edge | ↑↓ | Vertically |
| Drag Edge | Click and drag Left/Right edge | ↔ | Horizontally |
| Drag Corner | Click and drag any corner | ↖↗↘↙ | Vertically & Horizontally |
| Maximize Button | Click square icon | Normal | Full Screen |
| Restore Button | Click double-square icon (when maximized) | Normal | Previous Size |
| Keyboard (Size) | Right-click title bar > Size, use arrows | Four-headed | Any boundary |
Using these methods, you can easily adjust your windows to your preferred size for better workflow and screen management in Windows.
