Is there anything worst than spending half of your afternoon painstakingly arranging and rearranging the windows on your computer screen? Having only one monitor makes it even more frustrating. Tap or click here for six folder tricks you’ll wish you knew sooner. So what’s the best solution?
FancyZones is more than just a wacky name. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to organize the screen in front of you, especially for anybody constantly juggling lots of different tabs, tasks and windows.
If you’ve never tried using FancyZones on a PC, you’re in for a very exciting upgrade to your current workflow. Here’s how to install the feature and make full use of it.
What is FancyZones?
FancyZones isn’t a third-party widget. It’s backed by the brand you trust and comes directly from Microsoft. It’s part of the PowerToys collection of freeware features and was released with the suite two years ago.
So, what is FancyZones? It’s a utility app from Microsft that allows you to easily arrange and snap windows into place. You can drag and drop windows into split-screen views — and customize them however you want — to get a lot more use out of your screen real estate.
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The general theme of PowerToys is enhancing productivity for even the most hardcore PC user, and FancyZones is no exception. To begin, you’ll need to install PowerToys since FancyZones is a part of its utilities.
How to install and use FancyZones
The easiest way is to install Microsoft PowerToys from the Microsoft Store. Click here to open the install page and then tap Get in Store app. Once Microsoft PowerToys opens in the Store, select Install.
To use FancyZones, double-click its icon in your System Settings. Next, hit the switch to Enable FancyZones.
After turning FancyZones on, you’re ready to utilize these productivity features for PC. Now you can customize this tool to your preference. A custom activation command, the location of the window editor and other aspects of FancyZones can all be adjusted to suit your workflow, all from your System Settings.
Incorporating templates
Templates offer an enormous advantage to those who usually work with the same types of windows. We especially love the Focus layout template, which allows us to keep upcoming tasks on the back-burner without distracting us from what we’re currently doing.
To choose a template:
- Double-click the template from the editor window.
- Minimize the FancyZones Settings window.
- Open a window you’d like to add to the template.
- While holding the Shift key, drag the window into your desired compartment.
FancyZones automatically resizes each window, and you’ll be able to tap into these ideal configurations with any new windows you pull up throughout your day.
Any of these layouts can change to suit whatever you’re doing.
How to maximize productivity in Windows
After giving PowerToys a shot, we can confirm that there is no better way to organize many apps and windows quickly and efficiently. You will love this productivity tool if you’re constantly drowning in an endless, incomprehensible pile of random windows.
Try it yourself and feel the PowerToys difference. We encourage you to explore the rest of what this collection of widgets offers.
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