Windows has had the ability to arrange and snap open windows side-by-side for a while, but now with Windows 11, this functionality is being improved. 

Traditionally snapping has allowed users to work more efficiently and effectively by quickly rearranging what they're looking at in a layout that works for them. Microsoft has taken the functionality that has been around for a while and making it even better. 

What are Snap Layouts and Snap Groups in Windows 11 and how do you use them? photo 3
Microsoft

Improved Snap Layouts

Now you can arrange your open windows in more ways. Whether that's in groups of squares or longer thinner windows that display more length and information on the screen. 

This new and improved logic appears to take inspiration from the FancyZones utility but makes it much more accessible to the end-user. 

Microsoft says it's not only easy to use, but that Windows 11 will also remember the layouts you've chosen so you can access them easily and quickly in future too. And that's where Snap Groups come in. 

Snap groups photo 1
Microsoft

What are Snap Groups?

Snap Groups is an extension of Snap Layouts whereby Windows remembers the apps you've been using and allows you to group them together. 

The logic here is, if you're working on something that requires multiple programs in a multi-window layout, you'll have easy access to that in future too. Let's say you get interrupted by something else (an email for example) you can easily get back to what you were doing with just a couple of clicks thanks to snap groups.

Microsoft says that this grouping logic not only remembers the apps you were using, but also the snap layout you had. So when you click to activate that grouping, all the apps you were using reappear in exactly the same layout you had before. 

 If you're docking a laptop with an external monitor Windows 11 will also remember the layout you had on that monitor and give you swift access to it again. 

Microsoft also says these functions will also work nicely with multiple desktops too, making it easy to multi-task on multiple levels. With Windows 11 you'll be even more productive it seems.