Do you ever run into a problem where Windows just won’t bring the app you are using to the very front? Regardless if you’ve minimized or maximized toggle, or try to change to a different screen (in a multi-monitor scenario) via Windows key + Arrows left and right, the app just does not appear. If your solution was forced to close and restart the app then you might be interested in another possible solution.
This is an ageless issue that even though happens less and less in Windows 10, it does still happen from time to time.
Yes, you can always close the app and restart again. But oftentimes you don’t want to lose any work or content during the current session of this problematic app. For all windowed applications, you can try to press alt + space, and do not move the mouse while you are pressing the key.
Here is how you can do it.
- Highlight the app window you want to move by clicking it on the taskbar
- Press Alt + Space
- Press the down arrow key once and press Enter.
- Now use the arrow keys to move the window until you see it appears on your screen.
Behind the scene, what Alt + Space does is to bring up the classic window context menu, and the number 1 on the list is Move option. So pressing the down arrow key once is to bring it live to action.
However, if you have PowerToys installed, Alt + Space might not be available for you to press. If that’s the case, try this:
Highlight the app on the taskbar, hold down the Shift key while right-clicking on the app icon on the taskbar, and click Move.
And then use the arrow keys to move around the window until it reappears on the screen.
Heh, yep, that’s the classic “Move” trick. Was hoping there was a new magic solution 🙂
One variation I’d mention is that after the first time you hit the Arrow key, the mouse pointer is now “locked” to the title bar. As long as you don’t click a mouse button, you can use the mouse to move the window back into view rather than just using the Arrow keys.
The Move trick also won’t work if the window is Minimized or Maximized. Hopefully in that case “Restore” is enabled in the context menu.
Good catch, @Glenn. I guess the classic “move” trick ages as well as this off-screen thing. 🙂