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I am having a weird issue with a machine where sometimes when a window is initialized, it will shoot off screen and out of sight. I am unable to click on it to drag it back to sight.

Are there any programs or fixes for this in Windows XP?

I know Windows and other programs like to save window locations after they close so when you reopen them they are in the spot where they were closed and I cannot see any of these windows that were closed off screen.

Simon Sheehan
9,20412 gold badges54 silver badges71 bronze badges
asked Jul 28, 2011 at 16:16
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  • 8
    It might be useful to note that both the ALT+SPACE, M and right-click on taskbar tricks in the answers work on most UNIX-like systems' window managers as well, making this a relatively universal trick. Additionally, if you even have a tiny subset of the window on UNIX systems, you can usually ALT+CLICK on it to drag it. I know this is a Windows-specific question, which is why I'm not leaving this as a full-fledged answer, but it might help someone coming from Google. Commented Jul 28, 2011 at 21:20
  • Did You connect second monitor recently? Or maybe a projector? This happens when You add second monitor device and strech your desktop (sometimes) Commented Jul 29, 2011 at 9:10
  • Asked 6 months ago, so, "see also": superuser.com/questions/239891/… Commented Sep 13, 2011 at 21:35
  • 1
    See also How to move windows that open up offscreen? and Keyboard shortcut for moving a window to another screen. Commented Nov 26, 2013 at 23:49

12 Answers 12

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Highlight in in the task bar, hit ALT+SPACE then M. That will get it ready to move. Then use your arrow keys to move it and hit Enter when finished.

Try holding the Shift key while closing. That often saves the location.

answered Jul 28, 2011 at 16:19
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    Also, right-click on the program item in the task bar, select Move, then, without moving your mouse again, press the right, left, up, or down arrow keys as appropriate until the window comes into view. Commented Jul 28, 2011 at 16:21
  • Thank you! This worked perfectly. Will mark as the answer once the timeout expires. Commented Jul 28, 2011 at 16:22
  • 1
    @qroberts I am not sure why it is not universal, but the Shift trick works for some programs nicely, saving the position when it may not otherwise save. Thank you for marking it. I appreciate it. Commented Jul 28, 2011 at 16:24
  • 18
    After pressing Alt+space, and then using one of the arrow buttons to move it a little, you can also then simply move the mouse and the window will jump under your mouse cursor. Commented Jul 28, 2011 at 19:37
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    @qroberts @KCotreau: The shift trick only works if the program asks CreateWindowEx (or, in .Net, the FormStartLocation) to use the default start position. There are plenty of programs (and perhaps frameworks?) which don't use the default location, either with valid reason, or because the developer forgot/made a mistake/doesn't know any better (it's not a bug you'd normally notice...) Commented Jul 28, 2011 at 22:11
18

I have a geeky solution :-) Script in Python that goes through all off-screen windows and offers moving them to the left upper corner:

import winxpgui, sys, win32con
screen_width = 1920
screen_height = 1200
def WindowsListEnum(hwnd, data):
 pos = winxpgui.GetWindowRect(hwnd)
 left, top = 0, 0
 if pos[0] < 0 or pos[0] > screen_width:
 left = 10
 if pos[1] < 0 or pos[1] > screen_height:
 top = 10
 if left or top:
 print winxpgui.GetWindowText(hwnd), ',', pos, '->', (top, left, pos[2], pos[3])
 if sys.stdin.read(1) == 'y':
 winxpgui.SetWindowPos(hwnd, win32con.HWND_NOTOPMOST, left, top, pos[2]-pos[0], pos[3]-pos[1], win32con.SWP_SHOWWINDOW)
print "press 'y' to move the window, anything else to continue\n"
winxpgui.EnumWindows(WindowsListEnum, None)

You need Python and Win32all.

answered Jul 28, 2011 at 22:18
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    Yeah, you could download and install stuff (3-5 minutes), OR you could use shortcut keys (3-5 seconds)... Commented Jul 29, 2011 at 10:20
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    I usually use the shortcut too but sometimes it does not work or I need to move more Windows at once. Commented Jul 29, 2011 at 11:25
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    Completely overkill but I like it Commented Jul 29, 2011 at 15:48
  • 6
    +1. This is useful if the window is completely offscreen and in an unknown direction (or very far offscreen). Commented Jul 30, 2011 at 12:34
  • @Peter: in that case you could use alt-space followed by x, which maximizes the window Commented Aug 3, 2011 at 11:05
15

In Windows 7 you can select the window and then Win + arrow keys to move it.

answered Jul 28, 2011 at 21:39
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    Note that the question asked about Windows XP, but this is a great trick for Windows 7 which I do use sometimes myself. Commented Jul 29, 2011 at 6:32
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You can also right-click on the taskbar and choose one of the window-arranging menu choices. In Windows 7, they are:

  • Cascade Windows
  • Show Windows Stacked
  • Show Windows Side-by-side

Previous versions used slightly different terms, but did the same thing. Some versions will only arrange non-minimized windows/applications, if I recall correctly.

enter image description here

Peter Mortensen
12.3k24 gold badges74 silver badges93 bronze badges
answered Jul 28, 2011 at 20:07
2
  • This method also affects all the other visible windows. Commented Aug 14, 2011 at 5:48
  • That's true @Synetech but when you are desperate to get back an offscreen window during a presentation, you don't mind getting messy... Commented May 28, 2015 at 15:23
6

  1. Set focus to the window, by clicking in the task bar or ALT+TAB.

  2. ALT+SPACE to bring up the system menu.

  3. M to select Move.

  4. Tap an arrow key once to start moving the window.

  5. Move your mouse.

The window will quickly pop in to view.

This is faster than using the arrows to move the window the whole way, especially if it is way off screen.

answered Jul 30, 2011 at 7:21
3
  • You don’t need both axes; any arrow key will do. Commented Aug 14, 2011 at 5:46
  • @Synetechinc: I just confirmed that in Windows 7; you are right. I learned this sequence long ago, so it may have been required in earlier versions of Windows / NT. If anyone has that info, I will update my answer. Commented Aug 14, 2011 at 18:50
  • Hmm, that seems strange, I can’t imagine why both would be required. I know any arrow key was sufficient at least back to Win95. Maybe you just pressed both and thought that’s what did it, like pressing a bunch keys in a game to do something and not knowing which one did the trick, so you just repeat them all each time. :-) Commented Aug 14, 2011 at 18:59
5

One extra tip: after you have started moving it with the keyboard (one pixel), finish by just moving the mouse. That is a lot faster.

answered Jul 29, 2011 at 9:25
2

@qrobers as noted by StevenV

Right click on the taskbar window button and tell it to

  • Cascade Windows (stacks windows on top of each other with the windows headers showing)
  • Tile Windows Vertically (does its best to place all open windows re-sized on your desktop)
  • Tile Windows Horizontally (does its best to place all open windows re-sized on your desktop)

This is by far the easiest. I use it in a multiple monitor set on my laptop when power goes out and I loose the second monitor. I can pull all the windows onto my main monitor (laptop). Very easy, quick.

answered Jul 29, 2011 at 9:06
1
  • This method also affects all the other visible windows. Commented Aug 14, 2011 at 5:47
0

Some applications don't respond to activating the window plus using alt+space+m, such as FSCapture (faststone screen capture). WindowSpace (free trial) worked to move it back onto the screen.

answered Jun 19, 2013 at 20:07
0

A technique that often works is this:

  • Right-click in the taskbar and choose "Show Desktop"
  • Right-click on the problem program task and choose "Restore"
  • Right-click on the some other program's task and choose "Restore"
  • Right-click in the taskbar and choose "Cascade Windows"

This normally causes the window parameters to fit onto the current screen. Having only two active windows keeps most window positions unchanged.

answered Sep 30, 2013 at 18:29
0

There is (or was) an extremely good program called Shove-It for Windows. Used to be at www.phord.com but it's been taken down now. Basically just run it and it will automatically detect any windows that have opened with their contents even partially off-screen, and either "shove" them back into the viewing portal area or else resize them if necessary, all automatically. I managed to locate an old beta of it which is free, will share via Sugarsync. https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D290041_6932435_98576

answered Nov 9, 2013 at 16:03
1
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    Just an FYI, most users here would be pretty skeptical of downloading a random zip file from the internet, even with background. Commented Nov 9, 2013 at 16:57
0
  1. Install aero snap plugin.
  2. Move the screen with the hotkey: Win + arrows
answered Jan 20, 2014 at 21:52
0

One more option which allows to not affect other window positions and to avoid mouse-dragging: run an additional instance of the same application (in case currently there is only one), so that the following menu is available when you press Shift + right mouse click: enter image description here

answered Mar 4, 2021 at 8:15

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