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Advanced Window Snap is a script for AutoHotKey that expands upon Windows built-in window-snapping hotkeys.

Advanced Window Snap

Advanced Window Snap is a script for AutoHotKey that expands upon Windows built-in window-snapping hotkeys (which are Win + LEFT to snap an active window to the left half of a monitor and Win + RIGHT to snap a window to the right half of a monitor) by adding 9 additional snap methods.

Installation Steps

  1. Install AutoHotKey
  2. Copy or Download the AdvancedWindowSnap.ahk file to your computer and double click it to run it.
  3. (Optional) To have the program run when you start up your computer, place the .ahk file into your computer's startup folder.
    • The Windows 7 Startup Folder can be accessed by mousing to Start > All Programs, then right-clicking on Startup and selecting "Open".
    • The Windows 8 Startup Folder can be accessed by tapping Win + R on your keyboard, then in the Open: field, type shell:startup then press Enter.

Advanced Window Snap Keybindings

Directional Arrow Hotkeys:

Hotkey Behavior
Win + Alt + UP Window will snap to the top half of the screen.
Win + Alt + DOWN Window will snap to the bottom half of the screen.
Ctrl + Win + Alt + UP Window will snap to the top third of the screen.
Ctrl + Win + Alt + DOWN Window will snap to the bottom third of the screen.

Numberpad Hotkeys (Landscape):

These will work only if you have NumLock turned ON. These are ideal for Landscape Monitors.

Hotkey Behavior
Win + Alt + Numpad 7 Window will snap to the top-left quarter of the screen.
Win + Alt + Numpad 8 Window will snap to the top half of the screen.
Win + Alt + Numpad 9 Window will snap to the top-right quarter of the screen.
Win + Alt + Numpad 1 Window will snap to the bottom-left quarter of the screen.
Win + Alt + Numpad 2 Window will snap to the bottom half of the screen.
Win + Alt + Numpad 3 Window will snap to the bottom-right quarter of the screen.

Numberpad Hotkeys (Portrait):

These will work only if you have NumLock turned ON. These are ideal for Portrait Monitors.

Hotkey Behavior
Ctrl + Win + Alt + Numpad 8 Window will snap to the top third of the screen.
Ctrl + Win + Alt + Numpad 5 Window will snap to the middle third of the screen.
Ctrl + Win + Alt + Numpad 2 Window will snap to the bottom third of the screen

Changelog

  • v1.00, 08 Jan 2015
    • Initial Version

Recommendation For Editing AHK Files

If you plan on working with AutoHotKey files, consider using Sublime Text 3. Read my steps for setting up Sublime Text 3 to edit AutoHotKey files here: Working with AutoHotKey in Sublime Text.

/**
* Advanced Window Snap
* Snaps the Active Window to one of nine different window positions.
*
* @author Andrew Moore <[email protected]>
* @version 1.0
*/
/**
* SnapActiveWindow resizes and moves (snaps) the active window to a given position.
* @param {string} winPlaceVertical The vertical placement of the active window.
* Expecting "bottom" or "middle", otherwise assumes
* "top" placement.
* @param {string} winPlaceHorizontal The horizontal placement of the active window.
* Expecting "left" or "right", otherwise assumes
* window should span the "full" width of the monitor.
* @param {string} winSizeHeight The height of the active window in relation to
* the active monitor's height. Expecting "half" size,
* otherwise will resize window to a "third".
*/
SnapActiveWindow(winPlaceVertical, winPlaceHorizontal, winSizeHeight) {
WinGet activeWin, ID, A
activeMon := GetMonitorIndexFromWindow(activeWin)
SysGet, MonitorWorkArea, MonitorWorkArea, %activeMon%
if (winSizeHeight == "half") {
height := (MonitorWorkAreaBottom - MonitorWorkAreaTop)/2
} else {
height := (MonitorWorkAreaBottom - MonitorWorkAreaTop)/3
}
if (winPlaceHorizontal == "left") {
posX := MonitorWorkAreaLeft
width := (MonitorWorkAreaRight - MonitorWorkAreaLeft)/2
} else if (winPlaceHorizontal == "right") {
posX := MonitorWorkAreaLeft + (MonitorWorkAreaRight - MonitorWorkAreaLeft)/2
width := (MonitorWorkAreaRight - MonitorWorkAreaLeft)/2
} else {
posX := MonitorWorkAreaLeft
width := MonitorWorkAreaRight - MonitorWorkAreaLeft
}
if (winPlaceVertical == "bottom") {
posY := MonitorWorkAreaBottom - height
} else if (winPlaceVertical == "middle") {
posY := MonitorWorkAreaTop + height
} else {
posY := MonitorWorkAreaTop
}
WinMove,A,,%posX%,%posY%,%width%,%height%
}
/**
* GetMonitorIndexFromWindow retrieves the HWND (unique ID) of a given window.
* @param {Uint} windowHandle
* @author shinywong
* @link http://www.autohotkey.com/board/topic/69464-how-to-determine-a-window-is-in-which-monitor/?p=440355
*/
GetMonitorIndexFromWindow(windowHandle) {
; Starts with 1.
monitorIndex := 1
VarSetCapacity(monitorInfo, 40)
NumPut(40, monitorInfo)
if (monitorHandle := DllCall("MonitorFromWindow", "uint", windowHandle, "uint", 0x2))
&& DllCall("GetMonitorInfo", "uint", monitorHandle, "uint", &monitorInfo) {
monitorLeft := NumGet(monitorInfo, 4, "Int")
monitorTop := NumGet(monitorInfo, 8, "Int")
monitorRight := NumGet(monitorInfo, 12, "Int")
monitorBottom := NumGet(monitorInfo, 16, "Int")
workLeft := NumGet(monitorInfo, 20, "Int")
workTop := NumGet(monitorInfo, 24, "Int")
workRight := NumGet(monitorInfo, 28, "Int")
workBottom := NumGet(monitorInfo, 32, "Int")
isPrimary := NumGet(monitorInfo, 36, "Int") & 1
SysGet, monitorCount, MonitorCount
Loop, %monitorCount% {
SysGet, tempMon, Monitor, %A_Index%
; Compare location to determine the monitor index.
if ((monitorLeft = tempMonLeft) and (monitorTop = tempMonTop)
and (monitorRight = tempMonRight) and (monitorBottom = tempMonBottom)) {
monitorIndex := A_Index
break
}
}
}
return %monitorIndex%
}
; Directional Arrow Hotkeys
#!Up::SnapActiveWindow("top","full","half")
#!Down::SnapActiveWindow("bottom","full","half")
^#!Up::SnapActiveWindow("top","full","third")
^#!Down::SnapActiveWindow("bottom","full","third")
; Numberpad Hotkeys (Landscape)
#!Numpad7::SnapActiveWindow("top","left","half")
#!Numpad8::SnapActiveWindow("top","full","half")
#!Numpad9::SnapActiveWindow("top","right","half")
#!Numpad1::SnapActiveWindow("bottom","left","half")
#!Numpad2::SnapActiveWindow("bottom","full","half")
#!Numpad3::SnapActiveWindow("bottom","right","half")
; Numberpad Hotkeys (Portrait)
^#!Numpad8::SnapActiveWindow("top","full","third")
^#!Numpad5::SnapActiveWindow("middle","full","third")
^#!Numpad2::SnapActiveWindow("bottom","full","third")
@park-brian
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park-brian commented Aug 19, 2019

Yes, you can definitely do this. I have forked this gist at: https://gist.github.com/park-brian/f3f790e559e5145b99bf0f19c7928dd8

The default keybinding for left/middle/right thirds is Win + Alt + Numpad 4/5/6. However, you can easily change this in the keybindings (starting at https://gist.github.com/park-brian/f3f790e559e5145b99bf0f19c7928dd8#file-advancedwindowsnap-ahk-L263)

@glenviewjeff
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glenviewjeff commented Jan 19, 2020

I forked this and named the new project Hyper Window Snap, adding several enhancements I find very useful. With this new fork, you can:

  • Shrink windows by quarter or half in the direction of the keypad, then "scoot" them around the screen in window sized increments. Allows you to subdivide windows beyond the fixed 4 x 4 quadrants.
  • Split the current Chrome tab into a new window that is placed according to the keypad.

@DanielGGordon
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For anyone here, I highly recommend taking a look at the @park-brian fork posted above. The script here does not work well in Windows Vista/7/10, you'll see that the windows don't snap all the way to the corner.

@glenviewjeff
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For anyone here, I highly recommend taking a look at the @park-brian fork posted above. The script here does not work well in Windows Vista/7/10, you'll see that the windows don't snap all the way to the corner.

The fork I made fixes this as well as adds many other new features. Check it out. https://github.com/glenviewjeff/HyperWindowSnap

@rfedoruk
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rfedoruk commented Oct 4, 2021

If anyone with a vertical monitor needs to be able to snap windows to the lower two-thirds of their portrait screen, you need to add two lines:

^#!Numpad6::SnapActiveWindow("bottom","full","twoThirds")
I put this line at the bottom.

if (winSizeHeight == "third") { height := (MonitorWorkAreaBottom - MonitorWorkAreaTop)/3 } else{ height := ((MonitorWorkAreaBottom - MonitorWorkAreaTop)/3)*2 }

And modified this if statement and it works very well!

@dallascao
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dallascao commented Jan 13, 2022

The shortcuts do not work when the active window is maxed. To fix this, add the following lines under SnapActiveWindow(winPlaceVertical, winPlaceHorizontal, winSizeHeight) {

   WinGet, isMaxed, MinMax , A
    if (isMaxed ==1) {
        WinRestore, A
    }

@cainnz
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cainnz commented Apr 17, 2022

is there a way to make the windows snap to work like it does in vim directions? h j k l?

all I would need to do is bind the keybinds at the bottom of the script to whatever keybind I want right? for example

by pressing: Win + Left-Shift + l = would move the windows to the half right of my screen?

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