Guides
Keyboard shortcuts to move a window to another monitor
Dragging windows across screens with the mouse is slow, and it gets worse with every extra monitor. Windows has a built-in shortcut that covers the basics, and a few free hotkeys go much further: sending a window to the next screen in any arrangement, snapping it to halves or quarters, stepping it through zones and keeping it on top. This guide covers both, with the default DisplayForge shortcuts and how to change them.
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Use the built-in Windows shortcut
Press Win+Shift+Left arrow or Win+Shift+Right arrow to move the active window to the monitor on the left or right. It keeps the window's relative position and size, and works on Windows 10 and 11. Win+Left and Win+Right snap a window to half of the screen, Win+Up maximizes it, and on Windows 11 Win+Z opens Snap Layouts. The limits: you can only step sideways one monitor at a time, monitors stacked above each other are awkward because Win+Shift+Up stretches the window vertically instead of moving it, and the shortcuts cannot be changed.
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Use DisplayForge's monitor hotkeys
After installing DisplayForge, Ctrl+Alt+Right moves the window to the next monitor and Ctrl+Alt+Left to the previous one, following Windows' monitor order and wrapping around from the last screen to the first. That works the same whether your monitors sit side by side, stacked or in an L shape. The window keeps its relative position and size on the new screen, a maximized window stays maximized, and the hotkeys act on the last window you used outside DisplayForge. Ctrl+Alt+M moves the mouse cursor to the next monitor, and Ctrl+Alt+G gathers every window onto the main display.
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Snap, maximize and use zones from the keyboard
The default snap shortcuts use the numeric keypad like a map of the screen: Ctrl+Alt+Numpad4 and Numpad6 for left and right halves, Numpad8 and Numpad2 for top and bottom, Numpad7, 9, 1 and 3 for the quarters, and Numpad5 to center. Ctrl+Alt+Enter maximizes and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Enter maximizes across all monitors. Ctrl+Alt+PageDown and PageUp move the window to the next or previous zone of the monitor's zone layout and carry on to the next monitor after the last zone. Ctrl+Alt+T toggles always on top.
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Change any shortcut
Open Hotkeys in DisplayForge, click the box next to an action and press the keys you want. If the combination is already used by another action, you get a warning naming that action, and Reset to defaults brings back the original set. There are more actions than defaults, such as Left third, Right two-thirds and Minimize other windows on this monitor, which you can bind yourself. Ctrl+Alt+Up and Ctrl+Alt+Down are left free on purpose because some graphics drivers use them to rotate the screen. On a laptop without a numeric keypad, bind the snap actions to keys you have.
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Go beyond single shortcuts
Press Ctrl+Alt+Space to open the command palette and type what you want, such as next monitor, a zone or the name of a window profile. Windows & Zones lists every open window with a Move to menu for any monitor. With Triggers you can move a window automatically, for example when an app starts. And if you find yourself moving the same windows every morning, save them once in Window Profiles and restore them all with a single hotkey.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the shortcut not move some windows?
Windows does not let a normal app move a window that runs as administrator. Some full-screen games and system windows also ignore move requests. Running both programs at the same privilege level usually solves it.
Which window does a DisplayForge hotkey move?
The last window you used outside DisplayForge, which is normally the window in front. That way the hotkeys also work right after you have been in the DisplayForge window itself.
Can I move the window two monitors away in one step?
Press the next monitor hotkey twice, or open the command palette or the Move to menu in Windows & Zones and choose the monitor directly.