The Forceful Layout Manager
Windows 11 includes an enhanced window management system called Snap Assist. When you drag a window towards the edge or corner of the screen, Windows automatically resizes and snaps it into a predefined grid layout — half-screen, quarter-screen, or one of several split arrangements. Additionally, hovering over the maximise button reveals Snap Layouts, offering further grid templates. While powerful for multi-window productivity, Snap Assist is frustrating for users who prefer to manually size and position their windows. The snapping triggers too easily during casual window dragging, and the Snap Layouts pop-up obscures the maximise button when you simply want to make a window full-screen.
Disabling Snap Assist and Snap Layouts
To stop Windows 11 from automatically snapping windows to edges and showing the Snap Layouts overlay, you must disable the feature in the Multitasking settings.
Open Settings (Win + I). In the left-hand sidebar, click on System. Select Multitasking. At the top, you will see a toggle labelled Snap windows. Turn this toggle off to completely disable all snapping behaviour — dragging a window to the edge will no longer resize it, and the Snap Layouts pop-up will disappear from the maximise button. If you want to keep basic edge snapping but disable specific annoyances, leave the main toggle on and expand the section below it. You can individually uncheck options such as When I snap a window, suggest what I can snap next to it (which disables the Snap Assist suggestion panel), Show snap layouts when I hover over a window’s maximize button, and Show snap layouts when I drag a window to the top of my screen. This gives you granular control over which snapping behaviours remain active.