Enable or Disable Resize Adjacent Snapped Windows in Windows 11
Snap two windows side by side in Windows 11, drag the shared border to resize one, and in many cases the other window resizes too, whether you wanted it to or not. A dedicated checkbox to turn off that automatic behavior used to sit inside the Snap windows settings, and whether yours still has it depends on the machine in front of you. This guide explains how to enable or disable resize adjacent snapped windows in Windows 11, if your installation still shows the old control, and what your options are if it's already gone.
TheWindowsClub documented the control in 2021: a checkbox at Settings > System > Multitasking > Snap windows labeled "When I resize a snapped window, simultaneously resize any adjacent snapped window." That same guide later added a note that the setting appeared to have been removed in the Windows 11 2022 Update. A Microsoft Q&A thread from July 2025 didn't settle the question either. One user said they had checked several devices and found the option gone on all of them, while another respondent in the same thread said they had checked their own Multitasking settings and found the option present.
Here's where to look and what each result means, along with what's actually known about fixing this if the checkbox isn't there at all.
What the Snap windows resize setting does
TheWindowsClub's 2021 walkthrough describes the behavior this way: when two windows are snapped side by side and one gets resized at the shared border, Windows 11 automatically resizes its neighbor to match (TheWindowsClub, 2021). Move the border and both windows adjust together instead of just one, which is what people mean when they talk about resizing snapped windows together in Windows 11.
That linked resizing lives as a sub-setting inside the broader Snap windows feature rather than as its own switch. TheWindowsClub's instructions specify that Snap windows itself has to be turned on for the sub-setting to appear, since it's nested underneath that parent toggle. That detail matters later, because the one control left once the checkbox disappears touches the parent feature, not just the child setting.
Find the Windows 11 Snap windows multitasking settings
Checking whether your machine still has the option takes less time than reading about it. Follow these steps:
- Press Win+I to open Settings.
- Confirm the System tab is selected.
- Click Multitasking.
- Expand the Snap windows section.
- Look for this exact line:
"When I resize a snapped window, simultaneously resize any adjacent snapped window"
(TheWindowsClub, 2021)
From there, three actions cover every situation:
- To enable linked resizing: check the box.
- To disable linked resizing: clear the box.
- To disable Snap windows entirely: turn off the parent Snap windows toggle instead, which removes snapping altogether, not just the resize link.
If the checkbox is there
Two outcomes once you find it, and both are one click away.
Checked. Linked resizing is on. Drag the shared border between two snapped windows and both resize together, keeping the two windows fitted within the available space without touching the second window directly (TheWindowsClub, 2021).
Unchecked. Resizing one window leaves its neighbor untouched. That's the setting for an asymmetrical layout, a wide browser window paired with a narrow chat panel that shouldn't jump around every time the browser gets wider (TheWindowsClub, 2021).
If the box isn't there at all, some users posting in the July 2025 Microsoft Q&A thread report the exact same experience: nothing under Multitasking settings resembling this option. What comes next explains why accounts differ and what that actually means for a fix.
What the conflicting reports establish
The July 2025 Microsoft Q&A thread is the best evidence available on why accounts differ, and it doesn't converge on one answer. One user reported checking multiple devices and finding the checkbox gone on all of them (Microsoft Q&A, 2025). Another respondent in the same thread said they had checked the Multitasking settings interface directly and found the option present.
A third participant claimed the option existed in Windows 10 but not in Windows 11 at all, although that statement conflicts with TheWindowsClub's 2021 walkthrough, which documents the setting as a Windows 11 feature (Microsoft Q&A, 2025). One user in the thread also pointed to changewindows.org, a third-party site that tracks Windows release notes, as evidence the feature had been cut in the Windows 11 2022 Update (Microsoft Q&A, 2025). That's a community citation to a third-party tracker, not an official Microsoft changelog entry. It lines up with TheWindowsClub's own 2021 note that the setting appeared removed in that same update, but neither source is a statement from Microsoft, so the timing counts as plausible rather than confirmed.
A separate reply in the thread raised another possibility worth ruling out first: the setting might have shifted because of a system upgrade or third-party software on that particular machine, rather than being removed by Microsoft at all (Microsoft Q&A, 2025). If a Windows update or a window-management utility landed on the PC recently, that angle is worth checking before assuming the option is simply gone.
Put together, these sources support a narrow set of conclusions. TheWindowsClub's 2021 guide documents the checkbox, its exact label, and its Settings path. The Microsoft Q&A thread documents that some users cannot find the option and others can, without resolving why the split exists. Neither source amounts to a survey of every Windows 11 installation, and neither is an official Microsoft changelog. Anyone reading a confident claim online about exactly when or why this setting vanished should treat it the same way this guide treats changewindows.org: a lead, not a verdict.
If the checkbox is missing
The Microsoft Q&A thread and TheWindowsClub's guide together mention one other native control: the master Snap windows toggle in the same Multitasking menu. Switching that off doesn't just stop linked resizing, it turns off window snapping altogether, so there are no snap layouts and no drag-to-snap borders at all (TheWindowsClub, 2021). That's the only other native lever documented in these sources, and it's a much bigger trade than most people looking to turn off resize adjacent snapped windows in Windows 11 actually want. It solves "my windows resize together and I don't like it" by removing the feature that snapped them together in the first place.
One user in the Q&A thread reported a side effect of switching off Snap windows entirely: losing the ability to drag a maximized window by its title bar. That ability reportedly returned once Snap windows was turned back on, even with every visible sub-option left unchecked (Microsoft Q&A, 2025). That's one account from one machine, not a documented or universal Windows behavior, and it's worth testing on a personal setup before planning around it.
The same thread references a tool described only as something that disables the option, without naming it, explaining how it works, or confirming it's still maintained (Microsoft Q&A, 2025). That's not enough detail to recommend it here. Anyone who goes looking for third-party utilities claiming to restore or remove this setting should check reviews and verify the source independently before installing something that reaches into window-management behavior.
A separate suggestion in the thread points toward creating a local administrator account and running an in-place upgrade to refresh system files, in case the setting was affected by a deeper system issue (Microsoft Q&A, 2025). The thread doesn't report that either step actually restored the checkbox for anyone who tried it, only that they were offered as things to try. Backing up files first is worth doing if attempted, but the supplied sources don't document those steps as a confirmed fix for this specific setting.
Conclusion
Check Settings before assuming anything. Win+I, System, Multitasking, expand Snap windows, look for the checkbox. That quick check settles the question for a specific machine better than any thread full of conflicting reports.
If the checkbox is there, use it: check it to link resizing across a snapped pair, clear it to resize one window independently of its neighbor. If it's gone, the master Snap windows toggle is the only other native lever documented here, and flipping that off costs snapping entirely, not just the resize link. Unnamed tools and in-place upgrades aren't documented as confirmed fixes for this specific setting in the available sources, so until Microsoft publishes a supported fix, checking Settings directly remains the most reliable answer available.
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