How to Do Split Screen on a Dell Laptop or Desktop PC

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Run apps side-by-side on your Dell computer by splitting the screen

Co-authored by Nicole Levine, MFA Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: April 20, 2026 Fact Checked

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Dragging to Split

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Using Keyboard Shortcuts

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Using Snap Layouts (Windows 11)

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Using Dell Display Manager

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Troubleshooting

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Video

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Tips

Trying to split the screen on your Dell laptop or desktop computer? You can easily use Windows’ built-in snapping feature to place two windows or apps side by side. This method works for Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11. This wikiHow guide will show you how to use split screen on a Dell computer using your mouse, keyboard shortcuts, and snap layouts.

Do Split Screen on a Dell: Quick Steps

Click and drag the title bar of a window all the way to the left. When the cursor hits the edge, let go to snap the app to the left side of the screen. Drag the other window to the right edge to snap it to the right. To resize the windows, hover over the center until a double arrow appears, then drag left or right.

Section 1 of 5:

Snap with Your Mouse

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Open the two apps or windows you want to split-screen. You can use Windows’ built-in Snap feature to place two windows side-by-side on your Dell desktop or laptop computer.^{[1]
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- These steps will work on any Dell computer running Windows 11, 10, 8.1, and 7.
- Tip: If you have many windows open, you can see them all on one screen by pressing Alt+Tab ↹. To use this keyboard shortcut effectively, press and hold Alt first, then press Tab ↹ to display and cycle through the open windows.
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Click and drag the title bar of one window. This will allow you to move the window around the screen.
- To do this, click and hold any blank area of the title bar. When you move your mouse, the window will move with it.
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Keep dragging it all the way to the left until your cursor touches the left edge of the screen.
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Release the mouse button. This will adjust the window size so that it takes up the left half of the screen.
- If you have dual monitors, this might drag the window to your other monitor instead. To avoid this, use keyboard shortcuts instead, or jump to Troubleshooting to learn a workaround.
Your cursor should touch the right edge of the screen.^{[2]
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Release the mouse button. This will adjust the window so it takes up the right half of the screen. The two windows are now in split screen.
- If you want to resize a snapped window, hover your mouse cursor over the dividing line between the two windows until a two-sided arrow appears, then click and drag to adjust how much screen space each uses.^{[3]
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- You can also further split the screen into four equal parts. Drag the window to a corner of the screen, not an edge. This will cause the window to take up ¼ of the screen in the corner you selected.
- If this method doesn't work for you, you may need to enable window snapping. Jump to Troubleshooting to learn how!

Section 2 of 5:

Snap with a Keyboard Shortcut

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You can use Windows’ built-in Snap feature to place two windows side by side on your Dell desktop or laptop.
This brings the window into focus.
Pressing the Windows key + the left arrow key at the same time moves the current window to the left and resizes it to take up exactly half of the screen.^{[4]
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This brings the second window into focus.
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Press ⊞ Win+→. Pressing the Windows key + the right arrow key fills the right half of the screen with the currently-selected window.
- If this method doesn't work for you, you may need to enable window snapping. Jump to Troubleshooting to learn how!

Section 3 of 5:

Using Snap Layouts (Windows 11)

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Snap flyout menuIf you're looking for other ways to split or arrange the windows on your Dell computer's screen, Snap layouts give you plenty of options. This screen-splitting trick also allows you to arrange your screen in other ways, such as splitting 3 and 4 ways, vertical splits, and other options.^{[5]
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- Hover your mouse cursor over the square at the top-right corner of an open window. After a second or so, a flyout menu will appear with several layout options.
- When you find a layout that looks right for you, click the position in that layout where you want the current window to appear. When you release the mouse button, the window will move to that place.
- At this point, Windows will display the layout you chose, and you can easily arrange other windows the same way.
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Snap barAnother way to split or arrange the screen is to use the Snap bar, which only appears when you drag a window by its title bar all the way up to the top of the screen. The Snap bar contains the same layout options as the flyout menu. To use it:
- Click and drag the first window's title bar to the top of the screen, and the snap bar will appear.
- While holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse to the location where you want to place the current window, then release it.
- Repeat to place other windows in the desired positions.

Section 4 of 5:

Using Dell Display Manager

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Open Dell Display Manager. If you have a Dell monitor, you can use Dell Display Manager (DDM) to split your screen. To open DDM, press the Windows key, type dell display, and click Dell Display Manager in the search results.^{[6]
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- If you don't have Dell Display Manager, you can download it for your specific model from Dell's DDM website.
- If DDM is already running, click its icon in the taskbar to launch it.
It's in the left panel. A list of screen layouts and various ways to split the screen will appear.^{[7]
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This will display the selected layout on the screen.
To drag an app, click and hold a blank area of the app's title bar, then drag it into place. When you release the mouse button, the app will snap into the current location.^{[8]
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Section 5 of 5:

Troubleshooting

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I can't snap Windows on my Dell laptop. If you're not able to drag windows or use the snap bar to split your screen, you may have disabled the Snap Windows feature in your Windows Settings. To reenable it:^{[9]
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- Open the Windows Start menu and click Settings.
- Click System in the left panel.
- Click Multitasking on the right panel.
- If "Snap windows" is off, click the switch to turn it back on.
- Even if it was already on, click the down arrow next to "Snap windows" to display more options.
- Check the boxes to enable the different Snap features (e.g., "Show snap layouts when I drag a window to the top of the screen").
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I can't drag windows to split the screen because I have dual monitors. If you have a dual-monitor system that's set up to extend your screen rather than mirror it, dragging a window to the left or right edge might just move it to the next monitor instead of snapping it. You can fix this problem by selecting "When I drag a window, let me snap it without dragging all the way to the screen edge" in your Snap settings. Here's how:
- Open the Windows Start menu and click Settings.
- Click System in the left panel.
- Click Multitasking on the right panel.
- Click the down arrow next to "Snap windows" to display more options.
- Uncheck "When I drag a window, let me snap it without dragging all the way to the screen edge."
- Now, try dragging a window to the left or right. This time, the Snap outline will appear before you drag the cursor all the way to the edge, allowing you to release the mouse button to snap the window into place.