I love working with multi-monitor systems (see “Go, multiply and detach: Multiple Screens with Eclipse“), as this extends my working area. So I decided a while back to install a multi-monitor system on my home desktop too, as this is such a productivity boost.

multi monitor desktop

But with moving the laptop machine between the display configurations, it happens that an application opens ‘off-screen’, and there is no way to ‘grab’ it with the mouse 😦

Most Windows applications check on startup if the screen coordinates are valid and open on one of the attached monitors. But some applications seem not to check this, so they open somewhere off-screen.

In that case the following tricks can help:

1. Use <ALT>-<TAB> to cycle throught the application, or select it in the toolbar
2. Press <ALT>-<SPACE> to open the move menu
3. Use ‘M’ to move it
   

   move menu

Another way:

1. Use <ALT>-<TAB> to cycle through the applications
2. Press <ALT> and then <Cursor-Left> until the move menu shows up
   

   move menu

3. Press <Enter> and then use the cursor key to move the window back to the visible area

The above trick does not work for some applications, including the Segger Systemview which I’m using a lot. Here another trick helps:

1. Locate the application in the Windows task bar
2. Press <SHIFT> and then click on it with the right mouse button pressed
3. On the menu which appears use the Move menu to move the application back on the screen
   

   Pressing SHIFT with Right Mouse Click

Another way is:

1. Use <CTRL>+<TAB> to select the application
2. Then use <WINDOWS>+<Cursor-Left> several times until the application shows up

This worked for me on Windows 10 64bit 🙂

Happy Moving 🙂