Build a Custom Window Layout with PowerToys FancyZones

When you open the same few apps every day, arranging them by eye gets old. PowerToys FancyZones lets you define reusable screen zones, then snap windows into those areas. This walkthrough builds one wide work area with two stacked reference zones and shows how to keep Windows’ own Snap shortcuts available.

The steps reflect Microsoft’s FancyZones documentation dated 20 August 2025, before this article’s 15 November 2025 publication date.

Choose Grid or Canvas

FancyZones has two custom layout models.

Grid starts as three columns. You can split zones, merge neighboring zones and move the dividers. It is a relative layout, so it resizes with different screen sizes. Choose Grid when you want clean, aligned areas that keep their proportions.

Canvas starts with one zone. Add zones, then move and resize them freely; they can overlap. Choose Canvas when a regular grid does not fit the way you work, or when you need deliberately offset areas.

For a writing and research setup, Grid is a useful starting point: keep the document or editor in a wide area, then stack a browser and notes in a narrower column beside it. If you want a different arrangement for each task, you can save more than one custom layout.

Create a three-zone Grid

1. If you have not installed PowerToys, use Microsoft’s PowerToys installation guide . Open PowerToys Settings and select FancyZones. Check that the utility is enabled.
2. Select Open layout editor, or press Win + Shift + the grave-accent key. You can change this shortcut in FancyZones Settings.
3. In the editor, select the monitor where you want the layout. The selected monitor becomes the target for the layout.
4. Choose Create new layout, select Grid, and create the layout. Grid begins with three columns.
5. To make one wide zone and two stacked zones, select two adjacent columns by dragging across them, then choose Merge. Click inside the remaining column to divide it; hold Shift while dividing to rotate the divider so the new zones stack vertically. Move the gutters until your main app and reference windows have enough room.
6. Finish creating the layout, then select it in the editor to apply it to that monitor. Double-clicking a layout applies it and closes the editor.

This arrangement is a starting point, not a prescribed ratio. If a browser’s sidebar or an app’s minimum window size makes the narrow zones awkward, move the divider or use fewer zones.

Snap windows into place

Open the windows you want to arrange. By default, hold Shift while dragging a window by its title bar. FancyZones displays the zones; move the window over the area you want and release when that zone is highlighted.

If zones do not appear, check that FancyZones is enabled and that Hold Shift key to activate zones while dragging is selected. The trigger can be changed: a non-primary mouse button can activate zones, and clearing both trigger options makes zones appear as soon as you start dragging.

Keep Windows Snap shortcuts if you want them

FancyZones can use Win + arrow to move windows between its zones, but that requires the Override Windows Snap hotkeys setting. Leave that setting off if you want those keys to keep their usual Windows Snap behavior. You can still place windows in FancyZones with Shift-drag.

If you regularly switch between work setups, enable Enable quick layout switch in FancyZones Settings and assign a number to each custom layout. Then press Win + Ctrl + Alt + number to apply a layout to the active screen.

If a particular window will not snap

First check whether the app is listed under Exclude applications from snapping to zones in FancyZones Settings. Popup and child windows have separate options. The popup setting applies to all popup windows, including notifications, so change it only when you need that behavior.

Some windows run with elevated permissions. Microsoft’s documentation notes that snapping an elevated app such as Task Manager or Windows Terminal requires running PowerToys as administrator. That is a specific case; ordinary windows should not need this change.

Make the layout fit the windows you actually use, then try it for a normal work session. A few well-sized zones are easier to use than a crowded screen full of narrow targets.

Sources and further reading

• Microsoft, FancyZones window manager documentation , dated 20 August 2025.
• Microsoft, Install PowerToys , dated 20 August 2025.