Running Programs and Apps
You can start any program or app that's installed on your computer by finding the program's icon on the Start menu or by searching for it using Cortana, and then clicking that icon. There are other ways to start programs as well. For example, if an icon for the program is pinned to the taskbar, you can click that icon. If a shortcut icon to the program exists on the desktop, you can click (or double-click) that icon to start the program.
Tip:
"Pinning" an app to the taskbar adds a shortcut icon for that object on the taskbar. You can open the associated app or object using that shortcut icon. You can also pin items to the Start menu and use those shortcuts in the same way as shortcuts on the taskbar.
Whether you need to single-click or double-click a desktop icon to open it depends on how you have configured Windows 10.
Every time you start a program or app, that program opens in a program window. No rule exists that says you can have only one program open at a time. Some programs even enable you to open multiple copies of the same program. (Modern Windows apps, however, limit you to running only one copy of that app at a time.) You can have as many programs open simultaneously as you can cram into your available memory (RAM). Most programs allow you to run multiple copies. The more memory your system has, the more stuff you can have open without much slowdown in performance. Windows can also create a special page file on disk to mimic RAM, enabling you to actually use more memory than is physically present in the device.
Note:
When it comes to using programs, or apps, the terms start, run, launch, and open all mean the same thing - to load a copy of the program into memory (RAM) so that it's visible on your screen. You can't use a program or app until it's running.
Most programs you open show their own names somewhere near the top of the program window. You see its name in the title bar at the top of the window, appearing either by itself or as part of a string of items.
Most items that you open also appear on the taskbar. By default, Windows 10 shows only an icon on the taskbar for open items, with no label. However, you can configure the taskbar to show labels. The name in the taskbar button matches the name of the item.
When you have multiple program windows open, they stack up on the desktop the way multiple sheets of paper on your real desktop stack up. When you have multiple sheets of paper in a pile, you can't see what's on every page. You can see only what's on the top page because the other pages are covered by that page.
Program windows work the same way. When you have multiple program windows open, you can see only the one that's on the top of the stack. The program that's on the top of the stack is the active window.
Note:
Some programs have an option called "Always on Top" that makes them display on top of the stack even when they aren't active. So, a program could be active but not necessarily on top of the stack. For the purposes of this tutorial, however, assume that the active window is always the one on top of the stack.
The active window
When two or more program windows are open on the desktop, only one of them can be the active window. The active window has some unique characteristics:
- The active window is usually on the top of the stack. Any other open windows will be under the active window so that they don't cover any of its content. The exception is a window configured for Always on Top, as described in the preceding Note.
- The taskbar button for the active window is highlighted with a brighter foreground color.
- The title bar for the active window is a different color from the inactive ones.
- Anything you do at the keyboard applies to the active window only. You can't type in an inactive window.
Switching among open programs
When you have two or more programs open at the same time, you want to be able to switch among them easily. You have several ways to switch among open programs, as discussed in the sections that follow.
Note:
The taskbar shows a miniature version of the window by default. Pointing to a taskbar button reveals a tooltip with the name of the window or program. You can set the size of the icons used by the taskbar through the properties for the taskbar.
Switching with taskbar buttons
As mentioned, almost every open program has a button on the taskbar. When you have multiple open programs, you have multiple taskbar buttons. To make a particular program active, click its taskbar button. If you're not sure which button is which, point at each button. You see the name and a miniature copy of the program that the button represents. You also see a full-size preview of the window.
Tip:
If any part of the window you want to bring to the top of the stack is visible on the screen, you can click that visible part of the window to bring the window to the top of the stack.
Switching with the keyboard
If you prefer the keyboard to the mouse, you can use Alt+Tab to switch among open windows. Hold down the Alt key and then press the Tab key. You see a thumbnail image for each open program window. Keep the Alt key pressed down and keep pressing Tab until the name of the program you want to switch to appears above the icons. Then release the Alt key.
Tip:
The Tab key is usually just to the left of the letter Q on the keyboard.
You can also use Windows+Tab to switch between running apps. Pressing this key combination or clicking on the Task View button on the taskbar opens the task view, where you can click or tap the app you want to make active.
Arranging program windows
You can use options on the taskbar shortcut menu to arrange all currently open program windows. To get to that menu, right-click an empty area of the taskbar, or right-click the clock in the lower-right corner of the screen.
The four options that apply to program windows on the desktop are similar to the options you get when you right-click a taskbar button that represents multiple instances of one program:
- Cascade Windows:
Stacks all the open windows like sheets of paper, fanned out so that all their title bars are visible. - Show Windows Stacked:
Arranges the windows in rows across the screen, or as equal-sized tiles. - Show Windows Side by Side:
Arranges the windows side by side. As with the preceding option, if you have too many open windows to show that way, they're displayed in equal-sized tiles. - Show the Desktop:
Minimizes all open windows so that only their taskbar buttons are visible. You can see the entire desktop at that point. To bring any window back onto the screen, click its taskbar button. To bring them all back, right-click the clock or taskbar again and choose Show Open Windows.
The best way to understand these options is to try them out for yourself. Open two or more programs. Then try each of the options described to see the effect on your open program windows.
Sizing program windows
As a rule, program windows can be any size you want them to be, but this rule has a few exceptions.
For example, the tiny Calculator program can't be sized at all. Some programs shrink down only so far. But in general, most open program windows can appear in three sizes:
- Maximized, in which the program fills the entire screen above the taskbar, covering the desktop.
- Minimized, in which only the program's taskbar button is visible, and the program window takes up no space on the desktop.
- Any size in between those two extremes.
Often, you want to work with two or more program windows at a time. Knowing how to size program windows is a critical skill because working with multiple program windows is difficult if you can't see at least a part of each one.
Maximize a program window
A maximized program window enlarges to its greatest window size, which in many cases causes it to fill all the space above the taskbar. This makes it easy to see everything inside the program window. If a program window isn't already maximized, you can maximize it in several ways:
- Click the Maximize button in the program's title bar.
- Grab the title bar and move the window to the top of the screen. Pause for a moment and then release the mouse button.
- Double-click the program's title bar.
- Click the upper-left corner of the window you want to maximize and choose Maximize. Optionally, right-click anywhere near the center top of the window and choose Maximize.
Tip:
Few buttons on the screen show their name. But you can find out a button's name just by touching the button with the tip of the mouse pointer to display a tooltip.
Minimize a program window
If you want to get a program window off the screen temporarily without losing your place, minimize the program window. When you minimize the program window, the program remains running. However, it takes up no space on the screen, so it can't cover anything else on the screen. When minimized, only the window's taskbar button remains visible. You can minimize a window in several ways:
- Click the Minimize button in the program's title bar.
- Click the program's taskbar button once or twice. (If the program isn't in the active window, the first click just makes it the active window. The second click then minimizes the active window.)
- Right-click the program's taskbar button or title bar and choose Minimize.
Size at will
Between the two extremes of maximized (hog up the entire desktop) and minimized (not even visible on the desktop), most program windows can be any size you want them to be. The first step to sizing a program window is to get it to an in-between size so that it's neither maximized nor minimized. You can do that in one of two ways:
- If the program window is currently minimized, click its taskbar button to make it visible on the screen.
- If the program window is currently maximized, double-click its title bar or click its Restore Down button to shrink it down a little. Optionally, use the Cascade Windows option described earlier to get all open program windows down to an in-between size.
Minimize versus Close
Everything that's "in your computer," so to speak, is actually a file on your hard disk. The stuff on your hard disk is always there, whether the computer is on or off. When you open an item, two things happen. The most obvious is that the item becomes visible on the screen. What's not so obvious is the fact that a copy of the program is also loaded in the computer's memory (RAM).
When you minimize an open window, the program is still in memory. You can tell that because the program's taskbar button is still on the taskbar. When you want to view that program window, click its taskbar button to make it visible on the screen again. It shows up looking exactly as it did before you minimized it.
When you close a program, its window and taskbar button both disappear and the program is removed from the RAM (making room for other things you might want to work with). The way to get back to the program is to restart it from its icon. However, this new program window is an entirely new running copy of the program, unrelated to any other copies that were running.
After the program window is visible but not hogging up the entire screen, you can size it to your liking by dragging any edge or corner. You have to get the tip of the mouse pointer right on the border of the window you want to size so that the pointer turns into a two-headed arrow.
When you see the two-headed arrow, hold down the left mouse button without moving the mouse. After the mouse button is down, drag in the direction you want to size the window. Release the mouse button when the window is the size you want.
You can also size a program window using the mouse and the keyboard. Again, the program window has to be at some in-between size to start with. Also, note that you always begin the process from the program window's taskbar button. Follow these steps:
- Click the program window's control menu button (upper-left corner of the window) and choose Size. Note that the control menu is not available on all apps.
- Press the navigation arrow keys (←, →, ↑, ↓) until the window (or the border around the window) is the size you want.
- Press Enter.
Moving a program window
You can easily move a program window about the screen just by dragging its title bar. However, you can't start with a minimized window. You have to get the program window to an in-between size or maximized size before you begin. Then place the mouse pointer somewhere near the top center of the window you want to move, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the window around. Release the mouse button when the window is where you want it on the desktop. This works for both in-between sized and maximized windows.
Dialog boxes work the same way. You usually can't size or minimize a dialog box, and dialog boxes don't have taskbar buttons. But you can easily drag a dialog box around the screen by its title bar.
Moving and sizing from the keyboard
As you've seen, most of the techniques for moving and sizing program windows rely on the mouse. There are some keyboard alternatives, but they're not available in all program windows. To find out whether these work in the window you're using at the moment, press Alt+Spacebar and see whether a system menu drops down from the upper-left corner.
If you see the menu, you just have to press the underlined letter from the menu option you want to select. For example, press the letter x to Maximize or n to Minimize. If you press m to Move or s to Size, you can then use the arrow keys (←, →, ↑, ↓) to move or size the window. Then press Enter when the window is positioned or sized to your liking.
Tip:
Sometimes, a window can be outside the viewable area of the desktop. This can happen if you extend your Windows desktop onto another monitor but that monitor isn't connected or turned on. If you can press Alt+Tab and determine that a program is running, but you can't see it on the desktop, press Alt+Tab and select the program (make it active). Then press Alt+Spacebar, press M, and use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move the window into a viewable area of the desktop.