Share via

Window – Window – Where art thou?

  • Article

If you are a fan of using dual monitors like I am, you have – without a doubt – had a situation where you’ll issue a command and you’ll wait and wait and wait – only to figure out that the window appeared off the screen. This frequently happens to me in SQL Server Management Studio and in Visual Studio because at work I have my monitor stacked on top and at home to the side. Up until yesterday, I would reconfigure my monitor layout and then reissue the command to see the popup window.

No longer! I always knew that there was a keystroke combination to move windows and it wasn’t until a customer filed a bug using Connect about the same window problem that forced me to research the workaround. One quick search using Live Search yielded KB Article 126449 that explained the common window commands.

If you feel you are a victim of an off-screen window – try this.

  1. Press Alt-Space. This displays the windows menu – which will probably be off screen as well.
  2. Press the M key. This issues the Move command.
  3. Use the arrow keys then to bring the window into view on your main or secondary monitor.

Other commands for the Alt-Space command for step 2 include:

  • R – Restore
  • M – Move
  • S – Size
  • N – Minimize
  • X – Maximize
  • C – Close

Technorati Tags: Keyboard shortcuts,SSMS,SQL Server 2008,Multi-Monitor tips,Visual Studio tips,Management Studio

Comments