reSizer - easily resize windows with a keystroke

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Microsoft, Freeware

reSizer - easily resize windows with a keystroke

by Jason Clarke Dec 28th 2006

When Joan tipped us off about a new application she'd written to help users manipulate window positions and size using the keyboard rather than mouse, I jumped at the chance to write it up. Of course, with the business of the holidays, I promptly managed to forget I'd claimed this download to blog about. Oh well, I'm getting around to it now, and I think it's worth the wait.

Joan's utility is called reSizer, and it's one of those ones that probably takes a bit of time to grow on you, but I suspect it also has a very good chance of becoming a "must have utility" for those of us that are extremely keyboard-centric.

reSizer works by leveraging the somewhat underused Windows key that most keyboards sport, in conjunction with the arrow (cursor) keys, and the numeric keypad. Unfortunately, it's one of those programs that you sort of have to use before you really "get" it, but if it piques your interest, I think it's worth the quick download.

Once running, you can easily move open windows around by simply typing Win-(arrow key) to move the window a few pixels in the directly you typed. Adding Shift to the key combination allows you to move windows very precisely.

More interestingly, windows can be quickly moved to 9 specific positions based on the numeric keypad; the top-left position is 7, the bottom-right is 3, and the middle is 5. This can be very handy to arrange a few open windows efficiently on your screen.

Where this utility really shines is in its ability to resize windows using these same numeric keys; typing CTRL-WIN-

Tags: move windows, MoveWindows, reSizer, window manipulation, window move, window size, window sizer, WindowManipulation, WindowMove, WindowSize, WindowSizer

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Book Lover said 9:13AM on 12-28-2006

Was so dubious as I read this, I use Sizer for my resizing, it's probbaly the only startup program I run. But this sounds extremely nice, the precision window movement especially.

mouser said 10:39AM on 12-28-2006

you might want to check out a free program called "GridMove" written by one of the authors on our site.

http://jgpaiva.donationcoders.com/gridmove.html

"GridMove is a program that aims at making windows management easier. It helps you with this task by defining a visual grid on your desktop, to which you can easily snap windows. This program comes bundled with some predifined grid templates, that can be easily swaped, but also has ways of creating custom grids or sharing grids made by others.

GridMove makes moving windows, resizing windows, displaying them on cascade or on mosaic, making them on top or anything you can think of as easy as drag and drop."

Matthew said 3:03PM on 1-02-2007

I was looking for window dragging/resizing options like XGL/Compiz has for Windows XP, where you can move/resize a window by dragging *anywhere* in the window while holding down the left/right mouse key. I think I might have found it at: http://www.codeproject.com/dll/wm.asp

I'm trying it out now, and so far, it's GREAT.

duane said 11:32PM on 2-01-2007

One of my 'must have' utilities is Windows PowerPro. I have keyboard shortcuts setup to move and resize my windows. This app does a TON MORE though.

It is overwhelming at first with so many features. Therefore, it is not very easy to use so only power users with a little patience will appreciate it.

http://powerpro.webeddie.com/

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