How do you turn off Fullscreen mode in Windows 8?

Anonymous
2013-01-25T16:30:06+00:00

Despite all of the annoyances of Windows 8, I must say, the random "switching to fullscreen mode" is the most aggravating. . I thought I turned off full screen mode, but it keeps doing that fullscreen.... thing. It's done it -at least- 5 times while I typed this.

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  1. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2013-08-29T17:27:25+00:00

    The original person that asked this question hasn't come back, but he/she said that it "happened while typing this question."

    I'm sure we can all agree that there's no reason a window you're using should switch itself to full screen while you're typing out a message.  Something is clearly wrong there, because I don't know any reason that should just happen suddenly while you're typing.

    Has anyone else seen this happen or know how I can reproduce it to try to test it out?

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-08-29T17:21:56+00:00

    Stop making excuses Robert, you sound exactly like a Mac user.  All you have to do is push this button then this button, then hold down this thing and jiggle this switch...  Auto full screen was a REALLY bad idea, hopefully they're figuring it out now.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-07-22T20:19:17+00:00

    Click the little settings button near the top right, choose "Relaunch Chrome on the Desktop"

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-07-15T13:32:40+00:00

    I rather like Windows 8, but this new "feature" has been a source of substantial annoyance to me. It's badly thought out, because it is an unnatural consequence. When a user moves a window to the edge of the screen, it's probably because they want it there. Mostly, it's because they want to use another window. So to make the moved window full screen is perverse.

    But at least there's a way to switch it off, for the sake of our sanity!

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-desktop/windows-automatically-docking-in-full-screen-mode/0ddd2e0a-ee9c-44dd-b97e-525fc6fa633c

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  5. Anonymous
    2013-06-07T14:04:56+00:00

    No you can't. F11 simply removes the address bar at the top of the screen.

    Wrong.   F11 works for me exactly the way I suggested.   I leave its Auto-hide feature unchecked.   Press Alt-Space H  while you are in Fullscreen mode if you would like to use it that way too.

    Default is full screen with no way to minimize or move the open window.

    In fact there is a new feature apparent in IE10, available via right-click of the window's thumbnail in the Taskbar.   Then even though the window's Maximize option is greyed (indicating that the window is already in that mode or in Fullscreen mode) its Move option is inexplicably active.   When I use it when the window is actually in Fullscreen mode toggled out of its normal mode it is instantly toggled back into its normal mode--so the same effect as using F11 on that window without actually even having to have that window in focus.   YMMV.

    As a test of a combination that I would never use myself I just put a window into maximized mode (e.g. via Alt-Space x) and then applied Fullscreen mode to it.   In that case I can still use the new feature of using the otherwise inexplicable Move command to get it out of Fullscreen mode without having the window in focus but of course then it only switches the window back to the maximized mode, e.g. its Restore option is still available and its Move option is then finally not available.   YMMV.

    In all cases that a window is visible Minimize is always available as an option.   In fact, it is bolded indicating that it is the default option although that has a different meaning if there is more than one tab.   E.g. with Taskbar preview in effect, I then see that the current tab stops being selected even though the tab that was "minimized" is still showing.   YMMV.

    If you need help understanding your window states please describe them in terms of the state of its window menu options.   Except for the Move command being available when the window is in Fullscreen mode they allow you to infer the actual window state, in particular whether you are looking at a window in its maximized state versus a window which is in its normal state but maximally sized.   The latter case is then seen to be just a less usable variation of its normal state.   E.g. then all its options except Restore are available because it is already in its normal state.   In particular Size is available then so it can be resized to something that is more usable.   So then if you really want to see it take up the whole screen you can do that by toggling it into Fullscreen mode by pressing F11.   ; )

    FYI

    Robert


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