How to disable split screen in windows 8/8.1

Just like I showed you in my picture above.  Simply go to the desktop, and then nothing will ever split ever again. Period, it will never happen if you are using the regular desktop.

You don't have to split anything to use notepad and the desktop.   Just stay on the desktop and open regular old notepad:

OK how do you split screen with 2 notepads ?

You can drag the divider to change the size of the split screen programs, or drag it all the way to the edge to get rid of one side entirely.

Setting Chrome to default can be done in the PC Settings app. Easy way to get there: Press +W, type "default" into the search box and choose the Default Apps search result and pick Chrome from the list:

Thank you for your thorough and prompt response. I accept that this functionality cannot be disabled.

I still recommend you be clearer in your response considering Windows 8 does NOT treat the split screen windows the same as regular desktop applications. You can only resize them horizontally and in proportion to one another. They cannot be moved in any way, or re-sized vertically. Nor can you switch between them in the traditional sense. Nor can they overlap.

In fact the interface is nothing like working with applications on your desktop. So what you are saying makes no sense and is confusing to anyone who owns a windows 8 machine. How can you even compare the split screen to working with regular applications? That's like saying the split screen functionality on an Android phone is exactlylike working with applications on your desktop. When it obviously isn't..

Anyways....

Thanks for getting back to me.

I get you, but there's no distinction in the system: it treats those just the same as regular windows and lets the user arrange them, and there's no setting that's ever existed to disable movement of windows.  It may look a little different (no border), but it treats it the same: as far as operating system is concerned it's still just a window, free to be moved or positioned. I 'm not defending it, just saying that's how it is built.  The best I can offer is, "if you don't want to split, don't do it."  You should never see the split you show above unless you intentionally do it.  Sorry I don't have any better advice.

If you're curious about what functions you can control via policy, here's a full list of all possibility controls. If you are controlling a PC without GPEDIT, this also includes the registry location of the setting.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/F/B/8FBD2E85-8852-45EC-8465-92756EBD9365/WindowsServer2012R2andWindows8.1GroupPolicySettings.xlsx