How do I disable split screen for opening links?

Anonymous
2013-10-21T19:00:24+00:00

I am running Win 8.1 on a TABLET.  I have about 9 inches of screen real estate to work with.

If I click a link in, say, the Mail app, it will launch IE in 50/50 mode with the existing mail app (which then rearranges itself to only show the single message I was looking at).

This is not at all helpful.  This gives me a four inch web browser, which isn't big enough to see clearly at all.  The controls are all too close together to operate by touch, etc.  I am then forced to manually drag to expand the IE window to full screen.  Unfortunately, the control to do this is also rather small, and I usually miss the first two times.  It typically takes me about 10-15 seconds between clicking a link in email and being able to read the corresponding web page.

Windows 8 handled this correctly.  I would like to revert to the behavior of always opening apps in full screen mode.  How can I accomplish this?

I know it should be possible.  If I hold the tablet in portrait mode, the annoying split window thing does not happen.  (It's not natural for me to hold it this way all the time.)

Is there a registry setting or something for "Always open new apps in full screen mode"?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-07-08T19:48:10+00:00

    Unfortunately, turning off Snap View may work in Desktop Mode, but it does nothing in Tablet Mode, and that's true even in Windows 10.  I've upgraded to Windows 10 and have Snap completely turned off, but in Tablet Mode, it still insists on opening Mail links in split screen.  Any solution that involves running in Desktop Mode is more than useless on a tablet.

    I gave my old Windows 10 tablet to my wife who has come from an Android tablet, and she told me she loves the tablet and is generally happy with Windows 10, except she hates that Mail links open up split-screen and she asked how to make them open full screen.  I had to tell her, "You can't.  This is something people have been complaining about since Windows 8.1".

    How can this complaint be escalated to someone who can actually do something about it?

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-07-08T19:25:16+00:00

    This doesn't disable Snap View at all and we're talking about modern/metro apps snap view. Why is there so many rubbish links with "solutions" online? It's terrible.

    Snap View is the default behavior in 8.1. It sucks. It could easily be an option but I think Microsoft has decided to completely give up on everything but Windows 10.

    I wish they would still support their previous OS and incrementally change it for people who like it but I guess that's bad business.

    In windows 10 you go to settings, system, multitasking and turn off snap. Windows 10 is an update of 8.1 basically, so its like asking them to support previous service packs when people refuse the free updates. I don't blame them if the option isn't in 8.1, but I think it is, just hidden in the metro settings somewhere.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-07-08T16:05:09+00:00

    This helps, I rarely use snap view on my tablet anyways, thanks. Still not a fix but a decent workaround.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-07-08T16:02:49+00:00

    This doesn't disable Snap View at all and we're talking about modern/metro apps snap view. Why is there so many rubbish links with "solutions" online? It's terrible.

    Snap View is the default behavior in 8.1. It sucks. It could easily be an option but I think Microsoft has decided to completely give up on everything but Windows 10.

    I wish they would still support their previous OS and incrementally change it for people who like it but I guess that's bad business.

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-07-08T15:22:45+00:00

    See if this tutorial helps: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/snap-two-or-more-windows-81-apps-to-display-them.html

    <quote>

    A quick swipe from the left replaces one app with another. A slow swipe splits the screen

    </quote>

    In my case swipe from the left opens the App Switcher.   Related to this supposedly somehow in MUF IE a swipe somewhere near (?) the left will alternatively give us a Back gesture.  That is seldom reliable either--more random appearance of the App Switcher.  There should be training/tuning dialogs for both--the same way that they are available for Flicks--which I have never been able to master either--even with the "training/tuning".   ; }

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