View Multiple Windows on the Taskbar

If you are like me, you probably have dozens of windows open at any given point, so if you want to work with just a couple of windows you have to minimize everything and then hunt for the windows you need - over and over again.

Since I bill by the minute, spending time searching is not cost effective for my clients, but closing all the other windows I'm working with is not the most efficient use of time for me. Solution? Open the two windows you are working with side-by-side!

There's a simple trick that's been built into Windows forever… hold down the Ctrl key while selecting taskbar buttons and you can select more than one at a time. The benefit is that you don't have to minimize any other windows in order to tile them (or close them).

Hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on a taskbar button, and then while still holding down the Ctrl key, click on another taskbar button. You'll notice that they are both selected. (Note that you can click on a button again to deselect it.)

Now that they are both selected, you can right-click on one of the buttons and choose to cascade, stack or show the windows side by side.

I don't find cascading or stacking very useful, but side-by-side is something I use quite often.


This can be extremely useful when you are trying to look at two windows at once, especially when you've got a ton of windows open but only want to tile two of them.

Try it! It's fun and a real time saver!