[Fun Tip] Maximize Windows or Dialog Box When Maximize Button is Disabled

This is really a fun tip or you can say a bug/goof-up which is present in almost all Windows versions. We have mentioned it a few times in past in our exclusive Windows Bugs and Goof-ups topics.

• [Did You Know] Ultimate List of Windows 8 Bugs and Goof-ups
• [Did You Know] Ultimate List of Windows 7 Bugs and Goof-ups

Today we decided to create a separate article for it to provide more detailed information and how-to steps so that more people can know and learn about this interesting trick.

Many times we are working in a program window or dialog box and we want to maximize it to show its content on full screen area so that we can work in the program more quickly and easily. But sometimes a few program developers disable or remove the Maximize button in the program window’s titlebar to prevent users from maximizing the window.

Also by default all dialog boxes don’t contain maximize button so you can’t maximize them.

But did you know there is a hidden secret way to maximize any window or dialog box in Windows? The interesting part is that the feature comes built-in with almost all Windows versions but many people are not aware of this feature as its undocumented. I think this feature is actually not a feature but an interesting bug present in Windows.

Now without wasting time lets share this secret feature or bug present in Windows which can be used to maximize almost all windows or dialog boxes that can’t be maximized by default i.e. maximize button is disabled or grayed out:

This secret feature is actually a part of Task Manager and can be accessed using following simple steps:

1. First of all open a program which comes with Maximize button disabled in its titlebar or open any dialog box having only Close button in titlebar. For example, you can open RUN dialog box, Taskbar Properties dialog box or any other dialog box to test this feature.

In this example, we are going to launch RUN dialog box. You can open it from Start Menu or by pressing WIN+R keys together.

2. Now open Task Manager by right-clicking on Taskbar and selecting “Task Manager” option. You can also directly open it by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys together.

3. After opening Task Manager,

For Windows 7 and earlier:

Go to “Applications” tab in Task Manager and right-click on the program or dialog box entry and select “Maximize” option.

For Windows 8 and later:

In “Processes” tab, if you see the program’s name in the list, right-click on the entry and select Maximize option. If you want to maximize a dialog box or Windows component, it should be present under Windows Explorer label. Just expand Windows Explorer service and right-click on the desired program or dialog box entry present under it and select Maximize option.

4. That’s it. It’ll immediately maximize that window or dialog box.

Sometimes you’ll get desired results but sometimes you’ll get some weird results as shown in the above screenshot. But the fact is that you can maximize almost all program windows and dialog boxes using this funny trick…

You can watch the whole trick live in action in following exclusive video:

Also Check:

• Hidden Secret Trick to Open “Command Prompt” Window Using Task Manager
• Windows 8 and Later Allow You to Restart Explorer Using Task Manager