Computer Basics · Windows & the Desktop · Lesson 2 of 5

Open, Close, Shrink & Grow

Learn the three window buttons, and how to move and resize any window.

What a Window Is

When you open an app, it appears in a box on the screen. A window is the box an app opens in. You can have several windows open at once, stacked like papers on a desk.

The title bar is the strip across the top of a window. It shows the app's name. At its right end are three small buttons:

• Minimize looks like a short line (_). It hides the window, but the app stays open. It waits as an icon on the taskbar.
• Maximize looks like a square. It makes the window fill the whole screen. Then the button turns into two small squares, called Restore. Click it to go back to the old size.
• Close looks like an X. It shuts the window. If you have work that isn't saved, the app usually asks you first.

Minimize and close are easy to mix up. Minimize puts a window out of sight for now. Close puts it away.

To get a minimized window back, click its icon on the taskbar.

On the practice computer, minimize Music, then maximize Notes and restore it. Close Photos, then click the Music icon on the taskbar to bring it back.

Move It and Size It

A window doesn't have to stay where it opens. You can move it and change its size.

To move a window:

1. Point at the title bar, away from the buttons.
2. Press and hold the left mouse button.
3. Move the mouse. The window follows.
4. Let go when it's where you want it.

Holding the button down while you move the mouse is called dragging.

To change a window's size, point at any edge or corner of the window. The pointer turns into a small arrow with two heads. Then drag. A corner changes the width and height at the same time.

Tip: double-click the title bar to maximize a window. Double-click it again to restore it.

On a Mac, the buttons are three colored circles at the top left of the window:

• Red closes the window.
• Yellow minimizes it into the Dock.
• Green makes it fill the whole screen. To undo that, move the pointer to the top of the screen and click green again.

On a Mac, closing a window often leaves the app running. To quit an app fully, press Command+Q.