Can I turn off steam window snapping

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Olly Apr 12 @ 10:40pm

Steam has its own window snapping, where non-maximised windows stick to the top of the screen or to the taskbar. It's really starting to annoy me, does anyone know how to turn it off?

Feels like it got added recently, but maybe it was always there and it only recently started to annoy me. I'm running steam version 1743554648.

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Showing 1-13 of 13 comments

Lithurge Apr 13 @ 1:06am

Doesn't do it for me and I'm running the same version in Win 11.

Party Princess Apr 13 @ 3:09am

It's been there for probably more than 10 years, but recently has become egregiously worse.

It jumps to the edge way sooner than I'd like it to.
After it snaps to the edge of my screen, I can click the window and drag the cursor all the way to the opposite edge of my monitor, and the window will stay stuck to the original edge the entire time without budging. I *have* to move the cursor quickly for it to leave the edge.
If I keep holding and move it back to the original corner, the window goes off the screen just fine, but I can't seem to get it into the center of the screen without a *lot* of fussing with it. It's biased toward being outside of the viewable portion of my screen.

I usually end up bouncing from one screen edge to the others, trying to get it to just be *free* from any edges. It feels nearly impossible sometimes.

This feature is super annoying (I never liked it), can't be disabled, and has recently been exponentially worse than it has in the past (hence why I came to the forums with interest). Honestly, I'm surprised it has survived this long without any touch-ups or the option to disable it altogether.

It feels like something from the Windows XP era.

Does anybody know how to properly petition a change from Valve?

BJWyler Apr 13 @ 3:30am

Originally posted by Party Princess:

It feels like something from the Windows XP era.

Does anybody know how to properly petition a change from Valve?

Actually it was a feature of Windows that started with Vista. It's not a Steam feature and Steam does not do petitions, especially not for features that are Windows features and not Steam features.

Olly Apr 13 @ 11:45am

I'm not talking about the native Windows snapping. That resizes the window to fit the current viewport, and I'm actually fine with it. The Steam windows (and only Steam windows) snap to the top of screen or to the taskbar without resizing, from further away than I would like. It does it now with this very window, and not with discord or chrome. I'll see if I can make a video of the behaviour to clarify.

I mostly posted this to see if there was a hidden option to turn it off, but it also serves to bring it into view as an issue. Steam may not do petitions, but UI is designed for ergonomics and designers do usually try to make products that people like. The more attention this gets, the better chance there is that a developer will see it and review the feature.

EDIT: playing with it some more, it's exactly the behaviour Party Princess mentions. It's not the range from the edge that matters as I said before, it's the fact you have to really yank the window to get it to detach.

Last edited by Olly; Apr 13 @ 11:57am

father nurgle Apr 14 @ 2:36am

Yep this is suddenly incredibly irritating. Only a problem with Steam windows not other windows. To unsnap the window I have to move the mouse so quickly that it immediately snaps onto some other edge of the screen.

Lithurge Apr 14 @ 2:42am

Originally posted by father nurgle:
Yep this is suddenly incredibly irritating. Only a problem with Steam windows not other windows. To unsnap the window I have to move the mouse so quickly that it immediately snaps onto some other edge of the screen.

And as I said it doesn't do it on my PC, as far as I'm aware there are no settings in Steam for this, I certainly haven't changed anything along those lines.

leo Apr 15 @ 8:46pm

I'm getting the same issue. The Windows snapping feature seems to be involved to some degree, but disabling it in Windows doesn't seem to affect the Steam Client. It happens enabled or disabled (at least on Win10). Either way, it's not functioning in the way that other windows do.

What mostly solved it for me was enabling the Steam beta participation.
Steam -> Settings -> Interface -> Client Beta Participation -> Set to "Steam Beta Update" and restart client

The Beta Client still snaps, but it's way less aggressive. Annoying, but much much less annoying.

AmsterdamHeavy Apr 15 @ 9:05pm

Pretty sure its a Win issue as Im having other windows snapping to the taskbar, not just the client.

leo Apr 15 @ 9:14pm

Originally posted by AmsterdamHeavy:
Pretty sure its a Win issue as Im having other windows snapping to the taskbar, not just the client.

I'm not having that issue with any other windows.

father nurgle Apr 16 @ 3:23am

Originally posted by Lithurge:
Originally posted by father nurgle:
Yep this is suddenly incredibly irritating. Only a problem with Steam windows not other windows. To unsnap the window I have to move the mouse so quickly that it immediately snaps onto some other edge of the screen.
And as I said it doesn't do it on my PC, as far as I'm aware there are no settings in Steam for this, I certainly haven't changed anything along those lines.

I'm on Windows 10, you are on Windows 11. As *I* said, it is only an issue with Steam, no other windows.

#10

Throcket Apr 23 @ 3:45am

Can confirm this is an issue that can't be fixed via the Windows settings (Win 10) and there is currently no obvious Steam setting for it (come on Steam)

#11