VirtualZones troubleshooting: common problems and fixes

Nothing happens when I maximize a window

Check, in this order:

1. Confinement is running. The status should say Active…, not Idle. Press Start or Ctrl+Alt+R.
2. The screen is Enabled. Check the Enabled switch on that monitor’s tab.
3. A split layout is active. New monitors use 100% (one zone), which looks exactly like a normal maximize. Pick 25% | 50% | 25% or another split.
4. The trial hasn’t expired. A red Trial expired message means you need to activate a license.
5. The window isn’t always on top or elevated. See below.

A browser’s fullscreen fills the whole monitor

Since version 1.3.16, Chrome and Edge fullscreen (F11, or a video’s fullscreen button such as YouTube’s) stays in its zone, also when you click another browser window, and follows the window when you move it with Ctrl+Alt+W/A/S/D. Firefox F11 is confined too.

Fix: update VirtualZones. The version is on the License card; older versions couldn’t hold Chrome or Edge fullscreen in a zone.

A game isn’t confined

Exclusive-fullscreen DirectX games bypass the Windows desktop compositor, so no window manager can resize them.

Fix: set the game to Borderless windowed (sometimes called Windowed fullscreen or Fullscreen windowed) in its video settings. It then confines like any other window.

An always-on-top app isn’t confined

Windows marked always on top, and tool windows, are skipped on purpose so screenshot and capture overlays (ShareX, Snipping Tool, OBS) aren’t pushed into zones. This includes mini players, picture-in-picture and “pin on top” utilities.

Fix: turn off the app’s always-on-top option, or place it manually with Shift-drag or a move hotkey, which do work on these windows.

Admin windows won’t move or confine

Task Manager, Registry Editor, administrator terminals and apps you ran “as administrator” are elevated. Windows doesn’t allow a normal app to move elevated windows.

Fix: leave them unconfined, or run VirtualZones itself as administrator if you need to manage elevated windows.

A window covers the taskbar

Cover taskbar is on for that screen, so zones span the full monitor. Turn it off, or set the Windows taskbar to auto-hide. See Work area vs Cover taskbar.

A window flashes full-screen for a moment

VirtualZones resizes a window just after it goes fullscreen, so one frame (about 16 ms) can flash at full size. Maximize flashes are hidden by turning off the Windows min/max animation while running. F11 can still flash once. This is cosmetic.

Windows’ minimize/maximize animation stays off

VirtualZones turns the animation off while running and restores it on Stop or Exit. If the app was force-closed or crashed, start and stop VirtualZones once. You can also re-enable Animation effects in Settings → Accessibility → Visual effects.

Shift-drag doesn’t snap

• Confinement must be running.
• Keep Shift held until after you release the mouse button. Releasing Shift first cancels the snap.
• Drag by the title bar, and move at least a few pixels.
• Elevated windows can’t be moved (see above).

A hotkey doesn’t work

• Move hotkeys and Hide/Show zones need confinement running.
• Another app may have taken the combination. Open Keyboard Shortcuts… and rebind it. The dialog checks availability.
• On keyboards with AltGr, Ctrl+Alt+key can clash with typing. See Hotkeys and AltGr keyboards.
• Win-key combinations can’t be used, because Windows reserves them.

The shared zone isn’t in Zoom or Teams

• Make sure the zone is actually shared: tray → Share should show a checkmark, and the zone has a dashed frame.
• The zone must exist. Share Zone 3 does nothing on a two-zone layout.
• Changing the layout, Cover taskbar or Enabled closes that screen’s shares. Share again.
• Pick the window named VirtualZones - Share Zone N, not a screen. See Share a zone.

A layout is missing from the editor list

The editor’s list shows the first 6 layouts only. The rest are still in the main dropdown and the tray menu. Delete a layout you don’t need to see the others in the editor.

A layout won’t open in the editor

It was edited by hand in settings.json and doesn’t form a clean grid. It still works for confinement. Recreate it in the editor if you need to change it.

The main window is off-screen

VirtualZones moves the window back onto a connected monitor automatically. If that doesn’t work, exit from the tray, remove the WindowPos line from settings.json, and start again.

The UI stays in English after choosing a language

The language download failed. Check that raw.githubusercontent.com is reachable. Some company networks block it.

Launching VirtualZones closed the running copy

This is expected. Only one copy runs at a time, and the new copy takes over. See Command line → Relaunching.

“Windows protected your PC”

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen shows this for new or unsigned apps. Click More info → Run anyway.

License problems

See Activate a license → Troubleshooting.

Reporting a bug

1. Note what you did and what happened.
2. Grab the log: %TEMP%\virtualzones.log. It never contains your license key.
3. For multi-monitor issues, also run VirtualZones.exe --list-monitors first, which adds your monitor details to the log.
4. Send it via About → Contact me or email [email protected].