There are numerous ways in which you can improve your productivity on your PC, and one of the big ones Linux users like to bring up is tiling window managers. If you're not familiar with them, these are programs that force your application windows to open in a non-overlapping layout, keeping all windows visible at any given time.

Despite being popular among Linux users, however, it's not like tiling window managers are exclusive to that operating system. Windows 11 has a huge ecosystem of apps, and of course, tiling window managers are part of that, too. There are quite a few options out there to choose from, but frankly, only a few stood out as being great options, so here are the ones you should check out.

FancyWM

Multi-tasking made easier

Let's start things off with FancyWM, which is a very effective and customizable window manager. Right off the bat, FancyWM will snap all your apps side by side in the most optimal layout by default, but you can easily resize and adjust them to your needs. At any time, you can also split the screen manually to rearrange windows. As you rearrange windows, an indicator at the top of the screen will identify the apps in each of the areas of the screen, though this takes up a bit of screen space.

With FancyWM, dragging a window to a different area will typically move it into the slot where you place it, switching positions with whatever was there before. However, by creating a split beforehand, you can then drag the window into the new position, and the layout automatically adjusts to fill the empty space. You can also opt to float a window or create a stack, a specific space where you can have overlapping windows.

You can modify your layout and interact with FancyWM using the mouse alone or keyboard shortcuts to make things more efficient. There are also various settings you can change to optimize the behavior to your liking, such as customizing keybindings or changing how windows respond to being dragged around. It's not anything crazy, but FancyWM is one of the more popular choices for a reason.

GlazeWM

For the keyboard heads

GlazeWM is another relatively popular window manager for Windows, and it's one that I frankly prefer. GlazeWM's GitHub page provides a cheat sheet on keyboard shortcuts, and it's very clear right off the bat that this is a window manager designed for keyboard users. You can very easily move things around using just the keyboard, change the direction of splits, or toggle between different modes, including a floating mode.

One thing that GlazeWM also makes really easy is creating different workspaces so you can juggle more windows easily. You have nice workspaces available to you, and you can easily move a window into a new workspace with a keyboard shortcut, plus you can rename the workspaces so you can assign different tasks to each one and make them easier to identify.

Another interesting thing about GlazeWM is that it works alongside a tool called Zebar that can provide widgets for your desktop, too. By default, you get a simple bar along the top that shows your workspaces, battery information, and CPU and RAM usage, but by installing different Zebar widgets, you can customize how this looks. Some widgets may just replace the top bar with a different style, so you can have a bit more personality in your laptop. Overall, it's a well-rounded and customizable option that's especially great if you love using the keyboard.

Seelen UI

A lot more than a window manager

Seelen UI isn't really a standalone window manager, but I think it still deserves a spot on this list for offering one of the better and easier experiences of the bunch. Seelen is a full desktop replacement, offering a new taskbar and menus that replace and enhance many of the built-in Windows features, and included as part of that, you also get a very capable tiling window manager.

When enabled, Seelen will automatically open your apps in tiles and prevent them from overlapping, adjusting the layout automatically as you open more apps. One interesting bit about Seelen is that it actually lets you choose from a handful of options for the layout logic, so it will try to adapt better to different kinds of displays. Some layouts are better for ultrawide monitors, for example, and others may be better for vertical screens.

Seelen even supports a ton of keyboard shortcuts you can use to make things easier to manage, and it also has a Workspaces feature that lets you more easily handle large numbers of apps by having them in different environments altogether. This is a very complete solution that goes well beyond tiling windows, but that just makes it more impressive. And Seelen is under very active development, so you can expect it to keep improving.

PowerToys FancyZones

This counts... right?

Before you call me out, yes, I know this is quite a bit different from what you'd usually consider a typical tiling window manager, but if you ask me, FancyZones is also the best window manager, so I couldn't not include it. It does let you tile your apps, but it doesn't do it automatically, and instead, it gives you more direct control over how your apps are arranged.

Instead of tiling apps automatically, FancyZones lets you customize a layout for your apps beforehand, creating as many zones as you want and resizing them down to the pixel so you can get the perfect layout. Then, when you want to tile the apps, simply hold Shift and drag a window over any of the zones, and it will snap to fit the entire area. If you want it to be a bit more flexible, there's also an option to have an app span multiple zones, so you can make use of the extra space when it's available.

FancyZones won't stop you from overlapping apps, but it still makes it incredibly easy to tile them, and since you're in control the entire time, I really do prefer it. Of course, it's quite a bit different from the options above, but I still recommend checking it out. Plus, there's a lot more to PowerToys that makes it great.

Tiling window managers can be a big productivity boost

These are just some of the options you might find online, but after trying out all the ones I could find, I noticed that many of the options out there haven't been updated in years, and they're not easy to get started with, or might have bugs when used on Windows 11. All the options above were tested by me and work well, so you can rest assured that they're actually good. If you have any recommendations I missed, though, I'd love to hear about them.