FancyZones and manual placement

This guide covers positioning WoW without Companion. Choose FancyZones for a reusable Windows layout, or resize the window yourself. Use the section links below to jump to your method.

Before spanning, save a copy of your Blizzard Edit Mode layout and back up your UI addon profiles. The changed UI canvas can require repositioning custom interfaces.

Offhand validates the resulting game canvas. It does not connect to PowerToys or inspect another application.

Prefer the recommended Companion setup?

Choose a window-placement method

Companion is the recommended Windows starting point. FancyZones and manual placement use independent canvas confirmation and remain available without an Offhand executable.

Offhand Companion

Start here for exact display rectangles, a borderless span and active display recovery. Install from Microsoft Store on Windows; the portable build offers an experimental Linux/Wine path.

Start Companion setup

PowerToys FancyZones

Create one reusable Canvas zone for the complete WoW window. FancyZones can place WoW at the same size again after a launch.

Official FancyZones guide

Manual placement

No extra software is needed. Drag and resize standard Windowed WoW across your intended displays or ultrawide region. Reapply the size after launch when necessary.

Read the manual steps

Blizzard policy and anti-cheat disclaimer

For this workflow, Microsoft PowerToys FancyZones and Offhand Companion perform a comparable desktop-window-management role. They resize or reposition an ordinary Windowed WoW window and are designed not to automate gameplay, send game input, inspect game memory, inject code, or modify game files.

This is not a guarantee of approval or account safety. Microsoft authorship, Microsoft Store availability, open-source code, and security scans do not constitute Blizzard authorization. Blizzard alone interprets and enforces its agreements, and its published EULA states that the platform may monitor for unauthorized third-party programs. Use any desktop utility at your own discretion and stop using it if Blizzard guidance changes.

Read Blizzard's current EULA · Read Blizzard's anti-cheating agreement

Configure FancyZones

PowerToys is a Microsoft utility. Offhand only checks the WoW canvas that results from your chosen zone.

1

Install and open PowerToys

Install PowerToys from Microsoft Store or another official Microsoft source, then open PowerToys Settings from the Start menu or its system-tray icon. FancyZones is included with PowerToys; no separate installation is needed.

Official PowerToys installation guide

2

Enable and configure FancyZones

In PowerToys Settings, select FancyZones and turn on Enable FancyZones. Enable Allow zones to span across monitors and Hold Shift key to activate zones while dragging, then select Open layout editor (called Launch layout editor in some versions).

Keep PowerToys running while using the zone. The monitors must use the same Windows display scaling percentage.

3

Build one combined Canvas zone

In the layout editor, select Create new layout, choose Canvas, and name it something like Offhand. Keep one zone and resize it over the complete area that WoW should occupy, then save and apply the layout.

To reopen the editor later, use its button in PowerToys Settings or the default shortcut Win + Shift + `.

4

Snap Windowed WoW into place

In WoW, choose standard Windowed mode. Hold Shift while dragging the title bar, then drop WoW into the combined zone.

Before creating the zone: arrange the monitor rectangles in Windows Display Settings so their shared edges match the physical displays. A false vertical offset creates canvas space that no monitor can show.

Recommended FancyZones settings

These settings make the combined Offhand zone predictable without changing unrelated Windows behavior. Labels may move between PowerToys releases, but the functions remain the same.

Required for the span

ONAllow zones to span across monitorsCreates one coordinate space for the combined Canvas zone.
ONShow zones on all monitors while draggingMakes the complete combined target visible when placing WoW.
0 pxSpace around zonesDisable the gap or set it to zero so the WoW canvas reaches the intended zone edges.
MATCHWindows display scalingPowerToys requires the monitors in a spanning zone to use the same DPI scaling percentage.

ONHold Shift key to activate zones while draggingPrevents accidental snapping and matches the placement steps above.
ONMove newly created windows to their last known zoneLets FancyZones return a newly opened WoW window to its saved Canvas zone.
ONRestore the original size of windows when unsnappingMakes it easier to return WoW to an ordinary movable window.
YOUR CHOICELaunch editor on the displayWhere the mouse pointer is is convenient for multi-monitor editing, but does not affect the saved zone.

Leave off for this workflow

OFFKeep windows in their zones when screen resolution or work area changesAvoids forcing the old span onto a changed or disconnected display layout.
OFFDuring zone layout changes, windows assigned to a zone will match new size/positionsLets you review the changed zone before moving WoW into it again.
OFFMove newly created windows to the current active monitorThe last-known-zone option already provides the desired launch behavior.
OFFAllow child window snappingPrevents dialogs and secondary windows from being expanded into the WoW zone.

Create the Offhand Canvas: open the layout editor, select Create new layout, choose Canvas, and keep one zone. Resize that zone to the complete rectangle WoW should occupy, save it, then hold Shift while dragging WoW into it. Settings such as window transparency, rounded corners, zone overlap behavior, window switching, and monitor rotation do not affect a single Offhand Canvas zone and can remain at your personal defaults. See Microsoft’s FancyZones reference for the current interface.

The reported canvas can be smaller than the displays. FancyZones lays out zones in the Windows work area, which normally excludes the taskbar, then sizes the complete desktop window including its borders. WoW reports the render area inside that frame. A 4000×2560 physical display union can therefore legitimately appear in Offhand as approximately 3998×2480. Keep WoW in standard Windowed mode, remove any FancyZones space around the zone, visually confirm the seam, then choose Remember Current Window. Offhand stores the detected render canvas and does not require it to equal the monitors’ combined outer rectangle.

Different Windows scaling percentages? Use manual placement or the Offhand Companion instead. Mixed monitor resolutions are supported, but PowerToys spanning requires the selected monitors to share the same Windows DPI scaling percentage.

See the FancyZones guide screens

Installation and placement in Offhand

**PowerToys installation confirmation.** Choose Already installed if PowerToys is available. This is your confirmation, not an automatic software check.

**Get PowerToys.** Copy the official download address, install PowerToys, then return to the guide. FancyZones is included.

**Place WoW with FancyZones.** Create the combined Canvas zone in PowerToys, snap Windowed WoW into it, then choose Confirm placement in Offhand.

Place the window manually

1

Match the physical layout

In Windows Display Settings, arrange the display rectangles so their shared edges match the screens on your desk. A false vertical offset creates invisible canvas space.

2

Use standard Windowed mode

Choose Options → Graphics → Display Mode → Windowed. Do not use Windowed (Fullscreen), which is restricted to one display.

3

Restore a movable window

Unmaximize WoW so its title bar and borders are visible. Move it onto the Mainhand display before expanding it across the intended area.

4

Position every outer edge

Drag the title bar across the intended displays or ultrawide region. Resize the left, right, top, and bottom borders until the visible canvas is correct.

5

Check the physical result

Confirm the game area is fully visible on Mainhand and the workspace lands on the Offhand display. Account for any black or unreachable area created by unequal display alignment.

6

Confirm it in Offhand

Type /offhand guide, choose Configure Manually, select Confirm placement, then Remember Window after checking the visible result.

What manual setup remembers

Offhand stores the confirmed WoW render-canvas dimensions. On later launches, reproduce that size before Offhand reapplies the saved split and panel layout.

What addon Lua cannot see

WoW does not expose the native window position or physical monitor rectangles to the addon. The title bar remains, placement may need to be repeated after launch, and active disconnect recovery requires Companion.

See the manual placement screen

Resize first, then confirm

**Place WoW manually.** Drag and resize the native window yourself, visually check the complete area, then choose Confirm placement.

Remember and verify the canvas

First setup

Open /offhand guide and choose Use FancyZones or Configure Manually.
Confirm that WoW is visibly covering the intended displays or ultrawide region.
Click Confirm placement, then choose Remember Window in the confirmation dialog. Offhand stores the confirmed canvas dimensions account-wide. In settings, the equivalent action is Remember Current Window.
Complete seam, Mainhand, viewport, and UI-scale calibration.
On clients with supported Blizzard Edit Mode APIs, create the Mainhand HUD layout outside combat and reload when prompted.

Every later launch

Reapply the saved FancyZones zone or resize WoW to the remembered dimensions.
Offhand accepts matching and safely bounded near-matching canvas sizes.
A materially different window uses safe single-screen geometry instead of applying the saved split to the wrong canvas.
Use /offhand diag when reporting a mismatch or persistence problem.

Visual confirmation still matters. WoW exposes its render-canvas size to the addon, but not the native window position or the physical monitor rectangles beneath it. A same-sized window moved away from the intended seam cannot be detected reliably by addon Lua.

Continue with the in-game guide

See the window confirmation

Shared by FancyZones and manual placement

**Independent placement needs your confirmation.** Offhand can read the render-canvas size, but cannot verify the native window position or physical display boundaries.

**Confirm this Offhand window.** Only choose Remember Window after checking the actual placement across your displays. Back returns without confirming.

Cold-launch check

After setup, exit WoW normally and fully relaunch it. Reapply the FancyZones zone or manual window size, then confirm that the workspace panels and Mainhand HUD return. On Forever, run /offhand diag and include the reported persistence and geometry sources with any support request.

If the window does not match, no saved panel positions are deleted. Restore the intended window, open /offhand, and use Remember Current Window again only after you have visually confirmed the placement.