PDF file available here.

Resizing a Window

You can change the space occupied by any window by hovering the mouse cursor over the boundary between two widows, pressing the LMB and dragging.

Upper-right hatched area of the 3D Editor Window selected and dragged down to create two 3D Editor Windows.

(Click on image to expand.)

The second way to add a window is to RMB click on the boundary. This is my preferred method as I find it somewhat easier to perform. You hover the mouse cursor over the boundary until it turns into a double-headed arrow then RMB.  An Area Options pop-up widow appears from which you can then choose the Split Area option. When you then hover the mouse cursor over the adjacent window a thin line appears. You then drag the line to where you want the split to occur and LMB to confirm.

Boundary between the 3D Editor Window and the Outline and Properties Windows selected to split the 3D Editor Window.

(Click on image to expand.)

Join (Remove) a Window

There are also two ways to remove a window.

The first is to hover the mouse cursor over a hatched area where it will turn into a “plus sign”, press LMB and drag into the window you want to remove. A white arrow will indicate that the window will disappear when you release the mouse button.

The two 3D Editor Windows will be collapsed into one by the removal of the upper 3D Editor Window.

(Click on image to expand.)

The second method of deleting a window is to hover the mouse cursor over a the boundary until it turns into a double-headed arrow then RMB click. An Area Options popup widow appears from which you can then choose the Join Area option. You then hover the mouse cursor over the window you want to delete. A white arrow will indicate that the window will disappear when you release the mouse button.

Note:    When splitting or joining windows the two window must share a 

            contiguous boundary of the same length. 

            Once you have split or joined windows you cannot undo the 

            action with the undo hotkey (X-KEY). You can, of course, join 

            a split or split a join.

Single Window View

Sometimes it is convenient to be able to focus on just one window, for example the 3D Editor Window. This can be easily achieved with the hotkey SHIFT + SPACEBAR. 

    •    Hover the mouse cursor over the widow you wish to expand (e.g., 

          the 3D Editor Window and SHIFT + SPACEBAR click.

    •    To return back to your previous layout SHIFT + SPACEBAR click 

          again.

Hovering the mouse cursor over the 3D Editor Window and SHIFT + SPACEBAR clicking toggles the window to occupy the whole screen layout.

(Click on image to expand.)

Multiple Screen Layouts

While Blender is design to have one screen layout containing one or more windows, it is possible to duplicate the screen layout and display the same or different windows in each copy. 

Multiple screen layouts are useful if you have a second monitor or you use Mission Control on a Mac (F3 or Control CTRL + UP ARROW) to access multiple displays. You can place a copy of the screen layout on two different Mission Control displays and then switch between them (CTRL + LEFT/RIGHT Arrow). Another use for multiple screen layout is to have more than one view of the 3D Editor Window available at the same time (e.g., different magnifications or different angles). 

To create a copy of the screen layout press CTRL + OPT + W-KEY. You can resize and move each copy of the screen layout independently., have the screen layout show only one window type, and so on.

The second screen layout is a child of the first. If you wish to make a second copy of the screen layout you must duplicate (CTRL + OPT + W-KEY) the parent screen layout.

Four copies of the screen layout, two with different magnifications of the 3D Editor Window, one a separate Outline Widow and one an overlapping Properties Window.

(Click on image to expand.)

Note:    On a PC you can have more than one Blender file open at once. 

            However, on a Mac while you can have multiple copies of a file’s 

            screen layout, you can only have one file open at a time.