What are multiple desktops good for?

Multiple desktops are great for keeping unrelated, ongoing projects organized, or for quickly switching desktops before a meeting. To create multiple desktops: On the taskbar, select Task view > New desktop . Open the apps you want to use on that desktop.

What is the advantage of using multiple desktops?

The main benefit of using two screens is increased productivity. When working remotely, it’s easy to get distracted or find yourself lacking in motivation, which makes having a conscious focus on productivity even more important.

What does adding a new desktop do?

When you create a new virtual desktop (press Ctrl+Win+D), you’re given a blank canvas to open a new set of apps and windows. The apps you had open on your first desktop aren’t visible on the new one and won’t appear on the taskbar. Likewise, any apps you open on the new desktop will be invisible on the original.

What is the purpose of virtual desktop in Windows 10?

With virtual desktops, Windows 10 lets you create multiple, separate desktops that each can display different open windows and apps. A simple use for this might be keeping work separate from personal stuff.

Why are virtual desktops useful?

What is the purpose of a virtual desktop? A virtual desktop allows users to access their desktop and applications from anywhere on any kind of endpoint device, while IT organizations can deploy and manage these desktops from a centrally located data center.

How do multiple desktops work?

Switching between desktops

One way to switch between multiple desktops is by clicking on Task View in the taskbar and then clicking on the desktop you want to view. In each case, your entire desktop — everything you see2 — will be replaced with the contents of the desktop to which you’re moving.

Does Windows 10 slow multiple desktops?

There seems to be no limit to the number of desktops you can create. But like browser tabs, having multiple desktops open can slow down your system. Clicking on a desktop on Task View makes that desktop active.

How do I get rid of multiple desktops in Windows 10?

No problem.

  1. Click the Task View button in your taskbar. You can also use the Windows key + Tab shortcut on your keyboard, or you can swipe with one finger from the left of your touchscreen.
  2. Hover your cursor over the desktop you’d like to remove.
  3. Click the X in the top-right corner of the desktop icon.

How do I quickly change desktops in Windows 10?

To switch between desktops:

  1. Open the Task View pane and click on the desktop you would like to switch to.
  2. You can also quickly switch between desktops with the keyboard shortcuts Windows key + Ctrl + Left Arrow and Windows key + Ctrl + Right Arrow.

Can I have different icons on different desktops in Windows 10?

The Task View feature allows you to create and manipulate multiple desktops. You can launch it by either clicking its icon in the tool bar, or by pressing the Windows+Tab keys. If you do not see the Task View icon, right-click the taskbar, and select the Show Task View button option.

Is Microsoft release Windows 11?

Microsoft’s next-gen desktop operating system, Windows 11, is already available in beta preview and will be released officially on October 5th.

Does Windows 10 have virtual desktops?

The Task View pane in Windows 10 allows you to add an unlimited number of virtual desktops quickly and easily. You can manage the view of your virtual desktop, and move applications to different desktops, show windows on all desktops or close pages on a selected desktop. Here’s how to do it.

How do you change which display is 1 and 2 Windows 10?

Windows 10 Display Settings

  1. Access the display settings window by right-clicking an empty space on the desktop background. …
  2. Click on the drop down window under Multiple displays and choose between Duplicate these displays, Extend these displays, Show only on 1, and Show only on 2. (

Windows has long been considered the most appropriate platform for productive work. Prior to Windows 10 though, the core desktop experience had gone without major innovation for several years. Changes between Windows XP and 8 focused predominantly on visuals. While Windows 7's new taskbar and window management capabilities aided productivity, they didn't do much to alter the desktop's purpose.

With Windows 10 and its "do great things" marketing campaign, Microsoft finally went back to work on the Windows desktop. Coming with the reinstatement of the Start menu, the company began adding new features to the shell. One of those in particular stood out for me, because it's already a core component of rival desktop environments: Virtual Desktops.

Creating desktops

The concept behind virtual desktops is simple: you can setup multiple independent workspaces to house different sets of windows. It's something which will already be familiar to most Linux desktop users. Windows formerly required specialist, often cumbersome third-party software to enable something similar, before Microsoft added the capability natively with Windows 10.

What are multiple desktops good for?

When you create a new virtual desktop (press Ctrl+Win+D), you're given a blank canvas to open a new set of apps and windows. The apps you had open on your first desktop aren't visible on the new one and won't appear on the taskbar. Likewise, any apps you open on the new desktop will be invisible on the original.

You can switch between virtual desktops using the Ctrl+Win+Left and Ctrl+Win+Right keyboard shortcuts. You can also visualise all your open desktops using Task View – either click the icon on the taskbar, or press Win+Tab. This gives you a handy overview of everything open on your PC, from across all your desktops. Hover over the desktop icons at the top of the screen to see the contents of each one. There's buttons to add and close desktops if you'd rather not use the shortcut keys.

Virtual desktops in action

Enough of the feature recap – here's why I place so much value on virtual desktops. I work at my desk for eight hours each day. During that time, I will usually work on multiple independent projects. Throughout the time, I've also got a set of open apps which I review during breaktimes and spare moments – OneNote, Outlook and a set of personal Firefox tabs. These are my primary windows, which aren't connected to my work but are nonetheless referred to throughout the day.

What are multiple desktops good for?

As the day progresses, I'll be switching between multiple ongoing web development projects. For each project, I open the source in my code editor, a set of console windows (using Windows Linux Subsystem to get a Linux shell), File Explorer to the project's folder and a new Firefox instance for tabs specific to the project. Some projects may require additional apps.

I might work on two or three projects in a day and I don't tend to close anything after it's been opened. Many projects are interlinked, so I might need to refer back to something I worked on earlier in the day even after I switch project. With so many windows open, keeping everything organised would get cumbersome without virtual desktops.

Enter virtual desktops

The virtual desktop solution streamlines my entire workflow. Each project gets its own virtual desktop, housing only its windows. I can rapidly refer to other projects by just switching virtual desktop, without having to minimise or switch between apps. No matter how many windows I open on a desktop, they're isolated and won't appear anywhere else – keeping things controlled and avoiding the cognitive overload of having lots of visible tabs and windows.

On my first desktop, I keep my personal browser instance, ready to switch back to in the spare moments of the day. When on that desktop, I don't see any work-related apps open, which makes it easier to disconnect for a moment and check my favourite blogs and forums.

Of course, some apps are useful to have on every desktop. One such example is Spotify. Although it's not directly work-related, it's useful to have Spotify available on all my desktops. Otherwise, I'd have to spend time switching to another workspace just to change tracks. A similar case is Outlook – I keep my inbox accessible on every desktop, to avoid unnecessary context-switching.

What are multiple desktops good for?

Fortunately, it's easy to make a window visible on every desktop – just open Task View (Win+Tab), right-click the app and choose "Show this window on all desktops." This will make the current window appear on every desktop – but not any future instances of the app. To make future instances show on every desktop (even after restarting your device), choose the "Show windows from this app on all desktops" option instead.

That's it for me and virtual desktops, but I'd be interested to know how you use the feature. Although not an especially complicated concept, virtual desktops are more likely to be useful to power users and workers who spend all day on their device. If you only ever have a few apps open, you're less likely to find the feature helpful.

For people like me who open dozens of windows during the day, virtual desktops provide a simple way to define contexts. There are several benefits to doing so, from faster window switching (it's quicker to switch desktop than Alt-Tab through dozens of items), to reduced mental overheads. Too many windows and tabs affect your ability to focus on your current task – particularly when they're spread across multiple distinct projects. With virtual desktops, the scope of my focus is always constrained to just the current project, as all unrelated windows are hidden out of sight and mind.

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