Most Windows Users Are Seriously Underusing This Powerful Desktop Feature

Windows has a lot of useful-yet-hidden features to find, from clipboard history to a bundle of customization options. One of the best that you probably aren’t using is the ability to create multiple desktops. Virtual desktops are a great productivity tool that segment your computer into specialized sections, helping you stay organized and focused.

You can do this broadly, like making separate desktops for work and personal use. Or you can get more granular, with a dedicated desktops for various tasks like editing, spreadsheets and meetings, or for specific clients. All your programs are available across all desktops, but it’s how you choose to segment them that matters. It’s available on both versions of Windows 11 as well as Windows 10, and setting it up is remarkably easy.

Creating new virtual desktops in Windows is simple:

1. Hover over the Task View icon, or press the Windows + Tab keys together.

2. Select New desktop.

You can also hit Windows + Ctrl + D to quickly create a new desktop. Once you have your desired number of desktops, you can customize each one to make them easier to distinguish. Hover over the Task View icon or press Windows + Tab, right-click the desktop you want to edit, and then you can Rename it or choose a unique wallpaper (the latter feature is only available in Windows 11).

To switch desktops, use the Task View icon or Windows + Ctrl + Left/Right arrow to cycle through them. For faster switching, change the positioning of each desktop via Task View by right-clicking one and using Move right or Move left, or by dragging them at the bottom of the screen. When you need to move a program from one desktop to another, just drag and drop a window open on your current desktop into a different one via Task View.

When you don’t need a desktop anymore, close it by clicking the X in its top-right corner in Task View, or press Windows + Ctrl + F4.

For best results, dedicate each desktop to a particular purpose so you don’t get mixed up. You might keep music, chat and social apps on one desktop, distancing those potential distractions from work in Excel or your email client. Using features of apps like browser profiles can further help with logical separation. If you have a single monitor, virtual desktops are a decent way to effectively get more screen real estate.

You can get even more out of your multi-desktop setup by adjusting some settings in Windows. To better optimize your taskbar and Alt + Tab functionality across multiple desktops, do the following:

1. Open the Settings app with Windows + I.

2. Select System, then Multitasking.

3. Expand the Desktops section.

There, you can choose either Only on the desktop I’m using or On all desktops for both available options: On the taskbar, show all the open windows and Show all open windows when I press Alt+Tab. For more segmentation, limit app switching to the desktop you’re currently using. 

This multi-desktop functionality can be improved with a small free program called Windows Virtual Desktop Helper, available on GitHub. It’s particularly useful if you utilize many different desktops and often have trouble navigating or differentiating them, since it gives the option to show a desktop’s name more prominently when you switch to it, as well as displaying which desktop you’re on in the system tray. You can also use it to navigate through desktops from the system tray, or set custom navigation hotkeys to quickly shift to different desktops.