When Microsoft finally added virtual desktop support to Windows 10, my productivity instantly skyrocketed. Virtual desktops create secondary (and tertiary, and..) home screens for your PC, each running instances of its own software, that you can quickly hop between. They’re one of the . But every time I profess my love for virtual desktops I inevitably get asked, “What do you use them for?” I can only speak to my own experiences, of course. I like segregating my work software from my play software, to resist the allure of Discord and GeForce Now when I’m on the clock. Virtual desktops also come in handy if I’m working on several complicated projects at once—each one gets its own desktop. But don’t just take my word for it! Buried deep in a revolving around using Win + Shift + <arrow keys> to shift windows between your monitors (), I found an where real people were sharing how they use virtual desktops. Reddit user {{#url}}r0b0c0d{{/url}}{{^url}}r0b0c0d{{/url}} kicked things off with a use case that mirrors my own. “[Virtual desktops aren’t] bad for focus if you’re disciplined about it, but I think it really shines when you have a multi-step project you’re working on that’s layout sensitive, or having to juggle a couple projects simultaneously.”{{#url}}Ed_Vilon{{/url}}{{^url}}Ed_Vilon{{/url}} said using them should making running online Dungeons & Dragons campaigns much easier, which{{#url}}r0b0cod{{/url}}{{^url}}r0b0cod{{/url}} expanded on. “A lot of the time you have a ton of space being taken up by the actual online D&D tool, but you can also set up a whole desktop of relevant documentation, notes, etc., that can come up at a keypress, rather than shuffling windows. You could even stage documents for several encounters that way. Think of it as a way to very easily switch between groups of arranged windows.”Windows 10’s Task View: The top of the screen shows all your virtual desktops, the middle shows the apps running in the current desktop, and the bottom shows Timeline. (Click image to enlarge it.) Now that’s practical—and damned helpful for overwhelmed DMs. {{#url}}Anarchion{{/url}}{{^url}}Anarchion{{/url}} uses virtual desktops to segregate types of tools, rather than discrete projects. “I use multiple desktops to organize applications based on activity,” they wrote. “Communication (Teams, Email, etc) on one desktop, coding on another (IDE, terminal, all the browser tabs), etc.”{{#url}}Manycactus{{/url}}{{^url}}Manycactus{{/url}} breaks out virtual desktop when legal research gets too complex for their ultrawide monitor. “Maybe I’ll need to compare an old version of a statute with the new one or compare one regulation to another. That will go into side-by-side windows in a separate desktop,” they wrote. “Maybe I’ll also need to track down some case law. I’ll start a new desktop and start collecting. Depending on my needs, maybe I’ll segregate my jurisdiction’s cases in one browser window, other jurisdictions’ cases in another window, and maybe I’ll put some secondary resources (e.g., dictionaries, treatises) in a third window. And if there are multiple topics, I’ll often research them in separate desktops.”So there you have it: Five different ways that five different users (including yours truly) get more done with virtual desktops. If you stew on it a bit you might just come up with a unique use case for your own particular work flow—and you might just be blown away by how much time and hassle this feature can save. Our guide to explains everything you need to know to get started, step-by-step and keyboard shortcut-by-keyboard shortcut. Enjoy your newfound productivity! The Virtual Desktops feature of Windows 10, also known as Task View, is getting further improvements in the near future. Soon you will be able to add or remove Virtual Desktops individually for each of the connected displays. The change has been discovered by Albacore, a well known Windows enthusiast and the author of the ViveTool app. A new toggle switch is now hidden on the Multitasking page in Settings > System. This is one of the most anticipated features by users with multiple displays connected to the PC. When enabled, it will allow you define the individual number of virtual desktop of each of the monitors you are currently using. The Task View virtual desktop feature in Windows 10 is something that users of Mac OS X or Linux have for many years. But for casual PC users who have used Windows only since eternity, it is a step forward. The ability to have multiple desktops exists in Windows since Windows 2000 at the API level. Several third party apps have used those APIs to provide virtual desktops, but it is Windows 10 that has made this feature available out-of-the-box in a useful way. Task View opens a desktop overview when you click on the icon in the taskbar. While you can manipulate virtual desktops with your mouse, there are also plenty of keyboard shortcut to manage it efficiently. You can also create an extra desktop shortcut to open it. Support us Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options: If you like this article, please share it using the buttons below. It won't take a lot from you, but it will help us grow. Thanks for your support! Basically the title. This is one of those features that is just clearly missing. IMO every monitor deserves its right to independence! There were some discussions around this feature early this year and I really expected it to be there for W11, but I just upgraded and I don't see it. Any info is appreciated.
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Multiple desktops are great for keeping unrelated, ongoing projects organized—or for quickly switching desktops before a meeting.
You can also choose different backgrounds for each desktop if you're using a picture. If you're using a solid color or a slideshow, all your backgrounds will be the same. To change a background if you're using a picture:
Multiple desktops are great for keeping unrelated, ongoing projects organized—or for quickly switching desktops before a meeting. To create multiple desktops:
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