Creating separate desktops is the easiest way to keep things organized while juggling between tasks. And with Windows 11, it’s easier than ever.
Windows 11 arrived brimming with a ton of helpful system tweaks on top of a fresh design, and one of the fundamental changes was an overhauled virtual desktop management. Virtual desktops are different system environments that work somewhat similarly to user profiles on Chrome browsers. The idea is that users can create separate Windows desktop profiles for work, gaming and learning, among other tasks.
The virtual desktop system arrived with Windows 10, baked inside the Task View button on the taskbar. Each desktop has its own set of apps and icons appearing in the taskbar, allowing users to access a whole new workspace dedicated to different projects. And it is also easy to create and switch between these desktops. While the system was already neat on Windows 10, Windows 11 has further polished the experience and made it easier to handle.
To create a secondary virtual desktop on Windows 11, tap on the New desktop icon (partially superimposed black and white blocks) on the taskbar at the bottom. Even hovering the cursor over it shows two small windows — one for the current desktop and another for creating a new virtual desktop with a clickable ‘+’ icon in the middle. All that users need to do here is click on the ‘New Desktop’ window at the bottom. If that sounds like a hassle, just use the Win + Ctrl + D shortcut to create a new one directly. Think of virtual desktops as Snap Layouts in Windows 11, but for system profiles instead of app windows.
Get Your Desktop Life In Order
Once the secondary desktop has been created, users can now choose to populate the taskbar with the apps they intend to use frequently. And to answer the burning concern, creating a new virtual desktop doesn’t kill the apps running in the other virtual desktop, and they all remain open as usual. So now, to assign a name to the new virtual desktops for the sake of identification, just hover over the Task View icon at the bottom until the small desktop preview boxes appear. Now, double click on the default name (Desktop 1, Desktop 2, and so on) and give it an appropriate new name.
But it’s not just the name that users can tweak, as Windows 11 also allows users to customize the look of each virtual desktop with different wallpapers. To do so, tap on the Task view button at the bottom, right-click on the preview window of a virtual desktop, and select the ‘Choose background’ option. Once multiple virtual desktops have been created, users can also arrange the layout to their liking. This can be done with a simple drag-and-drop using the mouse or trackpad. And to jump between virtual desktops, the Win + Ctrl + Left/Right Arrow key shortcut comes in handy. Users can also drag and drop apps between virtual desktops.
Source: Microsoft
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