Have you ever been working on something in Windows and wish you could keep it in its own space? Perhaps it’s something personal that doesn’t fit with things from work? Well, just like Windows 10, Windows 11 has a virtual desktops feature for these moments. If you’re not familiar with the feature, then we’re here to help. Here’s a look at how to use Virtual Desktops in Windows 11.
Step 1: Enable or find the feature
Virtual Desktops should be turned on by default in Windows 11. You can find it by hovering your mouse over the third icon from the left on the Taskbar (the one that looks like two squares.) If you don’t see this icon, then chances are it was turned off. You can enable it by right-clicking the Taskbar and choosing Taskbar settings. Then, make sure the toggle switch for the Task view is turned on.
Step 2: Hover & click on Task view
Once you confirm that Virtual Desktops is on, you can get to it by hovering over the Task view icon in the Taskbar as we described above. There should be a prompt for New Desktop. Click it, and then launch a new desktop space. You’ll be taken to a new desktop, and in this new desktop space, you can open an app, game, or document to keep it separate from your main desktop. This allows you to separate out your windows or app and browsing sessions into a new space to stay efficient and get more work done.
Step 3: Customize your experience
When a new virtual desktop space is created, you can switch to it at any time by hovering over the Task view icon, and clicking on the desktop you want to get to. You can create as many virtual desktops as you’d like. You can even rearrange the order by clicking on top of a virtual desktop in the Task view list and dragging it around.
In addition, you can rename a virtual desktop by right-clicking and choosing Rename. To better visualize your desktops you can even change the background from the right-click menu. And, you can even send windows from an active desktop to another. Just right-click the preview for an app and in the Move to menu, select the virtual desktop you want to move things to.
Check out our other Windows 11 guides!
Virtual Desktops is just one of the many cool features in Windows 11. We’ve been covering other Windows 11 features like running Android apps, using the Task Manager, and the themes, colors, and other desktop experiences. Be sure to keep tuned to OnMSFT for all your Windows 11 news and information.
