How to create desktops in Windows 11When you complete a clean install of Windows 11, you should be looking at a single desktop brimming with possibilities. Here's how to create more, and get rid of them when you want to pare down. Show
1. Hover over or click on the Task View button on the taskbar. You should see a small preview of your current desktop(s), and if you clicked the button you'll also see a preview of the apps you have open on your current desktop.  2. Click the New Desktop button. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Windows key + Ctrl + D. If you use the keyboard shortcut or the quick method of hovering over the Task View button and hitting "New desktop," you'll immediately switch over to looking at your new desktop. Otherwise, the new desktop will be added to your list of current desktops and you'll have to navigate to it manually. (Image credit: Future)How to remove desktops in Windows 11If you've created too many desktops in Windows 11 and want to pare down, it's a simple process to remove them. However, if you only have one desktop you won't be able to remove it. 1. Hover over or click on the Task View button on the taskbar. (Image credit: Future)2. Find the preview of the desktop you want to remove and click the X button in the top-right corner to delete it. Note that the X button only appears when you hover your mouse over it. If you're having trouble, you can also right-click the desktop in question and select Close. Every desktop you have open in Windows 11 is meant to function like its own desktop, which means you can give it a custom background and assign it a unique name. Also, most apps by default will open different instances if you open them in different desktops — that is, if you open Microsoft Edge in one desktop to search for new wallpaper images, you won't see Edge open in any other desktops. And if you do open Edge in another desktop, it will be a separate instance that won't affect Edge anywhere else. How to switch desktop in Windows 11Posted by Ignatius Hall 2. From the menu shown at the bottom of your screen, click the New desktop option. This action will immediately open a new virtual desktop with no active foreground applications. (Image credit: Laptop Mag)How to Switch Between Virtual Desktops1. Hover your mouse pointer on or click the virtual desktops button on your taskbar. This should open the same menu that you saw in the guide above. But this time, you’ll see multiple active desktop screens instead of one. (Image credit: Laptop Mag)2. Click on your chosen virtual desktop to jump into it. (Image credit: Laptop Mag)Alternatively, you can follow the steps below. 1. Press the Windows key and Tab on your keyboard simultaneously. This will open the Task View interface. 2. From the menu shown in the first step, use your arrow keys to select your preferred desktop. (Image credit: Laptop Mag)3. Press the enter key to jump to your selected desktop. The ultimate guide to keyboard shortcuts in Windows 11Most users are familiar with using their computer with a keyboard and mouse. After all, this is the most intuitive method for most people. The mouse makes it easy to know what you’re pointing at, selecting, and clicking, so even first-timers don’t take too long to get the hang of it. But for proficient users, the keyboard can be a much more powerful tool, and it allows you to get things done faster. That’s why there are a ton of keyboard shortcuts in Windows 11 that help with exactly that, and we’ve compiled a list of them to help you out. Keyboard shortcuts can do all kinds of things, whether that’s something as simple as copying text to taking a screenshot, opening your notifications, and more. Here are the ones you need to know. Navigate this article:
Change Virtual Desktop shortcut in Windows 11/10The process that you have to follow is very simple and takes just a couple of minutes. Since there isn’t a built-in setting to modify the keyboard shortcut of this utility, you will have to download and install AutoHotKey. Follow the steps below after the installation is complete. Visit your desktop screen, right-click on an empty section of the desktop, and from the New options that appear, create a text document. Name this file ‘Change VD shortcut.ahk’. You can name the document whatever you want but you just have to make sure that the file extension is .ahk (for AutoHotKey), and not .txt (as is the case with text files). It may be possible that this file extension isn’t appearing on your computer or that you aren’t able to change it, in which case you will have to enable file extensions on your computer. Save this file on your desktop for convenience. Right-click on this file and select the ‘Edit Script’ option. The default editing interface for such files, Notepad, will open. Paste the following code in the empty file. Doing so will swap the virtual desktop shortcut from ‘Ctrl’ + WinKey + Left/Right Arrow key to Page Down + End Keys button. ;Switch to right virtual desktop PgDn:: Send, {LControl down}#{Right}{LControl up} return ;Switch to left virtual desktop End:: Send, {LControl down}#{Left}{LControl up} returnIt is not necessary for you too to have Page Down and End as the shortcut keys to switch over from one virtual desktop to another, although it is recommended for you to select keys that are both, rarely used and lined up close to one another. You can modify the code by changing PgDn and End in the code above with your preferred keys and it will work just fine, as long as the keys you choose are listed among the ones applicable with AutoHotKey. You can check the list by visiting autohotkey.com. After doing so, save the file and exit Notepad. On your desktop, you will find an AutoHotKey script. Double-click on it or right-click and further select ‘Run Script’ to run it. From there on out, the script will begin to run and you will be able to use the keyboard shortcut of your choice to navigate through virtual desktops on your Windows 10 computer. You can verify if the script is running or not by checking your System Tray. We hope that this article was able to help you change the keyboard shortcut for your virtual desktops. TIP: You can now also use Keyboard Manager PowerToy to remap keyboard shortcuts easily |
