How to Set Up Virtual Desktops in Windows 11
Honestly, having a cluttered screen in Windows 11 was driving me nuts, so I finally decided to set up virtual desktops. The process is meant to be simple, but I had a few moments of fiddling before everything ran smoothly. Sometimes, the options are a bit hidden or the shortcuts don’t work straight away. Anyway, here’s what I figured out about creating and managing multiple desktops—hopefully this saves you a fair bit of time.
The New Taskbar Icon and Its Role in Virtual Desktops
The first thing I noticed is, Windows 11 added a Task View icon right on the taskbar. It’s that small rectangle overlapping another—looks straightforward, but it’s actually pretty handy. Clicking on it opens up the full virtual desktop view, letting you see all your desktops at once, switch between them, or create a new one. Sometimes, I’d hover over the icon and get a mini-preview of all desktops, which was handy for a quick peek. If you don’t see the icon, try right-clicking on the taskbar and heading into Taskbar Settings. Then, under Taskbar Items, make sure Task View is toggled on. Occasionally, it’s just turned off for no apparent reason.
Creating a New Virtual Desktop
This part’s pretty straightforward once you find the option: just click the “+” icon inside the desktops view—usually at the top or bottom of the pane that appears after clicking the Task View icon. Or, if you prefer using shortcuts, press Windows key + Ctrl + D to instantly set up a new desktop. I like this shortcut because it lets me whip up a new workspace without clicking around too much. That said, sometimes the shortcut doesn’t work—probably due to keyboard layout settings or a quirky language pack messing with shortcuts on my system. If that happens, check your language and input options, or consider remapping hotkeys with third-party tools.
Once the new desktop appears, it’s like a clean slate. You can drag open apps onto it or launch new ones directly on that desktop. Moving apps between desktops can sometimes be a bit fiddly, especially if you’re running a multi-monitor setup or your system’s a bit sluggish. I’ve definitely accidentally closed a window when I meant to move it. So, save your work frequently, especially when reorganising.
Rearranging and Moving Apps Between Desktops
If you want to shuffle your desktops or tidy up your app layout, it’s doable. Launch the task view with Windows key + Tab or click the Task View icon, then drag the desktop thumbnails left or right to change their order. To move an app from one desktop to another, you can drag the app window directly from one thumbnail to another within task view. Sometimes, drag-and-drop can be a bit laggy or uncooperative—especially on multiple screens or if your display scaling isn’t consistent. If dragging doesn’t do the trick, right-click the app’s title bar, hover over Move to, then choose Move to another desktop. That method tends to work reliably.
Customising Each Virtual Desktop with Different Wallpapers
This was a game-changer for me — being able to set different wallpapers for each desktop makes it easier to identify them at a glance. Right-click on the desktop you want to personalise and select “Personalise”. From there, you can pick a different background image for each workspace. When in the Personalise settings, go to Background, choose your preferred image, or click Browse photos if you want something a bit more unique. Switch to each desktop and apply a new wallpaper—once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty quick. Just a heads-up: changing wallpapers per desktop is a manual process; if you change one, it won’t automatically sync across all desktops.
Bear in mind, setting a wallpaper in this way only affects that particular desktop. Themes tend to stay synced across all desktops unless you customise them separately in Settings > Personalisation > Themes. I find having different wallpapers helps me instantly recognise which workspace I’m in—especially handy when juggling work and personal stuff on the same machine.
On my older ASUS, for example, changing backgrounds was buried deep in advanced options or hidden behind manufacturer-specific utilities. So, it’s nice that Windows 11 keeps it relatively straightforward once you know where to look. If you want different backgrounds for each desktop, just switch to the one you want and set it up. Don’t forget to hit Apply—otherwise, your changes won’t save.
Looking back, managing virtual desktops in Windows 11 isn’t just about decluttering. It’s about streamlining your workflow and adding a bit of personal touch to each space. It took me a while to get everything sorted, especially the wallpaper customisation—I thought it would be more complicated than it actually is. So, if you’re starting out, experiment with shortcut keys, reordering desktops, and setting wallpapers. Make sure your system’s up to date; sometimes, missing options or greyed-out features are fixed by updates or driver tweaks. And if you’re on a device with OEM restrictions, some features might be disabled by the manufacturer. In those cases, reverting to Windows 10 or reinstalling might be your last resort.
Hope this helps — it took me ages to figure it all out, honestly. Anyway, good luck organising your desktops, and hopefully this saves someone a whole weekend of trial and error!