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Work more efficiently using multiple workspaces.

Quick reference

Use Multiple Workspaces

Extend your desktop by using multiple workspaces to organize work. 

When to use

We use multiple workspaces whenever we have a lot of windows open and the desktop is getting crowded and hard to manage. 

Instructions

Windows 11 allows us to have more than one desktop. It's like having multiple monitors hooked up but virtually instead of physically. Using multiple workspaces helps us organize our work better and is particularly useful if we are working on lots of different projects. 

For example, we could have one desktop that we use to browse different internet sites in Edge. We could set up another desktop for just Word documents and maybe another that has our email and calendar. This means our windows and applications are organized logically and we aren't hunting through lots of different windows looking for what we need. 

We can see the applications that are open by looking at the taskbar. Any application that has a small line underneath it, has open windows. 

Let's organize those windows. 

Multiple Workspaces

  • In the taskbar, click the Workspaces icon (next to search). 

This will pop up a mini-view of the current workspace with the option to create more.

  • Click New desktop. 
  • Click on any of the desktops to switch. 
  • Hold down the CTRL+Win keys and use the left or right arrows to move between desktops. 

Rename Workspaces

By default, new workspaces will be given the default name of Desktop 1, Desktop 2, etc. We can make this more meaningful by renaming the workspaces. 

  • Hover the mouse over the Workspaces icon in the taskbar.
  • Click where it says Desktop 1, Desktop 2, etc. 
  • Type a new name and press Enter. 

Remove a Workspace

We can remove workspaces we no longer need. 

  • Hover the mouse over the Workspaces icon in the taskbar.
  • Hover the mouse over the Desktop to delete. 
  • Click the cross in the corner.
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  • 00:03 We can extend our desktop by using multiple workspaces to organize and
  • 00:08 manage our work.
  • 00:09 So it's kind of like having multiple monitors hooked up to our PC.
  • 00:14 We can organize different projects and different windows and
  • 00:17 applications onto different desktops to stay organized.
  • 00:21 For example, I might want to have one desktop that I browse the Internet on.
  • 00:26 So I might have Microsoft Edge open and have a number of different tabs.
  • 00:31 I might want to keep that separate from all of the Word documents that I work on.
  • 00:35 So I can have another desktop that just houses my Word documents.
  • 00:40 I could create a third desktop for my Excel spreadsheets, and
  • 00:43 maybe I want to have a fourth one that houses my company's internal system.
  • 00:47 And this is particularly useful if you're somebody who always
  • 00:50 finds themselves working with lots and lots of different things open.
  • 00:54 Sometimes if you're working on one desktop,
  • 00:56 it can get a little bit chaotic and you find yourself constantly minimizing
  • 01:00 certain applications to get to other applications that are underneath.
  • 01:04 This helps us stay organized, and we can also rename
  • 01:07 all of the desktops that we create to make them more meaningful.
  • 01:11 We can then toggle between the desktops and even change the background for
  • 01:16 each of the desktops.
  • 01:17 So let's take a look at this feature in action.
  • 01:20 Now, you'll find this down on the taskbar and it's the third icon along.
  • 01:25 Notice currently we simply have Desktop 1, which is the desktop that we're currently
  • 01:30 looking at, but then we have a New Desktop button.
  • 01:32 So if we need to create more desktops, this is where we would click.
  • 01:37 So let's click New Desktop.
  • 01:39 We get another one, Desktop 2.
  • 01:41 Let's click again for Desktop 3 and let's just add another one just for fun,
  • 01:46 Desktop 4.
  • 01:48 Now, notice at the moment they all look rather generic and exactly the same.
  • 01:52 So the first thing I would probably do here is go in and rename my desktops so
  • 01:57 I know exactly what is on each desktop.
  • 01:59 So let's go to the first one, Desktop 1.
  • 02:02 If we right-click our mouse, we have a Rename option.
  • 02:05 So let's click Rename, and
  • 02:07 this one is going to house all of my Internet browsers.
  • 02:13 So I'm just simply going to call it Internet and hit Enter.
  • 02:16 Let's rename Desktop 2, this is for my Word documents.
  • 02:22 Let's rename Desktop 3, this is for Excel.
  • 02:27 And then finally, we can rename Desktop 4, this is for my internal company's
  • 02:32 system, So we'll just call that Internal and hit Enter.
  • 02:37 So if we click on the Internet desktop, that's the one that we're currently on.
  • 02:43 So let's open an Internet browser.
  • 02:45 So now I have this open, when I hover over that desktop icon,
  • 02:49 notice that I can see that on the Internet desktop.
  • 02:54 Let's click across to Word to switch to the second desktop.
  • 02:58 And I'm just going to open up Word on this particular desktop.
  • 03:01 Now when we hover over, it's a lot easier for me to see.
  • 03:05 If I want to go back to the Internet desktop,
  • 03:07 I can simply click it from here to switch back.
  • 03:10 So it's really simple to toggle between all of your different desktops.
  • 03:14 And if we want to toggle between them using keyboard shortcuts,
  • 03:16 we can definitely do that as well.
  • 03:18 If we hold down the Ctrl+Windows logo key and use our left or right arrows,
  • 03:23 we can move across our different desktops.
  • 03:26 So Ctrl+Win+right arrow is going to move me to that second desktop that
  • 03:31 contains my Word documents.
  • 03:33 If I press it again, it's going to move me to the next one,
  • 03:35 we don't have anything on there.
  • 03:37 Again, to the next one.
  • 03:39 And then I can use the left arrow if I want to go back.
  • 03:42 Another thing we can do that's pretty cool is that we can give each desktop its own
  • 03:46 desktop background.
  • 03:47 So let's hover over the workspaces icon again and let's take a look at the Excel.
  • 03:52 Now, I can see that I've got a spelling error in here.
  • 03:55 So I'm just going to go in and I'm going to rename, and let's just correct that.
  • 04:01 Now, if we right-click on a desktop, notice we have a Choose background option.
  • 04:07 So if I click this, it's going to jump me across into Settings and
  • 04:10 I can then go in and choose a different background.
  • 04:13 So maybe I want to use this one.
  • 04:15 Let's close down Settings, and that's exactly what I get.
  • 04:18 So this is really customizable and you can really have a lot of fun with this.
  • 04:23 I use this feature all the time.
  • 04:24 It really does help me organize my work and
  • 04:27 stay focused on specific things on specific desktops.
  • 04:30 We can also reorder our desktops.
  • 04:33 So again, if we right-click on the Excel desktop, notice we have Move left and
  • 04:37 Move right.
  • 04:38 So if I move it to the left, it's going to move that across.
  • 04:42 So that's pretty much all there is to managing multiple workspaces.
  • 04:46 I think you're really going to enjoy this feature.
  • 04:49 So have a little play around with it, and I'll see you in the next lesson.

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