Create and switch

Press Windows+Tab to open Task View, then select New desktop. Ctrl+Windows+Right or Left moves between desktops. In Task View, rename a desktop or choose a background to distinguish a project space from a meeting or personal space. Names and backgrounds are visual cues: desktops do not create separate Windows accounts and do not isolate files, app sessions, or permissions.

Set window visibility

Open Settings > System > Multitasking > Desktops to choose whether taskbar buttons and Alt+Tab show windows only from the current desktop or from all desktops. Limiting the list can make a project space calmer, but it can also make a window seem to have disappeared when it is simply on another desktop. Showing all windows makes discovery faster at the cost of some separation. Pick the behavior that matches how you search for open work and test it in both views.

Practitioner perspective

Microsoft Support documents how to create and switch desktops. Windows Central’s Mauro Huculak presents them as a way to separate work, meeting, and personal app groups and reduce window clutter. That is a useful attention-management technique, but it does not isolate account access, browser sessions, or notifications. During a screen share, switching desktops alone should not be treated as a privacy control; choose the intended window and manage notifications separately.

Move and close safely

In Task View, drag a window thumbnail to another desktop to relocate it. Showing taskbar windows from all desktops can help when you use the same app in several spaces. Before closing a desktop, inspect its windows and save any unsaved documents; Windows can move the remaining windows to another desktop, but closing a workspace is not a backup or a guarantee that app state is saved. Reopen Task View to confirm where the apps landed.

Sources and professional guidance