Learn how to Get smarter with Task View

Skill level…

Anyone can do it Straightforward Tricky in parts

Suitable for…

Windows 10
Windows 8.1
Windows 7

Graham Barlow

Your guide Graham Barlow says...
“Add multiple desktops and move between apps with Windows 10’s switcher tool”

Task View is one of the key new features within Windows 10, helping you to switch between apps and, for the first time in Windows, virtual desktops. Virtual desktops enable you to have completely different workspaces for different types of apps. So, for example, you might have one desktop for your email and instant messaging at work and another for Office apps, enabling you to get things done without interruption from your email.

Task View is also the place in Windows 10 that you go to switch between apps. If you’ve heard of a ‘switcher’ before, that’s because there’s been one in each recent version of Windows. However, Microsoft has a habit of changing how it works each time. You can still use [Alt]+[Tab] to switch between apps, although this only works for the desktop you’re currently in.

Step-by-step Switch between desktops

1) Switch or close

Task View is launched using an icon on the taskbar – it’s the one that looks like three screens arranged behind each other next to the search bar. As you can see, you’re shown all your open Windows at once. You can switch to them or hover over them and click the X icon that appears to close them.

2) Desktop plus one

Clicking the big + icon in the bottom right of the Task View window opens up a second desktop. As you can see here it’s completely blank. To view your original desktop you need to switch back to it using Task View. This can seem a bit much, but it keeps a nice separation between your workspaces.

3) Open apps

Opening applications only opens them in your current desktop – in other words, apps can only exist in one screen. Here we’ve opened Microsoft Edge in our second desktop. So if we now go and open it in our first desktop it will switch us automatically back to the second.

4) Many desktops

You can have lots of desktops open if you want to – while it’s unclear just how many you can have, our anecdotal evidence suggests the number is ‘lots’. If you want to close any desktop, just hover over it and an X icon will appear. If you close a desktop, the apps remain open and moves to your main desktop.

Source from Windows 7 Tips & Tricks Magazine