Virtual Desktops and Workspaces
How to create, switch, and move windows between virtual desktops on your computer
Virtual desktops let you spread your work across multiple screens without needing multiple monitors. You can have email on one desktop, a browser on another, and a document on a third, then flip between them with a shortcut. Every major OS has this built in.
Think of virtual desktops as invisible extra monitors sitting behind your main screen. Each one has its own set of windows. Apps in your taskbar or dock still show across all desktops, but the windows themselves stay where you put them.
macOS calls virtual desktops Spaces, and the overview where you manage them is called Mission Control.
Opening Mission Control:
- Press F3 (or Ctrl + Up Arrow)
- Swipe up with three or four fingers on the trackpad (depending on your settings)
- Double-tap with two fingers on a Magic Mouse
You will see a bar along the top of the screen showing your current desktops.
Creating a new desktop:
- Open Mission Control
- Hover over the top-right corner of the screen – a + button appears
- Click the + to add a new desktop
Switching between desktops:
- Ctrl + Left Arrow or Ctrl + Right Arrow to slide between desktops
- Swipe left or right with three or four fingers on the trackpad
- Open Mission Control and click the desktop you want
Moving a window to another desktop:
- Open Mission Control
- Drag a window from the main area up to the desktop strip at the top and drop it onto the target desktop
Or without Mission Control: hold the window's title bar and press Ctrl + Left/Right Arrow to carry it to the next desktop.
Removing a desktop:
- Open Mission Control
- Hover over the desktop you want to remove in the top strip
- Click the X that appears
Any windows on that desktop move to the next available one. Nothing gets closed.
Settings:
Go to System Settings > Desktop & Dock, then scroll down to the Mission Control section. Here you can change whether spaces rearrange automatically, group windows by app, and toggle the keyboard and trackpad shortcuts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do virtual desktops use more memory or slow down my computer?▾
No. Virtual desktops are just a way of organizing your existing windows. The windows themselves use the same resources whether they are on one desktop or spread across five. The desktop feature itself uses a negligible amount of memory.
Do my desktops persist after a restart?▾
On macOS, your Spaces layout is remembered across restarts (the desktops persist, though app windows depend on your login settings). On Windows, virtual desktops persist across restarts starting with Windows 11. On Linux with GNOME dynamic workspaces, the layout resets on restart since workspaces are created on the fly.
Can I have different wallpapers on each desktop?▾
On macOS, yes – right-click each desktop in Mission Control and choose a different wallpaper. On Windows 11, right-click a desktop thumbnail in Task View and select Choose background. On GNOME Linux, this is not natively supported without third-party extensions.
What is the difference between Mission Control, Task View, and Activities?▾
They are the same concept with different names. macOS calls it Mission Control, Windows calls it Task View, and GNOME Linux calls it Activities. All three show you an overview of your open windows and let you manage multiple desktops or workspaces.
Can I use virtual desktops with multiple monitors?▾
Yes. On macOS, each monitor gets its own set of Spaces by default (configurable in Desktop & Dock > Mission Control). On Windows, all monitors share the same set of virtual desktops. On GNOME, you can choose whether workspaces span all displays or are per-monitor in Settings > Multitasking.