When Microsoft finally added virtual desktop support to Windows 10, my productivity instantly skyrocketed. Virtual desktops create secondary [and tertiary, and..] home screens for your PC, each running instances of its own software, that you can quickly hop between. Theyre one of the best Windows 10 tools you may not even know about. But every time I profess my love for virtual desktops I inevitably get asked, What do you use them for?
I can only speak to my own experiences, of course. I like segregating my work software from my play software, to resist the allure of Discord and GeForce Now when Im on the clock. Virtual desktops also come in handy if Im working on several complicated projects at onceeach one gets its own desktop. But dont just take my word for it! Buried deep in a LifeProTips Reddit thread revolving around using Win + Shift + to shift windows between your monitors [keyboard shortcuts rock, yall], I found an interesting chain of comments where real people were sharing how they use virtual desktops.
Reddit user r0b0c0d kicked things off with a use case that mirrors my own. [Virtual desktops arent] bad for focus if youre disciplined about it, but I think it really shines when you have a multi-step project youre working on thats layout sensitive, or having to juggle a couple projects simultaneously.
Ed_Vilon said using them should making running online Dungeons & Dragons campaigns much easier, which r0b0cod expanded on. A lot of the time you have a ton of space being taken up by the actual online D&D tool, but you can also set up a whole desktop of relevant documentation, notes, etc., that can come up at a keypress, rather than shuffling windows. You could even stage documents for several encounters that way. Think of it as a way to very easily switch between groups of arranged windows.