Task View
Task View is a feature of Windows 10 that lets you organize your applications across multiple virtual desktops.
How do I open Task View?
Enter Task View by clicking the Task View icon. It is on your Taskbar, to the right of the Cortana search bar. Pressing Windows key+Tab also enters Task View.
If this icon is missing on your Taskbar, right-click an empty portion of the Taskbar and select Show Task View button.
In the Task View, an overview of the application windows you have open on your current desktop is displayed. Below that are icons representing each of your desktops.
In this example, we already have five virtual desktops, but you start with only one. Let's look at how to create new desktops and work with them.
Creating a new desktop
To add a desktop, click + New desktop, or use the keyboard shortcut Windows key+Ctrl+D.
This action creates a new desktop, providing a fresh space for you to work with your applications.
In the task view, clicking the icon for any of your desktops switches to that desktop.
Assigning applications to desktops
When you start a new application, it automatically is placed on your current desktop.
To move an application to another desktop, go to task view, then click-and-drag your application window into the desktop icon you want to use.
Switching between desktops
To switch between desktops, go to the task view and click the icon of the desktop you want to use.
If you prefer to use the keyboard, press Windows key+Ctrl+← or Windows key+Ctrl+→ at any time to move to the previous or next desktop.
Closing desktops
To close a desktop, hover the mouse over the icon for that desktop in the task view, then click the X in the upper-right corner. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Windows key+Ctrl+F4 to close the current desktop.
Any applications that were in that desktop are moved to an adjacent desktop automatically.
Configure multitasking: taskbar and Alt+Tab switching
By default, your taskbar displays only the applications whose windows are in your current view. These are also the only applications shown when you press Alt+Tab to switch tasks. If instead you want to always view the applications running in all task views, follow these steps.
- Open the Start menu.
- Click Settings.
- Choose System.
- In the left sidebar, choose Multitasking.
- Scroll down to Virtual Desktops.
- Use the two drop-down menus to configure the taskbar and Alt+Tab task switching.
Timeline
Timeline is a new feature of Task View introduced with the April 2018 Windows 10 update. It records your activity on all Windows 10 sessions you've logged in to for the last 30 days, and scroll through program and document activity. Tasks from your history can be clicked and opened as a quick way to resume previous work. It also provides Microsoft with your activity history. To adjust the settings of this new feature, go to Settings → Privacy → Activity History.
The new Timeline feature is enabled by default. If you don't want to use it, turn it off after Windows Update installs the April 2018 update on your computer.