For many years, it was easy to put two windows side by side on the desktop. Windows 11 expands on this concept, allowing you to easily place more windows side by side. With all your windows appearing on your desktop, copying and pasting information between them is much easier.
In fact, when you drag a window into a corner, Windows 11 introduces on-screen grids that help you position all your open windows.
Windows 11 also optimizes virtual desktops, which is a way to create many separate desktops. You can align a project’s windows and programs on one desktop, for example, and then switch to a second desktop to place windows for a separate project.
And to benefit touch screen owners, Windows 11 introduces new commands for handling on-screen actions, all of which are described below:
Snapping Windows
To Do This… …Press These Keys
Snap window to upper-right corner Windows key+→, and then Windows key+↑
Snap window to upper-left corner Windows key+←, and then Windows key+↑
Snap window to lower-right corner Windows key+→, and then Windows key+↓
Snap window to lower-left corner Windows key+←, and then Windows key+↓
Virtual Desktops
To Do This… …Press These Keys
Create new virtual desktop Windows key+Ctrl+D
Close current virtual desktop Windows key+Ctrl+F4
View current virtual desktops Windows key+Tab (The desktops appear
as thumbnails along the screen’s bottom
edge.)
Switch between virtual desktops Windows key+Ctrl+← or Windows key+Ctrl+→
Touchscreen controls
To Do This… …Do This
Open the Widgets panel Slide a finger inward from the left edge.
See the current month’s calendar and
the Notifications pane Slide a finger inward from the right edge.
Minimize all open apps to the taskbar
and show the desktop Slide three fingers down the screen.
Place your minimized windows back Slide three fingers back up the screen.
To switch quickly between open apps Slide three fingers to the left or right.
To switch between any open virtual
desktops Slide four fingers to the left or right.
If your laptop includes a trackpad rather than a touchscreen, many of these same gestures work on your laptop as well.