Windows 10 virtual desktop enhancer

Windows 10 Virtual Desktop Enhancer

Warning: I am officially no longer maintaining this project due to lack of time and interest. Thanks for using it and for all of your work towards helping me improve it. -sdias

Introduction

Windows 10 Virtual Desktop Enhancer is a AutoHotkey script which adds some useful features to Windows 10 Virtual Desktops, like:

• Extra customizable keyboard shortcuts to switch or move a window to a different desktop
• Customizable keyboard shortcuts to pin a window or a program to all desktops
• Setting a custom wallpaper for each virtual desktop (either a picture or a solid color)
• An indicator in the tray area customizable with various icon packs showing the number of the current desktop
• Assigning custom desktop names to each desktop
• Fully customizable tooltips showing the desktop name when switching desktops

Main resources

• Installation
• Customization
• Known issues
• Request assistance

Installation

Windows 10 Virtual Desktop Enhancer is extremely easy to install: you just have to download and extract the latest version of the script.

Please read the installation page for more detailed instructions.

Customization

Windows 10 Virtual Desktop Enhancer is built to be customizable and to adapt to your needs: learn how to personalize your experience here.

License

Windows 10 Virtual Desktop Enhancer is licensed under the MIT license.
This means you are free to modify and redistribute this program as you wish, but you must include the license and this notice in your version.

Credits

Thanks to GioBonvi (Giorgio Bonvicini) for all of his contributions to this project, and his active role as collaborator.

Thanks to Ciantic (Jari Pennanen) for his library and sample AHK script, which can be found here.

Thanks to engunneer for his AHK library, which can be found here.

Thanks to the creator of the ReadINI AHK library, found here.

Thanks to the artists that created the packed wallpapers, whom I lost track of. Sorry.

Thanks to rob3110 on Reddit for the extra white icon theme.

Thanks to several people on reddit.com/r/windows10 and in the project’s Github page for their suggestions.

Thanks to mlabaj (Martin Labaj) for his code for the window pinning functionality.

Thanks to chpock for his fixes related to the Windows 10 1803 update.

Top Downloads In Virtual PC & Sandbox

Sandboxie 5.70.12 [ 2025-05-01 08:02:29 | 3 MB | Open Source | 11|10|8|7 | 5 ]

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VMware Player 17.6.3 [ 2025-03-04 17:15:29 | 213 MB | Freeware | 10|8|Linux|macOS | 5 ]

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VirtualBox 7.1.8 [ 2025-04-15 11:36:17 | 110-150 MB | Freeware | 11|10|8|7|Linux|macOS | 5 ]

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Toolwiz Time Freeze is a free instant system protection tool that will protect your system from any unwanted changes and malicious activity in low disk level. Toolwiz also has a complete, all in one suite called Toolwiz Care.

Microsoft implemented native virtual desktop support in the company’s Windows 10 operating system that allows users to use multiple virtual desktops to divide programs on to them.

The feature is not entirely new though, not even on Windows, as Microsoft offered a program called Virtual Desktop Manager for its Windows XP operating system.

The functionality has not changed much since then, and the core difference is that the new implementation is native which means that users don’t have to install software to use virtual desktops on their computer.

But the native implementation is rather limited when it comes to what you can do with it. You cannot set different wallpapers for each desktop for instance, and there is no option to select to load a different desktop on system start.

Virtual Desktop Enhancer

Virtual Desktop Enhancer is a free program for Windows 10 that extends the functionality of Microsoft’s virtual desktop implementation. It leaves the core functionality untouched, but adds features to it that users may find useful.

Some of the features become available right away. You may use the keyboard shortcuts ALT-0 to ALT-9 for instance to switch between virtual desktops.

While Windows 10 supports shortcuts by default, it does not switch with shortcuts to open a particular virtual desktop right away.

• Windows-Tab opens Task View that you may use to switch between virtual desktops.
• Windows-Ctrl-Left and Windows-Ctrl-Right switches to the previous or next virtual desktop.
• Windows-Ctrl-D creates a new virtual desktop
• Windows-Ctrl-F4 closes the active virtual desktop

So, the new Alt-key combination enables you to switch between desktops quickly, which is beneficial if you use more than two. The shortcut is easier to use also on top of that, so that it may work out better for you even if you only use one or two.

Another feature that the program adds to Windows 10 is that it displays the number of the active virtual desktop in its icon. You may need to configure Windows to display that icon at all times though before that becomes useful.

The two features that are not available right away are setting different desktop wallpapers for each virtual desktop, and selecting the start desktop that gets loaded when you boot Windows.

Both options are only configurable in the settings file that sits in the program’s root directory. Open it in a plain text editor, and edit the features under General or Wallpapers.

Картинка с сайта: www.ghacks.net

To switch the desktop that gets loaded on start, simply change the number after DefaultDesktop= to its number.

Wallpapers are a different beast though. You may add solid colors using hex codes by using this format: 0xFF0000

You may also add paths instead that point to local images which will then be loaded as the wallpaper for the selected virtual desktop.

The program is offered as an exe file that you can run, or as an AutoHotkey script that you may run if you have the software installed on your device.

You may check out the official thread on Reddit for further guidance and direct feedback.|

Closing Words

If you work with Windows 10’s native virtual desktop feature, you may find Virtual Desktop Enhancer useful as it adds several to the bare bones functionality of the feature.

Some users may prefer third-party alternatives that offer better functionality than Windows 10’s native integration. There is nSpaces for instance which offers features such as password protection,  Dexpot, and a whole array of other virtual desktop managers.

Now You: Do you use virtual desktops?

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