Remove Virtual Desktop in Windows 10

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How to Remove a Virtual Desktop in Windows 10

Windows 10 comes with a useful feature called Task View. It allows the user to have virtual desktops, which the user can use to manage apps and open windows. It is possible to move windows between virtual desktops to arrange them in a useful way. In this post, we will review two methods you can use to remove a virtual desktop in Windows 10.

Windows 10 includes the virtual desktops feature, also known as Task View. For users of Mac OS X or Linux, this feature is not spectacular or exciting, but for casual PC users who have used Windows only since eternity, it is a step forward. The ability to have multiple desktops exists in Windows since Windows 2000 at the API level. Several third party apps have used those APIs to provide virtual desktops, but Windows 10 has made this feature available out-of-the-box in a useful way.

Finally, Windows 10 has received an option to rename a virtual desktop.

Starting in Windows 10 build 18963. Prior to this update, virtual desktops were simply named "Desktop 1", "Desktop 2", and so on. Finally, you can give them  meaningful names like "Office", "Browsers", etc. See

Rename a Virtual Desktop in Windows 10

You can remove a virtual desktop using the Task View user interface or with a global keyboard shortcut (hotkey). Let's review these methods.

To Remove a Virtual Desktop in Windows 10,

  1. Click on the Task View button in the taskbar.
  2. Alternatively, press Win + Tab to open the Task View.
  3. In the Task View, hover over the virtual desktop thumbnail preview you want to remove.
  4. Click on the red Close (x) button above the thumbnail preview.

You are done. The virtual desktop is now removed. This way, you can remove (close) any virtual desktop you have in Windows 10.

Also, you can remove an active virtual desktop with a hotkey. The active virtual desktop is the virtual desktop you are currently using.

To Remove the Active Virtual Desktop with a Keyboard Shortcut,

  1. Switch to the virtual desktop you want to remove.
  2. Press Win + Ctrl + F4.
  3. The current virtual desktop will be removed.

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

4 thoughts on “Remove Virtual Desktop in Windows 10”

  1. I want to know the same @asdf…. I don’t use this feature and sometimes I see other users including me switch to a new virtual desktop while in a game by mistake and they don’t know how to switch back in some cases..

    I know there are commands but I honestly just wish this feature was optional as most people don’t need it.

  2. You need an option to remove this. This does nothing but take away shortcut keys that windows users have been using for years.

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