This means a virtual desktop is best for separating and organizing certain applications, rather than viewing various windows side by side.įor example, you might designate one desktop for work and another for leisure.

But because you still rely on a single physical monitor, you still view only one screen at a time. Virtual desktops let you split up and space out your open programs, much like a real second screen would. Windows, macOS, and Chrome OS all come with built-in tools to let you set up several virtual desktops on a single physical monitor. To obtain this virtual real estate, you could set up a separate monitor, but there’s a cheaper solution: Create a virtual desktop-a separate screen that you can visit by pressing a single key. More room on your computer screen means more space to spread out that spreadsheet, keeping a Netflix stream running in the background, monitoring multiple social media displays, comparing two websites, and much, much more. It was originally posted on April 17, 2018.