The desktop is what every Windows 10 user sees when working with the system. We will tell you all the secrets of how to work with a table like a pro.
If you have downloaded and installed Windows 10 relatively recently, then you will probably want to customize it for yourself, to make the workspace more individual. As you probably already understood, most of the actions in the system are carried out through the desktop. Therefore, your performance and efficiency will depend on how convenient you set it up.
How to best customize your desktop in Windows 10
The new operating system from Microsoft is quite attractive and functional. It has ample opportunity to customize the appearance. To make the user as comfortable as possible in this environment, he should make the most of the "Personalization" menu. Therefore, let's take a look at what parameters can be changed using this tool. So, in the corresponding window, you can find the tabs:- Colors;
- Lock screen;
- Themes;
- Start;
- Task bar;
- Font editing;
- Some others.
If you want to use your own image as a picture for the workspace, then for this you need to go to the "Background" tab. Here you can select the system background pictures, as well as specify the path for your own image. The system also has the ability to create a slideshow from pre-specified photos. To do this, it is more convenient to copy them in one folder.
If desired, the user can change the color scheme of such elements as the Start menu and the taskbar. Immediately after installation, the OS adjusts the taskbar design to the image that currently displays the Windows 10 desktop. But you yourself can choose a color that will not change later.
There are interesting possibilities in the system for the design of the lock screen. You can also choose your own image for this space or several at once, having previously configured the slideshow display. It is possible to bring information about some applications into the same space.
In the tenth version it is possible to install some themes for displaying icons, icons, folders and other system elements. If you take advantage of the possibilities of the Internet, you can change the "top ten" beyond recognition. You can download, for example, new screensavers for the desktop.
In addition, you can significantly improve the functionality of your PC if you install special ones. For example, you can install a weather widget or a currency informer.
The main thing is to remember that all such decorations load your computer and the system as a result works much slower than it could. Therefore, professional administrators customize the desktop on Windows 10 so that everything works faster and better. We recommend that you do not go the other way.
- Useful programs for Windows 10
Windows 10 makes it easy to customize the look of your desktop. To access the personalization settings, right-click anywhere on the desktop, and select Personalization from the context menu. The personalization settings screen will open.
The elements of the personalization screen are marked below, and immediately below the image - their descriptions.
1. Background
Here you can select and customize your desktop background.
2. Colors
Here you can change the color of places such as the taskbar and Start menu. By default, Windows 10 will use a color based on the background image. However, you can turn off this feature if you prefer to use a different color.
3. Lock screen
Here you can customize the look of your lock screen. Just like the desktop background, you can use the default images or set your own image.
4. Topics
If you have used themes on earlier versions of Windows, you can view and select them here. However, Microsoft currently has no plans to release new themes for Windows 10.
5. Start
Here you can customize some of the options for the Start menu.
6. Overview
Click Browse to select a background image from your computer for your desktop.
To change the font size:
If you have trouble seeing text on the screen, you can increase the font size. Increasing the font size will also increase the size of icons and other items on the desktop.
To adjust the ClearType settings:
ClearType technology allows you to customize the display of text on the screen to help improve readability.
Very few users resize system catalog icons and desktop shortcuts just because they don't know they have such a feature. And she appeared in the "seven".
Resizing icons
Customizing the appearance of shortcuts on the desktop consists in changing their size, which the developers offer three types: large, regular icons and small. To open a drop-down menu with these options, right-click on an area of the desktop that is free of shortcuts and directories. Next, move the cursor to the first item "View" and select the size of the icons.
Also Windows 10 can:
- hide all icons from the desktop - in previous releases of Microsoft's OS, it was possible to make the Windows workspace clean of icons by editing the registry or using third-party software;
- automatically arrange desktop icons;
- align the position of the icons by placing them in the cells of the virtual grid.
All these actions are carried out by checking or unchecking the checkboxes opposite the corresponding options.
Adjusting the size of icons on the desktop using the second method allows you to more accurately select the required dimensions, because there are about 20 sizes available with small steps. The size is changed by holding down the "Ctrl" key and rotating the mouse wheel on the desktop. When you rotate the wheel forward (up), the size of the icons will increase, and down (towards you) - decrease.
Alas, but for a laptop with Windows 10, which does not have a mouse, the proposed option will not work.
Adding and removing icons
Windows 10 offers another interesting feature - hiding system catalogs from the desktop. If you need to always have at hand (or vice versa, not flicker before your eyes) the icon for launching the "Control Panel", "Recycle Bin", "Networks", each of them can be changed.
Configuration is carried out along the following path: "Personalization" → "Themes" → "Icon settings ...".
Here you can:
- add to Desktop or hide five icons of system catalogs, which are displayed in the screenshot above;
- replace the icon of any item by selecting it from the Windows 10 system library or any third-party graphic or executable (exe, dll) file;
- reset the view of system folders to standard;
- prevent / allow themes to embed their own icons for system catalogs.
Personalizing a single icon
In addition to everything mentioned in Windows 10, you can quickly replace the icon of any shortcut, and not only located on the desktop.
In Windows 10, Microsoft added a feature that was not available in previous versions of the operating system, but that many users lacked. We are talking about creating several desktops for one user, which allows you to efficiently distribute work at the computer, spreading tasks across different virtual spaces. For example, open graphics programs can be placed on one table, a browser on another, and a text editor on a third, which will allow the user to avoid confusion in open windows and work more productively and conveniently.
How to use virtual desktops in Windows 10
It's easy to create a new virtual desktop in Windows 10. At the bottom of the taskbar, near the Search and Start button, there is a default Task View icon. By clicking on it, the user will be in a virtual environment, which displays all applications currently running on the desktops.
To create a new desktop, in the task view mode, click on the "Create desktop" button in the lower right corner. By clicking on it, a new work environment will appear at the bottom of the screen, into which you can go.
Please note: The new desktop initially does not have open folders and applications. The user can open programs directly on the new desktop in a standard way, or drag and drop applications from a previously opened desktop into a new virtual space.
In the Windows 10 operating system, the number of virtual desktops that a user can create is almost unlimited. However, it is important to note that each new desktop takes up space in the computer's RAM. Having opened a large number of tables, the user may notice in the "Task Manager" that an impressive amount of memory is constantly occupied.
Keyboard shortcuts for working with virtual desktops in Windows 10
The environment for managing virtual desktops in Task View is quite user-friendly. However, when the user strives for maximum productivity, he does not want to make unnecessary mouse clicks, first opening a list of all desktops and applications, and then performing the necessary action. Microsoft has provided hotkeys for working with virtual desktops in Windows 10:
- Windows + Tab- transition to the task presentation environment;
- Windows + Ctrl + Right Arrow (Left Arrow)- instant switching between created virtual desktops, bypassing the task presentation environment;
- Windows + Ctrl + D- creation of a new virtual desktop, to which the user will immediately get after pressing the specified key combination;
- Windows + Ctrl + F4- quick removal of the currently used desktop. Please note that when you close the desktop, all windows open on it automatically go to the desktop that was opened earlier in order.
Important: If you want to change the default settings for managing and using desktops in Windows 10, you can configure some of them in the "Multitasking" tab of the "System" section of the operating system settings. 
The main disadvantages of virtual desktops in Windows 10
The function of creating multiple virtual desktops to optimize processes was clearly borrowed by Microsoft from the macOS operating system. In some aspects, the solution in Windows 10 works better than in MacOS on Apple technology, but Microsoft did not take into account all the nuances, and there are some inconveniences when using virtual desktops. The disadvantages include:
It is worth noting that the rest of the implementation of virtual desktops in Windows 10 worked out very well - users can quickly move between the created environments, which allows them to efficiently use the workspace.
Everyone is definitely accustomed to the fact that Windows does not have virtual desktops and this model of work is available only in Linux and MacOS. However, Microsoft came to the conclusion that it is better to make concessions to users and implement this feature in the new Windows 10. Desktops in Windows 10 is a very convenient opportunity to expand your "space". How does this happen? You can simply create as many desktops as you like. We will describe in more detail what functionality you get below.
To try to create a desktop, you need to click on the taskbar icon, which looks like this:
You are taken to a shell similar to the one called Win + Tab in previous versions of Windows. By the way, in this OS this shell is called that way. The screenshot below shows what happens if you click on the icon above.
As you might have guessed, to get a new desktop, you need to click "Create Desktop" at the bottom in the right corner.
Now we will observe the following picture:
We now have several desktop options that you can freely choose at any time. The main disadvantage of this function immediately catches the eye - the impossibility of renaming the desktop. Also, when you go to the desktop, for example No. 3, the icons will be the same as on the first one. If you delete a file from the desktop, it will also be deleted on all the others.
What is the point, then, in these desktops? And he still exists. When switching to any new desktop, the taskbar remains inactive, i.e. no programs are running. It means that on the first desktop a browser and a text editor are running, and on the second a graphics editor and a spreadsheet processor.
Why is it convenient? Because you can work with several programs at the same time, and they will not interfere with each other. Since switching between desktops is quite easy and intuitive, this workflow is pleasant and fun.
You can ask about what happens to the RAM at this time, because having launched several desktops and several programs in each of them, there will not be enough memory. Let's see how the RAM will handle on our device. Memory capacity 4 GB. So, let's launch 5 programs in each of the three desktops and place the screens of the "Task Manager" here.
1. Launched one desktop with 5 programs: Word, Edge, Explorer, Google Chrome, Notepad.
