Workspace Tips to get the most out of it
Recommendations to work faster: one workspace per context, virtual desktops, a mouse with side buttons, recommended shortcuts, rotating zones and several computers.
Workspace Launcher does much more than open programs. These recommendations sum up how the people who get the most out of it use it. You do not need all of them: start with the two or three that fit the way you work.
What it can do for you
Set up your environment in one click
Save what you already have open
Separate tasks into desktops
Place windows precisely
Adapt to every setup
Control it without searching
One workspace per context
Create a workspace for each way of working, not for each program. Switching context becomes instant and your head switches task too.
| Workspace | What it usually holds |
|---|---|
| Deep work | Code editor, documentation and terminal, no chat. |
| Communication | Email, chat and calendar side by side. |
| Design | Figma, a browser with references and the assets folder. |
| Study | Notes, the course PDF and a timer. |
| Break | Music, games or video, away from everything else. |
Use names that say when to use it: “Monday class” works better than “Workspace 3”, and it is also what you will say by voice or type in the Omnibar.
One virtual desktop per task
Windows virtual desktops are a workspace’s best friend. With new dedicated desktops (the default), each workspace is built on its own desktops and your personal desktops never mix with it.
- Switching task is switching desktop. Nothing is closed or minimized: the whole context is still there.
- Take a window with you. Grab it by its title bar and switch desktop without letting go: it comes along and you drop it wherever you want.
- One window on every desktop. The share shortcut keeps a video, music or a call visible on every desktop.
A mouse with side buttons: your best ally
If your mouse has side buttons (X1 back and X2 forward), you can move between desktops, zones and tabs with your thumb alone, without looking away from your work.
This is the set a new installation starts with when the mouse has them:
| Action | With mouse (recommended) | Keyboard only |
|---|---|---|
| Next / previous desktop | X2 / X1 | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + → / ← |
| Next / previous window in the zone | Alt + X2 / X1 | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + ↓ / ↑ |
| Next / previous tab | Shift + X2 / X1 | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + PgDn / PgUp |
| Minimize all / clear desktop | Ctrl + Alt + X2 / X1 | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + D / L |
| Show the app | Ctrl + Shift + W | Ctrl + Shift + W |
| Zone editor / capture | Ctrl + Shift + L / C | Ctrl + Shift + L / C |
| Float / share across desktops | Ctrl + Shift + F / P | Ctrl + Shift + F / P |
| Omnibar | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Space | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Space |
| Microphone / Do not disturb | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + M / B | Ctrl + Alt + Shift + M / B |
Want to keep the browser’s Back and Forward?
If you use the side buttons a lot to browse, assign the desktop action to Ctrl + side button. Pressed alone they still go back and forward in the browser; with Ctrl, they switch desktop. Both keep working.
If your mouse has no side buttons, the app detects it and starts with the keyboard-only set. More in shortcuts. With a regular mouse, the gesture wheel on the middle button is the most comfortable alternative: see gestures.
Several windows in one zone
You do not need one zone per window. Let several share the same one and rotate between them with a shortcut: it is like having tabs at the window level.
It works great in the secondary zone: documentation, browser and chat take turns in the same spot while your main window stays put. More in rotating zones.
Launching also tidies up
After a long session of moving windows around, do not close anything: launch the workspace again. Open windows go back to their zone and only what is missing opens. Details in launch a workspace.
The same arrangement, every time
Productivity is not just speed: it is predictability. If the editor is always on the left and the documentation always on the right, you stop looking for your tools and start using them without thinking. That fixed arrangement works as an external memory and makes it easier to pick a task up again after an interruption.
Several computers and several setups
- The same configuration on all your computers. In Settings → Config, move the configuration file to a OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive folder. Your workspaces appear on all of them and the app reloads by itself when they change. See shared configuration.
- Different paths on each PC. When launching, each item adapts to the computer: it finds the equivalent folder, relocates the editor and skips apps that are not installed. If a notice appears, Sync applies the safe fixes and only asks about doubtful ones.
- Laptop, two monitors, office. Save a screen profile per setup inside the same workspace: on launch it is picked automatically from the connected screens.
Ask instead of searching
- Omnibar. With its shortcut, type what you want: launch a workspace, go to a window, open an app, set a timer or change a Windows setting. It also works without AI. See Omnibar.
- Voice. “Put Chrome on the left and Spotify on the other monitor”, “pause the video” or “open my class workspace”. See voice assistant.
- Select windows with Ctrl + click. The Omnibar and voice suggest what to do with them: place them, group them on a desktop or pass a summary from one to the other.
Faster transitions
If desktop switches or dragging to zones feel slow, turn off Desktop transition animations and Drag Thumbnail (Ghost) in Settings. To make all of Windows feel more immediate, also go to Windows Settings → Accessibility → Visual effects → Animation effects.
Less waiting, less tweaking
- Do not add delays just in case. The launcher waits for each app’s real window. Add a delay only to an app with a splash screen that gets placed wrongly.
- Terminals with several tabs. A terminal item can open several tabs, each with its own command: the server, the logs and a free shell in one window. See browser and terminal.
- Capture before configuring. If your screen is already the way you like it, capture it: it is faster than adding items one by one.
Quick recipes
| I want to… | Use… |
|---|---|
| Start the day with everything ready | A macro or gesture for your main workspace. |
| Not watch windows jump when launching | The curtain. |
| Have music on every desktop | Share across desktops. |
| Look something up while I write | Float: the window stays on top. |
| Focus without notifications | Do not disturb. |
| Close what I do not need without losing what matters | Clear desktop, unticking what you want to keep. |
| Have my AI agent set up my environment | External agents. |
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