Set up & manage multiple desktops with desks

You can add desks to organize multiple windows and multi-task.

Create a desk

1. On your Chromebook keyboard, press the Show windows key .
2. At the top right, select Add new desk .
   • To rename a desk, select the desk's name and enter in your preferred name.

Go to a different desk

1. On your Chromebook keyboard, press the Show windows key .
2. At the top, select a desk.

Tips:

• To switch to a different desk, swipe with four fingers left or right on your touchpad.
• To jump from desk 1–8, press Shift + Search  + 1–8.

Show or hide a desk

1. To show or hide the desk name, right-click on the shelf or desk name.
2. Select Show desk name or Hide desk name .

Tip: When the shelf is on the left or right side of screen:

• To find the full desk name, hover on the first initial of the desk name.
  • Customized desk name shows the first letter of the desk name.
  • Default desk name shows “#(desk position)” on the desk name.

Move a window to another desk

1. On your Chromebook keyboard, press the Show windows key .
2. At the top, select the desk with the windows you want to move. 
3. Drag windows and apps to your preferred desk. 
4. To move windows around, you can:
   • Move a window to another desk: At the top of a window, right-click and select Move window to desk.
   • Make a window or app available across all desks: At the top of a window, right-click and select Move window to desk  All desks.

Tip: You can drag desks up or down to reorder them.

Move tabs to another window or desk

1. In Chrome, right-click the tab.
2. Select Move tab to another window.
   • The menu will display all your windows grouped by desk.
3. Select where you want to move the tab.

Save your current desk for later

1. On your Chromebook keyboard, press Show windows .
2. Select Save desk for later.

To find your saved desks:

1. On your Chromebook keyboard, press Show windows .
2. At the top right, select Saved for later.
3. In the "Saved for later" section, choose what you want to do with your saved desks:
   • To reopen your saved desk, select a desk.
   • To delete your desk, select Delete .

Close a desk & its windows

1. On your Chromebook keyboard, press Show windows .
2. On the desk that you want to remove, at the top right, select Close desk and windows .

Combine desks

1. On your Chromebook keyboard, press Show windows .
2. On the desk you want to combine with another desk, at the top right, select Combine with [Desk name] .

Use desk keyboard shortcuts

Important: 

• Depending on your keyboard, you can press the Search key  or the Launcher key  for some shortcuts. Both keys work the same.
• These steps only work on US Chromebooks with a standard English QWERTY keyboard. To find keyboard shortcuts for devices with international keyboards, go to Settings  Device  Keyboard  View keyboard shortcuts.

• Create a new desk: Press Shift + Search + =.
• Switch to a desk on left or right: Press Search + [ or ] (left or right square bracket).
• Switch to a specific desk: Press Shift + Search  + [desk position number].
• Move a window to a different desk: Press Shift + Search + [ or ].
• Move a window to all desks: Press Shift + Search  + a.
• View and switch between windows: Press Alt + Tab.
  • View only windows in your current desk: At the top, select Current desk.
  • View windows across all desks: At the top, select All desks.

Related resources

• Multitask with windows & tabs
• Customize your computer's shelf
• Sign in multiple people at the same time