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Opening the same application on a different desktop opens it on the desktop it was first used on. Microsoft, *please* let us use the same applications on different desktops.

Anonymous
2024-01-16T06:59:30+00:00

So here is the thing: the entire point about using multiple desktops is that we get to separate our windows into different "activities". One Ubuntu, for example, I use a desktop for work and another for personal things so that I don't have to deal with all of them when I'm working.

On windows this is a hassle.

Here are the steps to reproduce the issue I'm facing:

  • Open Google Chrome on a desktop.
  • Make a new desktop (Win + Ctrl + D, or go to task view and click "New Desktop")
  • Open Google Chrome again in the new desktop.

Now, you would want Windows to open a new Google Chrome window on the new desktop -- because of course, we could use Chrome for several things and we'd want to separate the stuff related to work from other things such as watching a random music video. This should be simple, right? Not with Windows.

Instead of creating a new application window in the new desktop, Windows takes me back to the original desktop where the application was first opened.

It's just very annoying to see how Windows missed a very simple thing. No one-- and I repeat, no-oneuses multiple desktops to separate applications. We use multiple desktops to separate use-cases! This problem has been here for years and several others have pointed it out -- but it's 2024 and there's stillno fix yet.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Accessibility

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-03-18T17:24:03+00:00

    I'm not the OP, but using the most up-to-date version of Windows 11 I have a very similar problem. If I open Excel, for example, by opening an Excel document on desktop 1, no problem. Now I switch to desktop 2 and I try to open a second excel document. Logic would say that since I'm opening it while on desktop 2 that that is where I want it to open. But no, it jumps back to desktop 1 and opens it there. So I drag the document to desktop 2. Now I close that document in desktop 2. Boom, I'm pulled back to the other open excel document, in desktop 1. Basically, I feel like I should never be pulled to a different desktop. If I'm in a desktop I should stay there unless I ask to change to a different one. But definitely with all microsoft 365 products I am pulled to the desktop where the app was opened. Chrome and Edge both work properly for me (as you note).

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-06-09T22:06:53+00:00

    This is extremely annoying and defeats the whole purpose of multiple desktops. Microsoft please sort this issue out.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-06-17T15:54:23+00:00

    Chrome and Outlook seems to work fine - in that they open new instance of the app without switching back to the window with open open app. I see the problem with excel and ppt. Both of these want to switch back to the original window where the app is open. Very irritating.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-11-19T18:16:44+00:00

    Your reply on this question just reminded me about this issue so i decided to play with it and I just figured out how to do this myself (without the help of MS). Create a "new desktop" by opening the multi-desktop view and clicking the "+" button. You will see the original desktop with the new one next to it at the bottom of the screen with no apps open on the new one. All the apps that are open on the original desktop show up across the top of the screen, you may pull (drag and drop) any of those individual apps into "desktop 2" or "desktop3", etc. and only the window you drag and drop will open in the new desktop. So, if you have 4 different excel spreadsheets for different projects open in "desktop 1" you can go to that view and pull 1 or more of them into a different desktop so they are open there only, and the others will remain open in the original desktop.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-10-29T13:20:02+00:00

    This doesn't work with MS Excel which is the main product I want to use it with. Excel is MS's own native application, this should be a priority to make this feature useful, otherwise it serves no purpose for me and certainly many others.

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