VirtualDesktop is C# wrapper for IVirtualDesktopManager on Windows 11 (and Windows 10).
| Platform | NuGet |
|---|---|
| Core | |
| Forms | |
| WPF |
- Switch, add, and remove a virtual desktop.
- Move the window in the same process to any virtual desktop.
- Move the window of another process to any virtual desktop (Support in version 2.0 or later).
- Pin any window or application; will be display on all desktops.
- Notification for switching, deletion, renaming, etc.
- Change the wallpaper for each desktop.
samples/VirtualDesktop.Showcase
<TargetFramework>net5.0-windows10.0.19041.0</TargetFramework>- .NET 5, 6 or 7
- Windows 10 build 19041 (20H1) or later
Install NuGet package(s).
PM> Install-Package VirtualDesktop- VirtualDesktop - Core classes for VirtualDesktop.
- VirtualDesktop.WPF - Provides extension methods for WPF Window class.
- VirtualDesktop.WinForms - Provides extension methods for Form class.
Because of the dependency on C#/WinRT (repo), the target framework must be set to net5.0-windows10.0.19041.0 or later.
<TargetFramework>net5.0-windows10.0.19041.0</TargetFramework><TargetFramework>net6.0-windows10.0.19041.0</TargetFramework>If it doesn't work, try creating an app.manifest file and optimize to work on Windows 10.
<compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1">
<application>
<!-- Windows 10 / 11-->
<supportedOS Id="{8e0f7a12-bfb3-4fe8-b9a5-48fd50a15a9a}" />
</application>
</compatibility>The namespace to use is WindowsDesktop.
using WindowsDesktop;// Get all virtual desktops
var desktops = VirtualDesktop.GetDesktops();
// Get Virtual Desktop for specific window
var desktop = VirtualDesktop.FromHwnd(hwnd);
// Get the left/right desktop
var left = desktop.GetLeft();
var right = desktop.GetRight();// Create new
var desktop = VirtualDesktop.Create();
// Remove
desktop.Remove();
// Switch
desktop.GetLeft().Switch();// Notification of desktop switching
VirtualDesktop.CurrentChanged += (_, args) => Console.WriteLine($"Switched: {args.NewDesktop.Name}");
// Notification of desktop creating
VirtualDesktop.Created += (_, desktop) => desktop.Switch();// Need to install 'VirtualDesktop.WPF' package
// Check whether a window is on the current desktop.
var isCurrent = window.IsCurrentVirtualDesktop();
// Get Virtual Desktop for WPF window
var desktop = window.GetCurrentDesktop();
// Move window to specific Virtual Desktop
window.MoveToDesktop(desktop);
// Pin window
window.Pin()The class IDs of some of the undocumented interfaces we use tend to change a lot between different versions of Windows. If the demo application crashes on start-up chances are all you need to do is provide the proper IDs for the version of Windows you are running on.
Open regedit and export this path into a file: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface.
Open the resulting reg file and search it for matches against the whole word of each interface name we need:
IApplicationViewIApplicationViewCollectionIObjectArrayIServiceProviderIVirtualDesktopIVirtualDesktopManagerIVirtualDesktopManagerInternalIVirtualDesktopNotificationIVirtualDesktopNotificationServiceIVirtualDesktopPinnedApps
Once you have the IDs add them in a new setting element in app.config.
Make sure to specify the correct 5 digits Windows build version.
You can get it using one of those methods:
- From the UI run:
winver - From shell run:
ver - From powershell run:
cmd /c ver
Make sure to contribute back your changes.
To publish a new release specify your version in Directory.Build.props and push the changes with a commit description such as:
Release vx.y.z where x, y, z form your version number. That should publish it on NuGet providing that your secret NUGET_API_KEY is still valid.
This library is under the MIT License.