How to quickly move current window to another Task View / desktop in Windows 10?

Windows 10 introduced Task View — the ability to have multiple virtual desktops. When I am in a window on Desktop 1, what’s the quickest way to move it to Desktop 2?

Currently, I need to enter the task switcher (icon in the Taskbar or Win + Tab ), find the window, and drag & drop it between desktops. It is inconvenient. Is there a quicker way?

15 Answers 15

I think for a quicker switch this should be in the titlebar, so I created a tool for that:

You can also move windows by using WIN + ALT + Left / Right or change the shortcut as needed.

I also looked for that option, and from the searches I’ve made (I think that I also saw it on the Microsoft forums), it’s not something that is available built-in at the moment.

The best way I came out with for now, to avoid using the mouse, is:

• Winkey + tab for the desktops screen
• Right click on the window you want to move.
  Use the right click keyboard button, or Shift + F10 if you don’t have that key in your keyboard.
• Choose Move to (or type M , because it’s marked), and then the desktop you want (or N for new desktop, also marked)

This doesn’t help that much, but that’s what there is until someone develops something to make it easier.

Update: I’ve started looking into this. There’s a registry value that changes when the app is moved between desktops. In that location, there are all the open apps:

The id of the current desktop is here:

It’s not enough to change it to the other virtual desktop key because some UI refresh is needed.

I’ve checked with procmon, and the dll’s that are used in the process are:

• msctf.dll
• twinui.dll
• windows.immersiveshell.serviceprovider.dll
• shell32.dll
• UIAnimation.dll

I’ll guess that one of them is responsible for the visual refresh, and the main suspect is UIAnimation.dll!

If someone wants to keep investigating, this will serve as a start.

Windows programming move window

Moves one or more files from one directory to another directory.

Moving encrypted files to a volume that doesn’t support Encrypting File System (EFS) results will result in an error. You must first decrypt the files or move them to a volume that supports EFS.

Syntax

Parameters

Parameter	Description
/y	Stops prompting for confirmation that you want to overwrite an existing destination file. This parameter might be preset in the COPYCMD environment variable. You can override this preset by using the -y parameter. The default is to prompt before overwriting files, unless the command is run from within a batch script.
-y	Starts prompting for confirmation that you want to overwrite an existing destination file.
Specifies the path and name of the file(s) to move. To move or rename a directory, the source should be the current directory path and name.
Specifies the path and name to move files to. To move or rename a directory, the target should be the desired directory path and name.
/?	Displays help at the command prompt.

Examples

To move all files with the .xls extension from the \Data directory to the \Second_Q\Reports directory, type:

How to move desktop Windows without a mouse?

the parameters on my desktop have changed. my window for Outlook open outside the parameter.

You can use an old school keystroke technique to regain control of a window that is outside your current desktop.

1. Close all programs so that you can start with a clean desktop.
2. Open Outlook from the same way you always do (desktop shortcut, pinned from taskbar or start menu, etc)
3. Since it is Outlook, just leave it alone for a minute so it completes its startup Send/Receive actions.
4. Press ALT+ together, then release and press m. You are now in Move mode.
5. Press one of the four directional arrow keys (up, down, right, or left) repeatedly to move the Outlook application window back to the visible area of your desktop.
6. When you can see the Outlook application window again (or at least the top left section of the title bar), press to exit Move mode.

If you want to practice this method, open any program onto a blank clean desktop (e.g. Notepad) and start at step 4.

• «Have you tried turning it off and then on again?» — Roy from ‘The IT Crowd’ (Emmy award-winning British comedy)

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How do I move the program files (x86) folder from my C drive to my D drive

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Hi Derrick, honestly there is no way to move that folder without causing serious problems to your system.

You will see fixes on the web, most will brick your system . . .

This would have to be done just after Windows is installed and before any software was installed to be done correctly!

Is there nothing else on your C drive that could be moved to your D Drive to provide more space on your C drive?

Power to the Developer!

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Hi Derrick. I’m Greg, an installation specialist and 8 year Windows MVP, here to help you.

You can’t move the Program Files, nor should you move apps or Programs off the C drive because they write registry keys to Windows that integrate them into the OS until they are uninstalled.

If it’s an SSD they also benefit most from the faster speeds, while files do not. So I would move Files off following this tutorial: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1964-move-u.

There are tips here for managing smaller drives including 32gb drives:

If you want you can set a Metered Connection per the above tutorial, then when ready turn it off to install Updates. You can even wait until the twice-yearly Version Updates to run manually from Media Creation Tool which is a more stable method than Windows Update and includes all previous updates rolled into it. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/m.

Another option is to do the the best possible Clean Install in this link which will stay that way as long as you stick with the tools and methods given, has zero reported problems, and is better than any amount of money could buy: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki. .

This will give you back all but 15gb of the drive so you can slowly reinstall programs to see how they affect performance, move your files to another drive if possible or offline into OneDrive in the cloud with On-demand access to them only: https://www.pcworld.com/article/3233488/windows. .

There is also an automated Fresh Start that reinstalls WIndows while shedding corrupting factory bloatware, saves your files, but doesn’t clear the drive to get it cleanest: https://www.howtogeek.com/265054/how-to-easily-.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it’s resolved

Over 100,000 helped in forums for 11 years. I don’t quit for those who are polite and cooperative.

Move Program Files to Another Drive Windows 10/8/7 | 3 Ways

This article is written for users like you who want to move program files to another drive. Scroll down to learn all you need to know.

By Ivy / Last Updated March 12, 2021

Why can’t I move program files to another drive directly?

Transfering filesВ or foldersВ to another drive is a piece of cake -В just copy and paste them. But when itВ comes to moving program files, you may end up finding it’s a totally different matter.В Why is that?В

The two application folders,В Program FilesВ for 64-bit programs andВ Program Files (x86)В for 32-bit programs, are hard-wired into Windows.В Things can go wrongВ if they are notВ where they supposedВ to be.В If you drag them to another location directly, most of the programs on Windows 10/8/7 may stop working or does not respond correctly.В

At this time, you may wonder how to move program files to another drive effortlessly. In addition to taking the right approach, another key is toВ make a system image backup, so that you can get the PC back to normal without reinstalling Windows. Then, check the anchor text below to find the solution.

When need to move program files to another drive?

Most programs are installed in C: drive by default. As time goes by, the system partition mayВ run out of space owing toВ increasingly programs, and the PC may slow down as well.В The situation could be more severe ifВ you install a large amount of software on the computer, and if you don’t want to uninstall them, the remaining method might be moving program files to another location.

Take it a step further, you may face the following situations:

Situation 1: Move program files to another drive on the same disk

In this case, you may be bothered low disk space warning and performance but only one internal disk. You could consider moving program files and program files (x86) from C drive to D drive or other partition with enough space, then save the newly installed software to new partition instead of C drive.

Situation 2: Move program files to different physical disk

In this case, you usually have one or moreВ spare physical hard drive, and alreadyВ migrate OS to smaller SSD В in Windows 7/8/10. To retain better experience, you may want to free up the disk space of your SSD and move program files and program files (x86) from SSD to HDD.В

Backup the system just in case

All operations involving system drive are risky, e.g.В a misused registry can cause your computer to crash. And since movingВ programs files from C to D or movingВ program files from SSD to HDD is not just a «copy & paste» problem, you must be extra careful. OtherwiseВ all your apps might not work, and even your system will be affected.

To relocate program files to another drive safely, you need to backup system in advance, andВ AOMEI Backupper StandardВ is a wise and reliable choice to do that.В

It can back up yourВ operation system (Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista) for free with several clicks, and help you restore system image from external hard driveВ or other devices.

You canВ even restore system image created onВ dissimilar hardware (another computer) with theВ «Universal Restore» feature inВ advanced editions likeВ AOMEI Backupper Professional .

Without further ado, let’s get started to create a system image for your computer and then move program files to another drive in Windows 10/8/7.

Step 1. Download the free backup software В — AOMEI Backupper Standard, then install and launch it on your computer. You will see its deep-blue interfaceВ

Step 2. Then, click System Backup under the Backup tab.В After that, it willВ automatically choose the C drive and boot-related partition(s) required to boot Windows, such as, system reserved partition, EFI system partition. Also, it will backup recovery partition, program,& program files, personal data on it.В

Step 3. Here, you only need to select destination partition to store backup imageВ and then click Start Backup.В

Wait for a while, and you will have a system image backup of your computer. Then, it’s suggested to create a bootable USB , so you can restore computer even when it refuses to boot. You can use CD/DVD, USB drive or directly create an ISO file.

How to move programs files to different drive?

Give up «copy» and «paste», here are 3 ways to help you relocate the program files to another drive. Please remember to create a system image backup first whether you are currently using Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7. It can help you restore system from backup in a very short time.В

Method 1: Migrate program files to another drive using Registry Editor

Before you use this method, there are two things you need to do.
в‘ Create a folder named Program files (x86) on another drive (eg: D: drive)
в‘Ў Copy «Program Files» and «Program Files (x86)» directories to the new location first. Just run CMD as administrator, type the following command prompt and hit Enter.
   • Robocopy «C:\Program Files» «D:\Program Files» /mir
   • Robocopy «C:\Program Files (x86)» «D:\Program Files (x86)» /mir

Now, continue to see below. Please note that this method works at the moment of clean install Windows.

Step 1. Press “Win + R”to summon the Run window, then type Regedit.exe

Step 2. Find the following path on Registry Editor and change drive letter from C: to D:

To Windows 7/8/8.1:

To Windows 10:

Method 2: Move program files to different drive using mklink

The second method is to create a symbolic link using Command Prompt. A symbolic link is a bit like the shortcuts to programs, folders and websites which attach to the desktop. When Windows or any program tries to access the folder, the symbolic link redirects it to the new location. To put it simply, this method change program files location for Windows 10/8/7.

Step 1. Move “C: \Program Files” fodler to “D: \Program Files”.

Step 2. Type cmd in the search box, click it and run as administrator.

Step 3. Create a symbolic link with soft link mklink/D link target.В

To move the whole «C: Program Files» folder to “D: Program Files” folder, you need to type the following in the command prompt window. Then, you can use theВ C:\Programs Files as the default install path but all the installed files will be stored in D:\Program Files.В В

mklink /D “Program Files” “D: Program Files”

“Program Files” is the name of your new symbolic link name.
“D: Program Files” is the path your new link refers to.

Note: If you do not know how to use it, you can directly typeВ mklinkВ in the command prompt window. You can get some information concerned to create a symbolic link.

Also, you can useВ mklink /J link target (called hard link) to makes the files or folders appears as if it actually exist at the location of the symbolic link.В Based on the above example, you can type asВ mklink /J “Program Files” “D: Program Files”.В

If you want to delete the old program files, you can use “mklink /j” link together with the full drive letter and path of the old and new locations of the program files.

Tip: The same is true for how to move program files from SSD to HDD, you just need to connect your HDD disk to your computer. Aside by that, you still can use disk cloning software to clone entire system drive or hard drive to your HDD. It’s much easier.

Method 3: Move installed program to another drive using “Move” feature

This feature not only move program from C drive to D drive, but also can relocate program files. Just tri it yourself.

Step 1. Go to start menu > Settings > System > Apps & features, then you will see a list programs.

Step 2. Select an app and hit the Move option under the specified app, and then select a location on another drive.

Step 3. Click Move again.

Step 4. Repeat Step 2and Step 3 until the last program is moved to a new drive.

How to move Stream Games to another drive?

Except for entire program files folder, some users just want to move the stream games in the program files, just like the following case. And the migration method will be included later, please scroll down to check.

«I’m on windows 10, and I need to move that folder to my D drive. I have been told that copy pasting it won’t work, and I will need to delete and redownload it. This is a probelm because the file is over 36 GB, and most of them are my steam games. Is there any other way to do this?»

Step 1. Go to the location of your Steam library. If you aren’t sure, you can check this infomation at the Properties of the Steam shortcut.

Step 2. Shutdown the Stream games, then copy and paste the entire Stream Folder to the new location, here is D:\Stream\ folder.В

Step 3. Wait until the process completes, you can start to rerun Stream.exe from the new location.

Tip: It’s suggest to reinstall the Stream.exe first, which will will update all your shorcuts. You can go toВ steampowered.com, then clickВ Install StreamВ at the upper right corner to download the installer and select the new location as destination folder, here is D:\Stream\, at last, please rerun the Strean.

Conclusion

With the help of free backup software — AOMEI Backupper Standard, you can rest assured to move program files to another drive Windows 10/8/7. It greatly reduces the risk of system crash or data loss, and gives you a chance to restore computer without reinstalling Windows. And it will keep everything as it were.В

Also, you can use it to schedule automatic backup Windows 10 later by its daily/weekly/monthly schedule settings or advanced settings like USB plug in AOMEI Backupper Professional.