How to switch between workspaces in Ubuntu

Linux comes with a vast array of customization options. One of them is to use multiple desktops simultaneously, which are also known as a workspaces. You can distribute your work in a more organized manner by using this feature. For example, you have opened many programs and windows like documents, images or software applications, etc. This will make your taskbar crowded, making it harder to locate and switch between the apps. So such problems can be solved by splitting your programs into multiple workspaces, and then you can switch between those workspaces to find your required programs. When you go between workspaces, the apps in each one will stay. It will assist you to make your task easier and more structured that will also save your time as well. Virtual desktops are another term for multiple desktops in Linux. In this article, we will teach you how you can create and switch between multiple workspaces.

How to enable workspaces in Ubuntu

You can enable and use multiple workspaces using the Gnome tweak tool. It can modify the look and functionality of items in the Gnome Desktop Environment. It has several features that aren’t available in the standard settings panel.

The gnome tweak tool can be installed through two different approaches:

1. Installation of gnome tweak tool using the Ubuntu software Center (GUI)
2. Installation of gnome tweak tool using the terminal

How to install gnome tweak tool using the Ubuntu software Center (GUI)

One of the easiest way to install this application is by using the Ubuntu application manager. You need to open the application manager and search for the gnome tweak to install this application that can be seen below:

After the installation, you can access this application by:

How to install the gnome tweak tool using the terminal

To install the gnome tweak tool using the terminal, all you need to do is open the terminal first by right-clicking on the desktop screen and then later selecting the “Open in terminal” option or by pressing the shortcut key of “Ctrl+Alt+T”. After that, execute the command mentioned below:

Later you can open the application by the below given command:

How to activate the workspaces in Ubuntu

You will see many customization options available after opening the gnome tweak tool. So you need to select the “Workspace” tab to activate it, which can be seen in the image below:

Four workspaces are available by default, but if you want to change them according to your requirements, you can select “static workspaces” and then change the number of workspaces as shown in the image below:

You can access the available workspaces by clicking on the “Activities,” and then all the workspaces will be displayed on the right side of the screen, also known as “Workspace Selector”. As you can see in the image above, the number of selected workspaces is two, so you can see the two available workspaces in the image below:

How to get multiple workspaces in Ubuntu

As you can see in the image above that, there is a total of two workspaces shown. Now, suppose you want to change the number of workspaces to any number, for example, six, you can do that by selecting the “Static Workspaces” option first and then select the “Number of Workspaces” to six that can be seen below:

Similarly, you can also decrease the workspaces by the same method described. You can see these six workspaces as demonstrated in the image below:

How to switch between the workspaces in Ubuntu

As you can see, there are a total of six workspaces available. So, if you want to switch between them, then you can do that by pressing the “Ctrl+Alt” key with any arrow key from Left, right, up, and down depending upon the workspace you are currently working on:

How to delete the workspaces in Ubuntu

You can delete all the additional workspaces by changing the “Number of Workspaces” value to one, as shown in the image below. After that, your screen will be your only workspace:

Conclusion

This article has shown you how you can switch between multiple workspaces without any hustle. It is one of the best features available in Linux OS that is also very easy to implement. One of its main advantages is that it will help you organize your work by arranging similar or different applications in different workspaces. In this way, you can access all your applications without any problem.