In the event that we use Task View or our work is not going to benefit from its use, Windows 10 offers us the possibility of disabling it completely and not allowing anyone, including other computer users, to enable it.
What is Task View in Windows 10
Task View is a Windows tool that is responsible for providing us with a generalized description of all the applications that are open on various desktops. This will allow us to quickly switch between them, as well as also add virtual desktops separately, quickly accessing any of the desks that we have. With this, we make multitasking easier and more perfect. Its shortcut is located on the task bar right next to the search bar.
Thanks to the possibility of creating additional and personalized desks, we achieve increase our productivity, since we can organize the applications on different desktops depending on the tasks that we are going to perform. For example, we can have a desk exclusively dedicated to work, another dedicated to games. We can also have a special desk for children, or other users who use the computer under our username.
Despite its advantages, it is possible that certain users do not find that this functionality can be very useful, especially if they always use a single desktop. Therefore, they will not need to have to switch between desks. For these cases, we have the possibility to hide or disable the Task View function. In this way we avoid that we can access it accidentally with the consequent annoyance. For this we will have the possibility to hide its shortcut from the taskbar, disable the scrolling function or deactivate its functions using the Group Policy Editor or the Windows Registry Editor.
Completely disable Task View
Next, we are going to see different ways that we have available to deactivate the Windows 10 Task View in case it is annoying or we do not need to work with it.
Hide the taskbar button
Although the Task View cannot be deleted, we can disable it to avoid accidentally accessing it. This button that offers direct access is found on the task bar right next to the search bar. It shows us a square with two squares on each side and behind it.
To deactivate it and remove it from the taskbar, just locate it and click on it with the right mouse button. This will open a context menu. Among the options that appear, we will see how we have marked the option “Show the task view button”. Therefore, we will only have to click on it to uncheck it and in this way it will be disabled. Thus, we will check how its shortcut is no longer displayed on the taskbar, thus preventing us from accidentally accessing it.
Disable preview from the touchpad panel
Users working from a laptop may have mistakenly accessed Task View while scrolling or using gestures if we are using the Touchpad. This happens because Windows 10 has a shortcut to launch Task View that is integrated into this touch panel. This is something we will do by sliding three fingers on the touchpad to the top. To prevent it from happening accidentally, we can disable this gesture in the following way.
The first thing we are going to do is access the “Settings” section, for which we will press the keyboard shortcut “Windows + I”. Next, click on the «Devices» section and in the left column we select «Touch panel». On the right side we move to the bottom where we find the “Three-finger gestures” section. Within the Swipe panel, we select the option “Nothing”.
Likewise, further down we find the section on «Four-finger gestures». To avoid activating it in this way, we carry out the same steps and within the «Swipe finger» panel we select «Nothing» again, to deactivate it.
Use the Group Policy Editor
Another option that we have available is to use the Group Policy Editor that is available for Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise users. To execute it we must launch the keyboard shortcut Windows + R, we write gpedit.msc and press Enter or the OK button.
Configuración del equipo / Plantillas administrativas / Componentes de Windows / Interfaz de usuario perimetral
Next, we double click on «Allow fast sliding from edge».
In the next window we mark the Disabled option, click on Apply and OK to save the changes.
Hide or disable it completely from the Registry Editor
For users who want to go one step further, they can completely disable Task View instead of hiding it. This is especially useful for administrators who want to restrict other users’ access to Task View or the virtual desktop. For this we can use the Windows Registry Editor. This is something that should be used with caution since these are system files that can cause instability in the system if we do not use them correctly. Therefore, it must be used under the responsibility of each user.
To access the Registry Editor, we press the keyboard shortcut Windows + R, we type regedit and press Enter or the OK button. Later we must navigate to the following route:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows/ CurrentVersion / Explorer/ Advanced
In the right panel we must double click on ShowTaskViewButton and in the Value information section we put 0. We save the changes and restart the computer for them to take effect.
If we only want to hide the Task View button instead of completely disabling it, we must navigate to the next route.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer / MultiTaskingView / AllUpView
In the right panel we double click on Enabled and we set the Value to 0.
