Teach Windows to reopen an entire project, every app in its saved place, from one PowerToys Workspaces shortcut
The five minutes you spend rebuilding the same desk every morning is a fixed cost you can stop paying.
How-To Geek's Tony Phillips, writing on September 4, switches on Workspaces from the PowerToys settings, a step he says takes less than a minute, then opens the apps he wants, arranges the windows where he likes them, and clicks Capture in the Workspaces Editor. Naming the layout and ticking Create desktop shortcut leaves one icon that relaunches all of it, and each app can be stored Maximized, Minimized, or at a custom position, with optional command line arguments so a browser opens on set tabs or a spreadsheet opens on the right file. Microsoft's documentation adds the editor shortcut (Win, Ctrl, and the backtick key), a launch dialog that marks each app as launched, still launching, or failed, and a free installer for Windows 11 or Windows 10 version 2004 and newer. Two honest limits come from the sources themselves: Microsoft records a known issue where apps set to Launch as Admin will not be repositioned, and Phillips notes that a workspace adds its arrangement on top of whatever is already open and remembers the monitors that were attached, so a changed display setup can move things around.
