A Tiny Windows 11 Tool That Keeps Track of Virtual Desktops

Do you like the AI image above? I do too. The icon doesn't quite look like that, but it is close enough!

I use virtual desktops all day on Windows 11 (as you know), and I kept losing track of which desktop I was on. It sounds small, but that tiny bit of friction added up every day and it drove me crazy.

I found a few that can do what I needed: This one is ok, but it is not free (which is fine) but does a lot more than I need. Then, there's this other one which seems ok too, but the repo is in read-only mode and will not see any more developments in the future. I don't know if there are any others, but in this moment in time, the barrier to make the exact thing that I want is not very high at all. Given this, I thought I could actually make my own, that will do exactly what I wanted and absolutely nothing else. And what were those needs?

• Only shows the number of the virtual desktop I am in and always there on the task bar.
• Has an installer that will cleanly upgrade the version that is installed.

Meet, Desktop Indicator, which is a very good name because the name is the thing. Anyway, this works really well for me and maybe it will work for you too. If not you also have the option to start where I left off and customize it to your needs. The repo is here, it's open source, just do what you want - I would love a mention though on whatever you make that comes of this but you do not have to do that.

The little icon on the task bar looks like this, that small number 2 that you can see over there. It will obviously change as you move from one desktop to another.

Desktop Indicator tray icon on Windows 11 taskbar

And that is it, as simple as that. Hope this is useful for you.