Sometimes you may need to open multiple windows of the same program or application in order to work on them in parallel . For example, you could think of working with two or three open Microsoft Word windows to create multiple documents, or wanting to open multiple videos together to view them in parallel with VLC or even open multiple Explorer windows to transfer files from a folder to a other.
The problem is that once you open a program on the Windows PC, by clicking its start icon on the task bar, you only minimize or maximize the open window and you cannot open a new session of that same program.
Opening multiple windows for the same application is still very simple on Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, albeit with some small differences as explained below.
In general, to open a new window for an already open program, all you have to do is click on its icon located on the taskbar at the bottom while holding down the Shift key on the keyboard.
Then press the SHIFT key on the keyboard, then click with the mouse on its icon and another window of that program will open and you can repeat this also to open a third and how many if you want.
Even more easily, you can open another window of the program already open by pressing its icon with the middle mouse button, that is the scroll wheel.
For some programs, however, you can open multiple sessions by launching them directly from the Start menu.
Compared to Windows 7 and 8.1, in Windows 10 there is a small difference: the program icon on the taskbar, when two windows are opened, becomes like a double square, while opening a third one it does not change anything and remains with only two squares.
A preview of all open windows can be obtained by moving the mouse over the program icon in the desktop bar at the bottom.
However, this ability to open multiple windows for one program does not work for all programs.
For example, it cannot be done with programs like Skype, such as antivirus, such as Onedrive, Windows Media Player and many PC games.
In addition, for all applications downloaded from the Windows Store of Windows 10 and 8.1, you cannot have multiple sessions active simultaneously.
If it is not possible, for example to start two Skype sessions with two different accounts, there is a trick, that is to start the same program with different Windows users.
You can then create a new user for the PC and then switch from one user to another without disconnecting them, from the lock screen that appears by pressing the Windows-L keys together.
In the event that it is necessary to open multiple sessions of a program with administrator authorization, the procedure is the same, but you must press the CTRL and Shift keys together and then click on the icon.
This way of opening programs also displays a warning message which must be pressed on the YES.
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