The layout
Atlas has two main areas. Down the left is the sidebar, where every feature lives. Across the top is the header bar, with the tools you use all day: the Atlas Feed, the savings counter, refresh, Ask Atlas Advisor, favorites, notifications, dark mode, the tenant switcher, and your name. On the far left of the header, the status ticker shows what Atlas is working on right now, and the savings counter shows what auto-shutdown and scheduling have saved you so far and are saving right now.
The sidebar and its sections
The sidebar is grouped into sections. Workspace holds your host pools, images, FSLogix profiles, scripts and software. Below it, Atlas Operations holds products like Advisor, Compass, Reach and Vault, followed by Microsoft 365, Security, Monitoring, Financial, Settings and Administration. Only one section is open at a time, so the list stays short: click a section header to open it and click it again to close it. When you go to a page, its section opens for you.
Collapse, hide or resize the sidebar
Need more room? Click collapse at the top of the sidebar and it shrinks to a slim rail of icons; click it again to bring it back. You can also hide the sidebar completely (bring it back from the button at the top left of the header), or drag its right edge to make it wider.
Pin pages to Favorites
When there's a page you use every day, make it a favorite. Click the star in the header on that page and it appears under Favorites at the top of the sidebar. You can also right-click any item in the sidebar and choose Add to favorites. Drag favorites into any order, or drag the whole Favorites block to sit between any two sections. You can pin up to ten pages.
Favorites are saved per tenant, so each customer you manage can have its own shortcuts.
Search with Ctrl+K
The fastest way to get anywhere is search. Press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac) or click Search at the top of the sidebar, and start typing. Atlas finds matching pages straight away, then also searches your host pools, virtual machines, users, active sessions, vulnerabilities, software, and Vault credentials and documents. Results are grouped by type; use the arrow keys to move through them and Enter, or click, to go straight there.
Find people and their sessions
Search works for people too. Type a name and Atlas lists every matching user from your directory, along with their active AVD sessions and the host pool each one is in. Click a user to open their details.
Switch between tenants
If you manage more than one Microsoft tenant, for example as an MSP, the tenant switcher in the header shows which one you're working in. Click it to see all your tenants; your primary (home) tenant is marked Primary. From the same menu you can add a tenant or manage the ones you have. If you only have one tenant, you simply see its name here.
Everything follows the selected tenant
When you switch, everything on screen belongs to that tenant: its host pools, users, costs and alerts. There is always exactly one tenant selected, so you never mix up customers.
Notifications
The bell shows alerts for the tenant you're in, and the red badge counts what's new. Open it and alerts are grouped by severity; click one to jump straight to the pool, VM or finding it's about. For the full history, with filters, mute and snooze, choose View all notifications.
The Atlas Feed
Atlas also tells you when new versions of the Microsoft software you rely on come out. Those updates come from the Atlas Feed: a curated feed of Microsoft releases that matter for AVD (the Windows App, the AVD agent, FSLogix, Intune, Entra ID and Windows updates), refreshed every 2 hours. The Atlas Feed link in the header opens it in a new tab, and anyone can subscribe for free by email, RSS or Outlook.
Dark mode
Prefer a darker screen? Click the moon in the header to switch to dark mode, and the sun to switch back. Atlas remembers your choice.
My Preferences: profile picture and language
Your personal settings live under your name. Click it in the top right and choose Preferences. My Preferences is just for you; it doesn't change anything for other admins. Choose your profile picture (your Microsoft photo, or one you upload) and your display language. Atlas is available in dozens of languages, and your choice applies straight away.
Your time zone
Pick your time zone, and every date and time in Atlas is shown in it. Search the list to find yours quickly. Automatic uses your organization's time zone, or your browser's if none is set.
Appearance and workspace
Under Appearance, pick an accent color for the interface from six colors. Under Workspace, choose your landing page (the screen Atlas opens when you sign in) and, if you have several tenants, a preferred tenant to open first.
Notification categories and sound alerts
Under Notifications, choose what notifies you: turn off any category you don't want in your bell. You can also turn on sound alerts in this browser, with the tone and volume you like. When you're done, click Save Preferences.
Multi-factor authentication
Atlas signs you in with your Microsoft work account, so multi-factor authentication is handled by Microsoft Entra ID. Manage your sign-in methods on Microsoft's My Sign-Ins page.