Working with Multiple Spaces on a Mac - Mission Control
Spaces on a Mac are Cool
If the desktop on your Mac gets cluttered with open app windows, you can use Mission Control to create additional desktops, called spaces, to organise the windows.
When you work in a space, only the windows that are in that space are shown. You can add different Applications, documents to different spaces to suit you. It's a great way of organising your desktop if the display is small or large.
How to Create a Space
On your Mac press F3, this will enter you into Mission Control.
The first space is called Desktop 1. To add another space click the + icon in the top right of the grey menu bar, and you will get another space called Desktop 2, and so on.
You can have up to 16 spaces.
Click Desktop 2, and you will get a new clean desktop. Open the Applications, documents that you want, and they will be assign to Desktop 2.
Moving between spaces
- On a Mac Keyboard Press F3 to open spaces.
- On a Mac Keyboard press the Control key and the Right or Left arrow key to flick between spaces.
- On a trackpad, swipe left or right with three or four fingers.
- On a Magic Mouse, swipe with two fingers.
Moving an app window from one space to another
On your Mac, do any of the following:
-
Drag the app window you want to move to the edge of the screen. After a moment, the window moves to the next space.
-
Go to the space that has the window you want to move, enter Mission Control, then drag the window up to the space you want to use.
Assign apps to spaces
When you’re using two or more spaces, you can assign an app (or System Settings) to a specific space so it always opens in that space.
-
On your Mac, Control-click an app’s icon in the Dock.
You may need to first open the app to show its icon in the Dock.
Choose Options, then choose an option below Assign To.
- All Desktops: The app opens in every space.
- This Desktop: The app opens only in the current space. If you use the app full screen, it appears in its own space.
- Desktop on Display [number]: The app opens in the current space on a specific display (if more than one display is available).
- None: The app opens in whichever space you’re using at the time.
By default, when switching to an app, the desktop automatically switches to a space that has open windows for the app.
For example, if you create a new TextEdit document in Desktop 3, but TextEdit windows are already open in Desktop 2, your new document opens in Desktop 2.
To change this setting, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar, go to Mission Control, then turn “When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application” on or off.
Delete a space
-
On your Mac, enter Mission Control (F3), then move the pointer to the top edge of the screen.
-
In the Spaces bar, hold the pointer over the space you want to delete, then click
If the space contains open windows, they are moved to another space.
when it appears.
If you like these types of tips let me know in the comments below.