Mac os multiple desktops

Work in multiple spaces on Mac

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, you see only the windows that are in that space.

Create a space

If you’re working with apps in full screen or Split View, their thumbnails are shown in the Spaces bar.

In the Spaces bar, click the Add button .

You can create up to 16 spaces.

When you’ve finished, click the thumbnail for a space to open it.

Tip: Make your spaces unique by assigning a different desktop picture to each one. Just assign System Preferences to all desktops (see the information about assigning apps below), then change the desktop picture in each space.

Move between spaces

On your Mac, do any of the following:

On a trackpad, swipe left or right with three or four fingers. On a Magic Mouse, swipe with two fingers.

Press the Control key and the Right or Left arrow key.

Enter Mission Control, move the pointer to the top edge of the screen, then click a space in the Spaces bar.

If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can set an option in Keyboard preferences to show spaces in the Touch Bar. Then just tap a space in the Touch Bar to open the space.

Move 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.

If you drag the window onto a full screen app in the Spaces bar, you can use the apps in Split View.

Assign apps to spaces

If you use two or more spaces, you can assign an app (or System Preferences) 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 see its icon in the Dock.

From the shortcut menu that appears, choose Options, then choose one of the following:

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 Preferences, click Mission Control, then deselect the tickbox for switching.

Delete a space

On your Mac, enter Mission Control, then move the pointer to the top edge of the screen.

In the Spaces bar, move the pointer over the space you want to delete, then click the Delete button that appears.

If the space contains open windows, they are moved to another space.

You can quickly stop using an app in full screen or Split View by moving the pointer over the thumbnail in the Space bar, then clicking the Exit button that appears.

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Work in multiple spaces on Mac

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, you see only the windows that are in that space.

Create a space

If you’re working with apps in full screen or Split View, their thumbnails are shown in the Spaces bar.

In the Spaces bar, click the Add button .

You can create up to 16 spaces.

When you’ve finished, click the thumbnail for a space to open it.

Tip: Make your spaces unique by assigning a different desktop picture to each one. Just assign System Preferences to all desktops (see the information about assigning apps below), then change the desktop picture in each space.

Move between spaces

On your Mac, do any of the following:

On a trackpad, swipe left or right with three or four fingers. On a Magic Mouse, swipe with two fingers.

Press the Control key and the Right or Left arrow key.

Enter Mission Control, move the pointer to the top edge of the screen, then click a space in the Spaces bar.

If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can set an option in Keyboard preferences to show spaces in the Touch Bar. Then just tap a space in the Touch Bar to open the space.

Move 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.

If you drag the window onto a full screen app in the Spaces bar, you can use the apps in Split View.

Assign apps to spaces

If you use two or more spaces, you can assign an app (or System Preferences) 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 see its icon in the Dock.

From the shortcut menu that appears, choose Options, then choose one of the following:

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 Preferences, click Mission Control, then deselect the tickbox for switching.

Delete a space

On your Mac, enter Mission Control, then move the pointer to the top edge of the screen.

In the Spaces bar, move the pointer over the space you want to delete, then click the Delete button that appears.

If the space contains open windows, they are moved to another space.

You can quickly stop using an app in full screen or Split View by moving the pointer over the thumbnail in the Space bar, then clicking the Exit button that appears.

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Switch Between Desktop Spaces Faster in Mac OS X with Control Keys

Switching between active Desktops/Spaces in OS X with the three fingered sideways swipe is very quick, but an even faster method is by using the Control keys.

The first option is to use the Control + Arrow keys, which is enabled by default. As you might expect, Control + Left Arrow switches to the desktop Space to the left, Control + Right Arrow goes to the right.

The fastest method utilizes Control + Number keys, and needs to be enabled separately:

• Open “System Preferences” from the  menu
• Click on “Keyboard” and then select “Keyboard Shortcuts”
• From the list on the left, choose “Mission Control”
• Check the boxes next to “Switch to Desktop 1” and “Switch to Desktop 2” – this will be Desktop 3, 4, 5, etc, if you use many Desktop Spaces
• Close out System Preferences

Now you can hit Control+1 to enter Desktop 1, Control+2 to switch to Desktop 2, and so on. This is by far the fastest method to switch Desktops in OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and whatever they call the next one.

The reason for the speed increase relates to the animation for switching windows, which is accelerated when using the Control+Arrow keys, and made even faster with the Control+Number shortcut. Alternatively, the swipe gesture generally follows your finger movements and the inertia of the swipe, which is significantly slower.

If you assigned apps to Desktops than clicking on the app will also use the faster method similar to the Control+Number keyboard shortcut.

Finally, if you want switching between active desktops to be even faster, either don’t store any icons on your Desktop or hide all icons from the Mac desktop (if you don’t want to use the Terminal command, you can also use the free DesktopUtility tool to do this from your menubar). Hiding desktop icons shows the biggest speed boost on older Macs running new versions of OS X, since it prevents the need to redraw icons when switching desktops.

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Virtual Desktops in Mac OS X

A colleague of mine is a recent Mac switcher and he was complaining to me that virtual desktops are not included in Mac OS X, the irony is that they are, they just have the name Spaces (coming from a heavy Linux background, I guess the naming convention just threw him off). Virtual Desktops are a very common and popular feature in most Unix GUI’s, but as Mac OS X has included virtual desktops within Mac OS X too.

Instead of being called “Virtual Desktops” though, Apple named them “Spaces”, but the concept is identical, multiple virtual workspaces on one machine. Spaces in Mac OS X lets you have up to 16 different workspaces to work within, you can even designate specific applications to run just within a particular space, which is very handy for creating a tidy work environment.

Spaces is Virtual Desktops in OS X

In modern versions of OS X, this feature is part of Mission Control, whereas in prior versions it’s part of Expose. Nonetheless, virtual desktops work in Mac OS X the same way.

In OS X El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion, the feature is part of Mission Control, here’s how you can adjust the preferences for it:

1. Open  Apple menu and go to System Preferences, then go to “Mission Control”
2. Set your Mission Control shortcut accordingly to your preferences to access the feature

Once you have Spaces configured, you can access the feature through a keyboard shortcut, a gesture, or by sending apps into full screen mode. You can also move apps or windows into new spaces to create a new desktop quickly from Mission Control.

Configuring your virtual desktops in prior versions of Mac OS X is really easy too, including Snow Leopard and Leopard, just launch the System Preferences and click on the ‘Expose & Spaces’ icon, where you’ll see a screen with various options, including how many virtual workspaces you want to use, what applications are assigned to which spaces, and what keystrokes activate the Spaces virtual desktop switcher. (see screenshots)

Spaces is definitely a largely underused feature of Mac OS X, but power users and those familiar with the virtual desktops of Linux workstations will be very happy to know they are included in Mac OS X. If you haven’t used them yet, give it a shot, you may be surprised how helpful you find virtual desktops, or Spaces, to be.

Remember, in new versions of OS X you access Spaces from Mission Control, and the different virtual desktops are laid across the top of the screen in succession. Full Screen Apps each get assigned their own virtual desktop space as well.

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Question: Q: How can I disable multiple desktops in Sierra?

Multiple desktops are getting in the way of my multitasking, and I am hoping that there is a way to disable them. I am not that comfortable coding, so I am really hoping for a settings option that I haven’t been able to find.

MacBook Air, macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Oct 16, 2017 2:06 AM

Helpful answers

You don’t have to have multiple desktops.

Open Mission Control, by pressing the F3 key or swiping up with three or four fingers.

Move the cursor to the area on the top where you see the desktops.

Click the X to close each of them except the first. All your windows will be rearranged on the remaining desktop.

Oct 16, 2017 3:34 AM

I understand that is how it works, I´m asking if there is a way to change how it works. Balancing what windows are fullscreen (command-tab) vs. windows that are not (command-‘) is not conducive to multi-tasking. I know that there might not be a way to disable that, but it was worth a shot.

Oct 17, 2017 1:54 AM

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You don’t have to have multiple desktops.

Open Mission Control, by pressing the F3 key or swiping up with three or four fingers.

Move the cursor to the area on the top where you see the desktops.

Click the X to close each of them except the first. All your windows will be rearranged on the remaining desktop.

Oct 16, 2017 3:34 AM

I have done this, but when I open programs like Safari and Word, they will often open in a new desktop. A desktop will also be created if I want maximize the window. This is an issue for me when I want to fill my screen, but use information from more than one program. Also, widows in other desktops are not available for split screen (click and hold on the maximize button). I know that I can navigate to the other desktop, minimize, then multi-task, but this is a cumbersome workaround.

Oct 16, 2017 4:34 AM

When you put an application in fullscreen mode, it gains its own desktop. That is how it works.

Command-tab is your friend. Fullscreen or not, if you want to drag from an application to another, just start to drag, don’t let go of the trackpad or mouse button, press command-tab to switch, then drop in to the other application.

Oct 16, 2017 6:46 AM

I understand that is how it works, I´m asking if there is a way to change how it works. Balancing what windows are fullscreen (command-tab) vs. windows that are not (command-‘) is not conducive to multi-tasking. I know that there might not be a way to disable that, but it was worth a shot.

Oct 17, 2017 1:54 AM

Not sure what you want to work differently.

Command-tab switches between applications, whereas command-` switches between windows of the same application. It has always been like that; the only thing that complicates matters in recent versions is fullscreen, especially if you have different windows of the same application, where some are fullscreen and some not.

With fullscreen, as with multiple desktops, you can use control-right arrow and control-left arrow to switch.

Of course every user has personal preferences on how to work.

I prefer not to use fullscreen applications, and have only one desktop.

As I am writing this, the frontmost Safari window takes up most of the screen (but NOT fullscreen, still have the menu bar).

I can easily switch to Mail, or whatever application I need (usually running about ten of them).

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