Ever find your Mac screen a total mess with windows everywhere? Juggling work, personal stuff, and everything else can get overwhelming, making it hard to focus.
Good news, macOS has a cool feature called Spaces, letting you create multiple desktops. This built-in tool is perfect for organizing your workspace. Think of it as having different desktops for different tasks, helping you ditch the clutter without needing extra monitors.
what are spaces on mac?
Spaces is Apple’s name for multiple desktops on your Mac. You get to it through Mission Control, and it lets you spread your open apps and windows across different desktops. This means you could have one space for work, another for browsing, and even more for different projects, really boosting your focus and organization.
When you switch between Spaces, only the windows on that desktop show up, keeping your workflow clean and simple. It’s quick to move between these organized areas using Mission Control.
using spaces on mac
Multiple desktops can really make you more efficient. Here’s how you can set up and use Spaces like a pro.
accessing mission control
Mission Control is your gateway to creating and handling Spaces. You have a few ways to get there. If you have a trackpad, swipe up with three fingers to enter Mission Control and swipe down to exit. On the keyboard, hit the ‘Mission Control’ key (usually F3) or use the shortcut Ctrl + Up Arrow to toggle Mission Control.
creating a new desktop (space)
Once you’re in Mission Control, you’ll see your open windows as thumbnails. At the top, you have the Spaces Bar showing your desktops as thumbnails. If it isn’t there, move your cursor to the top edge to show it.
If you’ve just started using Spaces, you’ll only see one desktop thumbnail there.
Full-screen apps or apps in Split View also show up as thumbnails in the Spaces Bar while they are full screen. However, these don’t work the same as regular Spaces and will revert to the original desktop when you exit full-screen mode.
- To create a new desktop, click the ‘+’ icon on the far right of the Spaces Bar.
A new desktop thumbnail will pop up next to your existing one. Click it to switch to it. You can make up to 16 Spaces in macOS.
Keep in mind that you can’t rename desktops; they’re just labeled by the order you created them.
using separate wallpapers for different desktops
Having different wallpapers on each desktop can really help you tell them apart quickly.
- Right-click (or Control-click) on the ‘System Settings’ app icon in your Dock.
- In the context menu, hover over ‘Options’ then select ‘All Desktops’ under ‘Assign To’.
- Now go to the desktop where you want a new wallpaper. Open ‘System Settings’ and pick a new one. This change will only be for this current desktop. Do this again for any other desktops you want to customize.
switching between desktops
To quickly jump between desktops, use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Left Arrow or Ctrl + Right Arrow. This lets you move between Spaces without needing to go into Mission Control.
Trackpad users can swipe left or right with three or four fingers to switch between desktops, and Magic Mouse users can swipe with two fingers.
moving apps between desktops
You can easily move your app windows between desktops using a couple of methods.
Method 1: Use Mission Control
Enter Mission Control and find the window you want to move. Just drag its thumbnail and drop it onto the desktop you want it on in the Spaces Bar.
Note: If you drop an app window onto a full-screen app in the Spaces Bar, both apps will open up in Split View mode.
Method 2: Drag to screen edge
Click and hold the app window you want to move, then drag it to the edge of your screen and hold. After a moment, it will switch to the next desktop. For example, dragging the window to the right edge will move it to the next desktop on the right.
assigning apps to a desktop
Assigning an app to a specific desktop makes sure it always opens in that Space, which can help keep your workflow more organized.
-
Find the app’s icon in the Dock. If it’s not there, open the app to get its icon in the Dock.
-
Right-click (or Control-click) on the app icon and hover over ‘Options’ in the context menu. You’ll see these options:
- All Desktops: The app will show up on every desktop when it’s open.
- This Desktop: The app will always open in the desktop you’re currently using.
- None: The app will open on whichever desktop you happen to be using at the time.
If you’re using multiple displays, you might also see:
- Desktop on Display [number]: This assigns the app to a specific desktop on a specific display.
deleting a desktop
To get rid of a desktop, go into Mission Control from any desktop.
- In the Spaces Bar, hover your cursor over the desktop you want to delete.
- Click the ‘X’ that appears in the upper-left of the desktop thumbnail. Any apps on that desktop will be moved to your current desktop.