How to use Mission Control in macOS

What is mission control?

If you have used virtual desktops on a Windows computer, Mission Control is essentially the same. This feature displays all open windows on your desktop in a single page. You can have multiple desktops on your machine, and these virtual desktops are called Spaces.

#How to use Mission Control on macOS?

There are many ways to call Mission Control. The easiest way is to swipe up on the trackpad with three fingers. Swipe down to exit Mission Control. You can also enter Mission Control by pressing the F3 key on your MacBook and press F3 again to turn it off. Another keyboard shortcut you can use is the Control up arrow key and the Control down arrow key to exit it, this even works with third-party keyboards like those used with an iMac or Mac Mini.

If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can access Mission Control by pressing the button on the right end to view the function bar.

Tip: There is a Mission Control shortcut in the Applications folder that you can access from the Finder. You can add it to the Dock for quick access.

How to create new spaces in Mission Control and switch between spaces

I told you, you can have multiple desktops, spaces. macOS supports up to 16 spaces. To create one, simply open Mission Control via one of the methods above and click the button at the top of the screen. This will add a new virtual desktop. Each space has its own thumbnail and name (Desktop 1, Desktop 2, etc.).

Click and drag a space’s thumbnail to rearrange the order in which they appear, which is especially useful when you switch between them.

To switch between spaces on your Mac, swipe left or right on the trackpad with 3 or 4 fingers (2 on Magic Mouse). It's a bit like sliding the home bar (at the bottom) on your iPhone to switch between apps. The keyboard shortcut for moving between spaces is the Ctrl right or left arrow key. You can also switch to a different space from Mission Control view by clicking on the desktop you want to access.

How to open an application in a virtual desktop in macOS

Switch to a space and open an application, and its window will be restricted to that space. You can move apps from one space to another by clicking and dragging them in the Mission Control view. It also supports full-screen applications, if you enable the option after clicking the green button in the upper left corner. However, a full-screen application is created in a new space and takes up the entire thumbnail in its space, i.e. you will not be able to view other application windows in the thumbnail. Likewise, you can also use split view for apps in a space via the green button on the title bar, which allows you to display 2 app windows side by side.

Mission Control lets you copy text, images, files, and folders between spaces using regular shortcuts like Command C and Command V Paste content into different applications across virtual desktops. macOS allows you to open apps in a specific space. Let's say you have 2 virtual desktops, one for work and another for personal use. Here's how you can assign apps to a specific app. For example, let's try setting the Messages app to open in a second desktop. To do this, you need to switch to that space. Then, right-click the Messages app on the dock and select Options > (Assign to) this desktop. If you have multiple monitors, you need to select the corresponding number to assign it to that monitor.

Exit the Messages app, switch to the first desktop, and try opening the app again. This time, it automatically switches to the second desktop with the focus on the application. To unassign an app from the space, just right-click on it again, select Options and set it to None. You can also specify an application to open on all desktops.

Mission Control Tips and Tricks

You can customize each space with your own wallpaper, set a different background for your desktop, use the Ctrl-click menu and select Change wallpaper.

If you use Mission Control, you probably know that it displays all windows of open applications. For example, if you have 2 Safari windows open, Mission Control will display them as 2 windows. You can change this setting from the Settings app > Desktop & Dock > Mission Control page. Toggles the option to show "Group windows by application," which places windows from the same application in a cascading style view.

To close a space, access Mission Control and hover your cursor over one of the thumbnails, an X button will appear. Click it to exit the space and any open windows in it will be moved to another window, so you won't lose any unsaved work.

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