How to Use Spaces on Mac OS X

Last Updated: December 29, 2021 Tested

Mac OS X's Spaces (part of Mission Control since OS X 10.7 "Lion") is a feature that allows you to spread your programs across up to 16 separate desktop areas. These spaces will help you to organize your activities, since they provide you with far more 'space' to work with than is available on your physical display(s).

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:
Basic Use of Spaces

1
Open Mission Control. In order to begin to understand how the concept of Spaces works, you'll need to open the Mission Control screen. This shows you the spaces you have active—each of the numbered desktops at the top of the screen represents a space. There are three different ways to access Mission Control:
- Press the "F3" key.
- Click on the "Mission Control" icon on your dock.
- If you have a trackpad, push upwards on the pad with three fingers.
2
Arrange active programs. To move an active program to its own space, simply drag it with the mouse and drop it on the chosen space.
- To open up an additional desktop space from Mission Control, move your mouse towards the top-right of the screen. A "+" sign will appear. Click it, and an additional space will open, up to the total limit of 16 spaces.
- To remove an open desktop space, move your mouse the the space at the top of the Mission control screen, and click the "x" that appears in the top left. If you have any open programs on the space that you close, they will be automatically moved to your first space.
Advertisement
3
Click on a space to leave Mission Control. When you click on a space, Mission Control will disappear and your display will show only the space you selected.

Advertisement

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:
Switching Between Spaces

1
Use the trackpad. To switch between spaces on a Mac with a trackpad, swipe left or right on the pad with a four-fingered gesture. This will cycle you through the open spaces in your chosen direction.
2
Use keyboard shortcuts. If you don't like using the trackpad, you can cycle left and right through your open spaces by pressing CTRL+LEFT ARROW or CTRL+RIGHT ARROW.
- This shortcut also can be used to go to each space individually. To do so, press CTRL and the number of your desired space, e.g. CTRL+2 to go to the second space.
Advertisement

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:
Full Screen Apps

OS X Lion is the first version of the OS X operating system to offer full support for running applications full screen. When you run a program in full screen mode, it creates its own desktop space.

1
Check if the application you are running supports full screen mode. If it does, you will see a full-screen icon that looks like two diagonal arrows in the top-right of the program window.
2
Click the icon to switch to full screen mode. Use the methods above to switch between your spaces, one of which will now contain only your full screen application.
3
Leave full screen mode when finished. To switch a full screen program back to normal, move your mouse to the top right corner of the screen. Click the blue icon that appears in the top right of the full screen program window. Your program will return to its original space.

Advertisement

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:
Moving Applications Into Spaces

Spaces in OS X Lion allows you to expand into other desktop spaces while you work, without visiting Mission Control.

1
Drag the application you wish to move. If you wish to move an open program to a different space, just drag it right to the edge of the screen. After a two second pause the program will move into the next space along.

Community Q&A

Question

How can I put different windows from the same app in different spaces?

Community Answer

Click the windows tab in the top bar, and select "open new window." Position the new windows however you like.
Question

How do I delete multiple spaces (I currently have 264)?

Fancyghost

Community Answer

You should be able to hold the Command key as you click multiple spaces. Then you can right click and take action on them.