Multiple desktops on Mac: add, switch and assign apps
Updated October 29, 2026
Your Mac can have several desktops, called Spaces, each with its own windows. Use one for work, one for chat, one for whatever you're playing. Here's how to set them up and keep apps where they belong.
Add a desktop
- Open Mission Control: press F3, press Control ↑, or swipe up with three fingers on the trackpad.
- Click the + at the top right of the strip of desktops.
To remove a desktop, open Mission Control, hold the pointer over it and click the ×. Its windows move to another desktop; nothing closes.
Switch between desktops
- Press Control ← or Control →.
- Swipe left or right with three or four fingers on the trackpad.
- Jump straight to one: turn on Switch to Desktop 1, 2, 3… in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › Mission Control, then press Control 1, Control 2 and so on.
Move a window to another desktop
- Open Mission Control and drag the window onto a desktop at the top.
- Or drag the window by its title bar to the edge of the screen and hold it there until the next desktop slides in.
Make an app always open on one desktop
- Go to the desktop where the app should live and open the app.
- Right-click (or Control-click) its icon in the Dock.
- Choose Options › Assign To › This Desktop.
All Desktops shows the app on every desktop; None undoes it. You only see these options when you have more than one desktop.
Stop macOS from shuffling your desktops
By default, macOS reorders desktops based on which one you used last, so "Desktop 3" isn't always the same one. To keep them in a fixed order, open System Settings › Desktop & Dock and, under Mission Control, turn off Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use.
Desktops with more than one display
With Displays have separate Spaces turned on (in the same settings), each display has its own set of desktops and switches on its own. Full-screen apps always get a desktop of their own.
Where desktops fall short
- Apps assigned to a desktop open there, but their windows don't come back at the same size or in full screen.
- Browser windows can't be assigned: every Chrome or Safari window opens wherever you are.
- Nothing closes. Your work apps keep running on their desktop while you play.
If you'd like your Mac to look like it did, desktop by desktop, after a game or the weekend, that's the gap MacModes fills. You might also like Stage Manager on Mac for switching windows on a single screen.
Every app back on its desktop, in one click
MacModes remembers which desktop and display each app and browser window is on, at what size and in full screen. Switch to a mode and back, and everything returns exactly where it was.
Try MacModes free for 7 days