App and window management
Take control of your workspace with these desktop, Dock and Mission Control tips
Minimize into app icons >>> The more icons you add to the Dock, the shorter its height becomes. This is apparent if you minimize windows to manage your workspace, which puts them in the Dock’s right end. A setting in the Dock’s preferences helps to avoid this by minimizing windows into their app icon instead.
Stacks >>> Make any folder you need to regularly access available as a stack in the right part of the Dock: drag it there from Finder. Right-click a stack to set how it’s presented (as a fan, grid or list of icons) and how its contents are sorted.
Icon size in grid-based stacks >>> When you open a stack that you’ve set to Grid view, use and to adjust the size of icons in it.
Open a recent item’s container >>> OS X keeps track of recently used apps, documents and servers for you in > Recent Items. Hold and the document links in that menu change to open their location in Finder.
Get your bearings >>> The Spaces and fullscreen apps in the top bar of Mission Control rearrange based on which ones you’ve used most recently. If you find this disorienting, turn off the corresponding option at the top of System Preferences > Mission Control. Items in the top bar then stay in the positions you drag them to.
Keyboard menu access >>> You can keep your hands on the keyboard to use the menu bar. Press (and on some keyboards), then use the arrows to browse the entries and to choose one.
Resizing windows >>> As well as having the ability to resize a window from any edge or corner, you can constrain the way they change by holding modifier keys. Hold to grow the window in both the direction you drag and its opposite. Hold to resize while keeping the window’s proportion of width to height the same as before you started dragging. You can hold both keys together to apply both effects.
Pin the Dock >>> If you have multiple displays and have the Dock set to be hidden, you can call it up on any display. The app switcher appears on whichever display the Dock last appeared. If you have the Dock set to be permanently visible, it always appears on your primary display: to set this, in the Displays pane > Arrangement tab, drag the menu bar on the previews to the desired display.
The app switcher >>> The quick way to switch between your two most recently used apps is to press
If you hold and press once, the app switcher opens, showing additional apps; press until the one you want is highlighted, then let go of to switch to it, or move the pointer over an app’s icon and let go of With an app highlighted or under the pointer, will quit it.
Focus on an app >>> If you find managing multiple Spaces is overkill, there’s an older method for hiding apps you don’t need right now. Switch to one you want to use, then press Alt+ to hide all others, or hold Alt and click that app’s Dock icon; the other windows still exist, but they’re invisible until their app is brought to the foreground. To hide one app, switch to it and press
App Exposé >>> Apple’s multi-touch trackpad and mouse provide gestures to open Mission Control, so you can see all windows in the current Space, but often you’ll want to focus on windows from one app. In the Trackpad preferences pane, turn on the App Exposé gesture. You can then swipe down with three fingers to see only the current app’s windows.
More App Exposé >>> You won’t find an App Exposé gesture in the Mouse preferences pane, but there is a way to trigger it without reaching for its keyboard shortcut (which is
Put the pointer over an app icon in the Dock, then use the same gesture for Mission Control – double-tapping two fingers on the highest point of the Magic Mouse’s surface avoids an accidental click.
Group by app >>> In El Capitan, Mission Control presents windows without any overlaps, just like older versions of OS X. When dragging windows around to organize a busy workspace, you may find it quicker to (temporarily) turn on “Group windows by application” in Mission Control’s pane in System Preferences, then drag from the app icon at the bottom of a group to move all of that app’s windows at once.
Assign to a space >>> With multiple spaces created, exit Mission Control, then right-click an app’s Dock icon. Under Options, the three items under Assign To determine the space where that app appears: on all desktops; in whichever space you place it manually (None); or always in the space you’re currently viewing (This Desktop – there’ll be an instance of this for each display that’s connected).