Keyboard shortcuts
Every Mission Control keyboard shortcut on Mac
Most guides cover three shortcuts and call it a day. This one lists all of them, including the ones Apple disables by default and hides behind several layers of System Settings.
May 2026
The shortcuts everyone already knows
If you've used Mission Control at all, you probably know these. Press F3 (or Control + Up Arrow) and macOS zooms out to show all your open windows and desktops. From there you can click any window to jump to it, or click a desktop in the strip along the top.
To move between desktops without opening Mission Control, use Control + Left Arrow and Control + Right Arrow. This slides you one Space left or right. Fine when you have two or three desktops. Gets tedious fast with five or more, because you're hammering the arrow key over and over to reach the one you want.
That's where most guides stop. But macOS has a lot more than this.
Quick reference: the basics
F3Control + Up ArrowControl + Left ArrowControl + Right ArrowThe shortcuts most people miss
Jump to a specific desktop with Ctrl+number
This is the single most useful Mission Control shortcut on Mac, and Apple ships it turned off. Once enabled, Control + 1 takes you to Desktop 1, Control + 2 to Desktop 2, and so on through Control + 9. No sliding through intermediate desktops. No opening Mission Control first. Just one keystroke and you're there.
I use this constantly. If my email lives on Desktop 1 and my code editor on Desktop 3, I press Control+3 and I'm looking at code. Control+1 and I'm looking at email. Instant.
The catch: macOS only shows shortcuts for desktops that already exist. If you only have two desktops, you'll only see options for Desktop 1 and Desktop 2 in settings. Create more desktops first, then go back and enable the shortcuts. Setup instructions are further down this page.
App Expose
Press Control + Down Arrow and macOS shows you all windows belonging to the currently active app. Not every window on the desktop, just the ones from that app. Useful when you have six Safari windows open and need to find a specific one. Works in Finder too, which is handy for locating that folder window you buried under everything else.
Fullscreen: two ways to get there
Holding Option and clicking the green traffic light button maximizes the window to fill the screen without entering macOS fullscreen mode. The window just gets bigger. Your menu bar stays visible, your Dock stays accessible, and the window stays on its current desktop.
Pressing Control + Command + F enters real fullscreen mode. The app takes over the entire screen, hides the menu bar, and creates its own Space. The difference matters because fullscreen Spaces mess with your desktop numbering. If you're using Ctrl+number shortcuts, a fullscreen app suddenly inserted between Desktop 2 and Desktop 3 shifts everything around. I prefer Option+click for this reason.
Show desktop
Press F11 (or Command + F3 on some keyboards) to push all windows aside and reveal the desktop. Press it again to bring everything back. Quick way to grab a file you dropped on the desktop without minimizing windows one by one.
Move a window to another Space with the keyboard
This one isn't a native shortcut, but it works: open Mission Control with F3, then drag a window's title bar onto a different desktop in the top strip. You can also hold a window near the screen edge while Mission Control is open to move it. There's no built-in key combo like "send this window to Desktop 4," which is one of the more common complaints about Spaces.
Quick reference: the hidden shortcuts
Control + 1 through 9Control + Down ArrowOption + click green buttonControl + Command + FF11How to enable Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9
This takes about two minutes. You need to create the desktops first, then enable the shortcuts.
Start by creating the desktops you want. Open Mission Control (press F3), then click the + button in the top-right corner. Add as many as you need. I use five.
Then follow these steps to turn on the keyboard shortcuts:
Open System Settings
Click Keyboard in the left sidebar
Click Keyboard Shortcuts...
Select Mission Control from the list on the left
You'll see a row for each desktop you created. Check the box next to Switch to Desktop 1, Switch to Desktop 2, and so on for each one you want
Click Done
That's it. Try pressing Control+1 right now. If nothing happens, make sure you actually have multiple desktops created. The shortcut options only appear in settings after the corresponding desktop exists.
Trackpad gestures
If you're on a MacBook or using a Magic Trackpad, gestures are often faster than keyboard shortcuts for some of these actions. Swipe up with three fingers to open Mission Control. Swipe left or right with three fingers to move between Spaces. Swipe down with three fingers for App Expose (shows all windows for the current app).
You can change these to four-finger gestures if three fingers conflicts with other things you do. Go to System Settings, then Trackpad, then the More Gestures tab.
Gestures are smooth and feel natural for browsing. But they still can't jump directly to a numbered desktop. For that you need Ctrl+number or something like SpaceJump's Quick Switcher.
Trackpad gesture reference
Hot Corners
Hot Corners let you trigger Mission Control by shoving your cursor into a corner of the screen. I know people who swear by this and people who hate it because they keep triggering it accidentally.
To set it up: System Settings, then Desktop & Dock, scroll down to the very bottom, and click Hot Corners. You can assign each corner to an action. Mission Control is one option. Others include Show Desktop, Launchpad, and putting the display to sleep.
A tip if you keep triggering corners by accident: hold a modifier key (like Command) while assigning the corner. After that, the corner only activates when you move the cursor there while holding that key. Much less accidental triggering.
A faster way to switch desktops
Ctrl+number is good, but it breaks down in a couple of situations. You have to remember which number corresponds to which project. If a fullscreen app inserts itself, the numbers shift. And past about six desktops it gets hard to keep the mapping in your head.
I built SpaceJump partly because of this. It sits in the menu bar and shows labeled desktops you can click. You can also press Command + 0 to open a Quick Switcher, type a few letters of the desktop name, and hit Enter. Works like Spotlight but for Spaces. Faster than remembering numbers once you have more than a handful of desktops.
Whether you use SpaceJump or not, enabling Ctrl+number shortcuts is worth doing. They cover 90% of switching needs.
Common questions
My Mission Control shortcuts aren't working
First check that the shortcut is actually enabled. Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Mission Control and make sure the relevant boxes are checked. If F3 doesn't work, your keyboard might require you to hold the Fn key for function keys. You can flip this in System Settings → Keyboard → "Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys."
Some third-party apps (like Karabiner-Elements or keyboard remapping tools) can intercept these shortcuts before macOS sees them. If you use anything like that, check its configuration for conflicts.
Can I customize the Mission Control shortcuts?
Partially. In System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Mission Control, you can double-click any shortcut to reassign its key combination. So if you prefer Option+1 instead of Control+1, you can change it. You can't add entirely new shortcut types though. macOS doesn't offer a native "move window to Desktop N" shortcut, for example. For that you'd need a third-party tool.
What's the fastest way to switch between Spaces?
For two or three desktops, Control+Left/Right Arrow is fine. Once you have four or more, Ctrl+number is faster because you skip the sliding animation and land directly on the Space you want. If you name your Spaces and want to switch by name instead of number, SpaceJump's Quick Switcher does that with Command+0.
Last updated: May 2026