OS X Yosemite: Zoom to Mission Control

Zoom to Mission Control

Mission Control gives you a bird’s-eye view of what’s open on your Mac. It shows all of your spaces, and all open windows, including those in full-screen view. If you have many overlapping windows, Mission Control makes it easy to find the one you need.

Screen zoomed to Mission Control

Zoom to Mission Control

To see all your open windows, do the following:

  • From a trackpad: Swipe up using three or four fingers.

  • From the keyboard: Press the Mission Control key. Or, press Control-Up Arrow.

    Mission Control keyboard key

Your open windows are grouped by app. To go to a window, click it. You can also click the thumbnail images at the top of the screen to go to full-screen apps and spaces.

To leave Mission Control, swipe again or press the key(s) you used to enter Mission Control.

Clear the desktop temporarily

To move all windows out of the way and view the desktop, press Command (⌘)-Mission Control key. Or, press F11. (On a portable keyboard press Fn-F11.)

You can also spread out on your trackpad with your thumb and three fingers.

To move the windows back to their places, press the keys again.

You can also spread in on your trackpad with your thumb and three fingers.

To turn on or change the trackpad gestures, use Trackpad preferences. To open Trackpad preferences, choose Apple menu > System preferences, then click Trackpad.

View all windows for the current app

To see all open windows for the app you’re currently using, press Control-Down Arrow.

You can also swipe down on your trackpad with three fingers.

To return the desktop to normal, press the keys again.

You can also swipe up on your trackpad with three fingers.

To turn on or change the trackpad gestures, use Trackpad preferences. To open Trackpad preferences, choose Apple menu > System preferences, then click Trackpad.

Set Mission Control preferences and shortcuts

  1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Mission Control.

  2. Select the checkboxes to turn on any Mission Control preferences. You can also choose to turn on Dashboard.

  3. In the Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts section, click the pop-up menus to choose keyboard shortcuts, mouse shortcuts, or both.

  4. Click Hot Corners, click any of the pop-up menus, then choose what you want to happen when you move the pointer to the corresponding screen corner.

    After you set an active corner, you can move your pointer to that screen corner to see the result.

Last Modified: Sep 23, 2015
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