How to Shuffle Between Multiple Desktops on a Mac

Quickly shuffle from desktop to desktop.
1 minute

I am a busy person, and I use my Mac every day, so organizing my Mac is not just important, but essential to my sanity. Having an organized desktop, apps and windows that I can easily switch between, allows me to be more productive, less stressed, and more efficient.

One of the ways I keep my Mac organized is by creating multiple desktops on my Mac, so that I can have an app I need in full screen on one desktop and a window I need to reference on another. I can have an entire desktop dedicated to one app or window, while another desktop might have multiple windows ready for me to use.

The point is, I can customize each of those desktops to make things easier on me. So, when I am working on my Mac, I can be as effective as possible. In this guide, I show you how to shuffle between multiple Mac desktops in under a minute.

Let's get started!

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Plan Your Windows or Apps

First, you'll want to create as many desktops as you need on your Mac. Once you have the amount of desktops you need, you can organize each desktop based on your preferences.

For example, you might have one desktop dedicated to researching on Google Chrome or Safari, one desktop dedicated to Pages or Microsoft Word, and another desktop dedicated to the software or window you are working on. Decide what might work best for you.

Once you've decided what windows you would like to use for what desktops, open them up on your main desktop and move onto the next step. As you can see, I have Chrome and Microsoft Word opened.

Shuffle to the Right

Now, let's drag and drop each app or window to the preferred desktop. First, press and hold the window you want to drag using your trackpad or mouse.

Then, to shuffle to the right, and see desktops one, two, and so on, press Control on the left side of your keyboard (ctrl^) and the right arrow on the right side of your keyboard (>). You can do this as many times as you need to reach whatever desktop you'd like to reach.

For example, if you are on your main desktop, press ctrl + > once to get to desktop two, twice to get to desktop three, and so on.

Shuffle to the Left

Next, you can drag or drop whatever windows or apps you'd like to the desktops on the left as well.

To get back to your main desktop, or to shuffle from desktop three back to desktop two, and so on, press Control on the left side of your keyboard (ctrl^) and the left arrow on the right side of your keyboard (<).

Alternatively, if you want all your windows in full screen, you can put them in full screen, and it automatically creates a new desktop for you to shuffle to.

Organize your Mac with multiple desktops.
1 minute

If you're a student or use your Mac for work, then you know what it's like to have multiple windows or apps open at a time, and how messy that can sometimes make your Mac desktop.