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How-To: Easily move items to full screen apps with Mission Control

Easily move files to full screen apps using Mission Control

Mission Control is a great feature found in OS X that can simplify the process of moving items between full screen apps when combined with Hot Corners. Hot Corners, a feature that I talked about in my 10 getting started tips for new OS X users, allows you to place your mouse pointer in one of the four corners of your Mac’s screen to invoke a specific response.

When combining the power of Hot Corners with Mission Control, you can easily move items to and from full screen apps. Have a look at our video tutorial inside for the details.

Although there are a variety of ways to invoke Mission Control, I find that setting up a Hot Corner makes the most sense when it comes to moving files. Hot Corners require no interaction from the keyboard, and no complex gestures from the trackpad. Using Hot Corners allows you to invoke Mission Control while holding an item on screen using the mouse or trackpad. In other words, it basically allows you to do two things at once with relative ease.

To enable Hot Corners for Mission Control, open System Preferences → Mission Control → Hot Corners.

Once the Hot Corners panel is open, select a corner, and choose the Mission Control option. I prefer to use one of the upper corners, since the Mission Control interface is located at the top of the screen, but the decision is yours.

After linking Mission Control to a Hot Corner, it’s just a matter of dragging an item into the corner to invoke Mission Control, and dragging the same item to one of the full screen apps displayed in its interface.

File in hand, you’ll need to ensure that you hover over the desired destination of the item for at least a second before OS X will switch over to the full screen app. You can then release the file when appropriate into the desired location.

Mission Control Hot Corners Upper Right

If all of this sounds weird, be sure to check out our tutorial video above, which quickly demonstrates how it all goes down. As shown in the latter stages of the video, you can even use this technique to share text snippets between full screen apps.

Keep in mind that this is just one of many ways to move items to and from apps, full screen or otherwise. I find this method to be one of the more elegant solutions available when utilizing the built in features of OS X.

All of that said, I definitely think that there’s room for utilities that are dedicated to the task of moving around files, such as Yoink, available in the Mac App Store. I’ll be back in a future post that looks deeper into Yoink, one of my favorite ways to move items around OS X.

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Comments

  1. PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

    I don’t use MC so can’t comment on that. But I do command you on the video:
    1. zooms in when needed
    2. the audio is very good. The most important thing in video is audio; many people forget that. (Well, they also forget to rotate their iPhone to landscape before starting a video, but I digress)

    • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

      Thank you for the nice comment. Zoom is very good. It’s harder to do, but much better for the viewer. As is good sound. Glad I can provide you with a good watching experience, even if you don’t necessarily need the tutorial :P

  2. rnc - 8 years ago

    Didn’t knew that! Thanks!

  3. calisurfboy - 8 years ago

    What I find annoying is the removal of the Desktop preview. You have to move up and hover over a desktop before they appear in Mission Control. I am not sure but I think this happens when you have more than 4 screens which I always do since I am constantly editing multiple documents across a variety of windows.

    • shareef777 - 8 years ago

      Happens with just one screen as well. I noticed when going into Mission Control within a full screen app it does what it should and shows previews immediately. I’m still trying to understand the point of hiding the preview. It’s not like we need extra screen space to work, it’s a freaking PREVIEW!

  4. Wow it is going to be difficult to stop hearing “Jeff from iDownloadBlog”, but I am so happy for you and your achievements. This was a great article as I have come to expect from you, and you taught me something I can see myself using daily. Thank you, and congratulations on your move to 9to5Mac!

    • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

      Thanks Cason! I look forward to creating tons of useful tutorials. I also look forward to learning lots of things from our experienced readers as well. In fact, I’ve already learned, or at least remembered something, thanks to you @Gregorio and @Luisba.

  5. I do use Hot Corners, and I love ’em. Although, I prefer to make the corner only “hot” while holding down a modifier key. So for me, command key and bottom right corner shows the desktop. And the LaunchPad becomes much more useful with hot corners too. I don’t use a modifier key for that one though, top left corner opens Launch Pad. It’s like a giant dock that lets you organize all your apps in a place that’s super fast to get to.

    However, you don’t need Hot Corners to do what this article is describing. Just drag a file and push the mouse anywhere into the top of the screen, the mission control mode will be activated automatically. This was new in El Capitan IIRC.

    • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

      Hi Gregorio, thanks for your comment. I noticed this:

      “However, you don’t need Hot Corners to do what this article is describing. Just drag a file and push the mouse anywhere into the top of the screen, the mission control mode will be activated automatically.”

      Yes that is true. Forgot about that! Well, anyway, this will cover all Mac Users since the inception of Hot Corners. But yes, I’ll add this to my “Mission Control” list of tutorial items.

      One reason I prefer Hot Corners though is that there is less of a perceived delay. You just move it there and instantly MC opens. It also works more reliably from my experience. Tons of ways to skin a cat!

  6. Luisba (@luisba01) - 8 years ago

    Hi, with my trackpad I just hold an ítem and move it quikly to the top of the screen and Mission control opens, then I just leave the item in one of the desktops, like a full screen if I put the item in an empty desktop. No need of hot corners.
    Excuse my bad English.

    • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

      Your English isn’t bad at all. Yes, this is true. Like I said, there are *many* ways to do this, but I was just highlighting one. You can also simply hold the file to the side of the screen to switch between full screen apps.

      • Whoa, push a file being dragged into the side of the screen and it switches desktops! I did NOT know about that. Very cool.

        I often use multiple displays however. So, pushing against the side of the screen isn’t always possible as the mouse just keeps going onto the other display. Still, amazing how many little tricks there are out there that even seasoned Mac users can still discover.

  7. yojimbo007 - 8 years ago

    Jeff … Love your commentaries. Tips and trick and reviews!
    Thank you

  8. Simon Angus MacLean - 8 years ago

    Great tip! I use Yoink to do a similar job, but in many ways this is quicker and simpler. I will still continue to use Yoink as I’m able to queue up several items, but for a one off, this is my go-to trick from now on. Thank you Jeff.

  9. Whats the use of active corners, when its the basic mechanism of os x? Bring the window or any content piece closer to the up display border and mission control will open

  10. PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

    Oooh, is it TST (Tip Sharing Time)? Here’s one, somewhat undocumented:

    Ctrl-Eject-Enter: shutdown Mac
    Ctrl-Shift-Eject: shutdown screen.

  11. Fantastic Tip Jeff! What a time saver, this is one that I was not aware of, and I’ve been using Macs since the Mac Plus! Thank you for posting such amazingly useful tips, and the videos are fantastic!

  12. Neil Dishman - 8 years ago

    Just curious – perhaps I am missing a useful tool ….

    Why Mission Control / “Full Screen Apps”? In the video example whereby you used “Final Cut Pro”, couldn’t you accomplish the same effect by dragging the clip/item/etc…to the Dock, wait for Final Cut Pro to expand, and “drop” it as done in the video?

    I know that this is “one of many ways” to accomplish this feat – Not sure I understand the use of Mission Control (can’t say I have ever used it).

    Again, just curious. Perhaps I will learn something new about Mission Control.

    • Jeff Benjamin - 8 years ago

      Hi Neil. I find it easier to use Mission Control because it’s more of a visual thing. I also find that the holding-over-the-app-icon method doesn’t always yield expected results, especially when using a third-party tool like HyperDock. In a nutshell, the Mission Control method always works for me, and you can easily see a full preview of where you’re headed. But there are probably half a dozen ways to accomplish the same task, admittedly. I wanted to highlight one of my faves!

      • Neil Dishman - 8 years ago

        Many thanks for the reply. I was just curious, while at the same time making sure I was not missing out on another neat Mac feature.

Author

Avatar for Jeff Benjamin Jeff Benjamin

Jeff is the head of video content production for 9to5. He initially joined 9to5Mac in 2016, producing videos, walkthroughs, how-tos, written tutorials, and reviews. He takes pride in explaining things simply, clearly, and concisely. Jeff’s videos have been watched hundreds of millions of times by people seeking to learn more about today’s tech. Subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube to catch Jeff’s latest videos.