I'd like to permanently see a clickable list of windows I have open, in the same way that the taskbar allows in Windows. Can I do this on Mac?
Some details:
- i have many virtual desktops (spaces), so often a single application has windows on many of them.
- I often have multiple windows of each application, such as the terminal or browser, on the same virtual desktop
- I have multiple monitors, if it matters.
Edit: When I say 'permanently see a clickable list of windows I have open' I mean that I want to see every window I have open, and I'd like to be able to click on each one to open that window. I'm not looking for the newer behaviour where tasks are clustered by application.
03 Answers
On Mac there's a visual window management tool called Exposé. On recent Macs, the default key is F3. (I think it used to be F11 on older MacBook keyboards.)
F3: show all open windowsCtrl F3: show current application windowsCmd F3: hide all windows to show the desktop
Clicking on a window will bring it to the foreground.
While in Exposé, you can use the Tab key to switch apps and see their windows. Google "Exposé keyboard shortcuts" for more tricks.
You can assign the Exposé key and see the assigned shortcut keys in System Preferences.
1I use DragThing and have simulated a windows style taskbar along the bottom of my screen.
See here:
1I'm not too familiar with the Windows taskbar so maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but the Dock seems to serve the same purpose. Maybe it just does it differently than what you expect.
- Click an app icon to switch to it. All of the app's windows will be brought forward.
- Right-click an icon to select from the list of windows for that app.
Update: The Dock fulfills the basic needs of a task bar, but in your comment you mentioned that what you're looking for is specifically tailored for virtual desktops and shows separate lists for the tasks in each desktop. You're right, the standard Dock represents all of the open windows & apps together.
Unfortunately Apple's virtual desktop implementation "Spaces" is lacking for true task-oriented separation like you're used to. Spaces feels like an afterthought: the window manager & applications just weren't designed with it in mind. This extends beyond just the Dock: it's conceptual.
The Mac is more application-centric than window-centric and the virtual desktop paradigm doesn't fit as well as other operating systems where each window behaves like its own independent application instance that acts as a unit.
As an example, note how Mac applications typically remain open when their last window is closed. Consider which "space" should an app belong to when it has no open windows, and how would it be shown in your concept of a task bar?
11
