up vote 11 down vote favorite
6
share [g+] share [fb]

In Snow Leopard, when you Expose, you can navigate to each window by using the keyboard arrow keys. With Lion, this is not possible anymore. Does anyone know how to make the arrow keys work in Mission Control?

link|improve this question
56% accept rate
2  
You need to readjust your thinking to not need arrow keys any more. You are doing it wrong. – ta.speot.is Jul 21 '11 at 2:49
@todda: I understand the new way, but I feel like with the new feature, now I'm forced to use the mouse whereas the old way I could be much faster using just the keyboard. – ShaChris23 Jul 21 '11 at 3:25
@todda: Awesome comment! – surfasb Jul 21 '11 at 5:05
9  
No, if he's a programmer or specific kind of power user who prefers not to waste motion reaching over to his mouse/trackpad, then keyboard shortcuts are still valid. Saying he is "doing it wrong" is a pretty narrow point of view. – whaley Jul 21 '11 at 15:08
1  
@whaley: you must be psychic; I'm a programmer. ;-) – ShaChris23 Jul 21 '11 at 20:43
feedback

4 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted

Here is a list of Mission Control related keyboard actions that I've discovered through both the docs and trial and error.

There seem to be two main modes that you can launch into and each mode has it's own set of key bindings:

  1. Normal/Desktops Mode - Control-Up - this mode shows your apps for the current desktop and a row of available desktops across the top.
    • Go to Desktop N - Control-1, Control-2, and so on.
    • Go to Left Desktop - Control-←
    • Go to Right Desktop - Control-→
    • Toggle preview of highlighted application window - spacebar
    • Switch to application windows mode - `
  2. Application Windows Mode - Control+Down - this mode shows you a tiled view of all of the application windows (across all desktops) for a single application.
    • Navigate through tiled application windows - ←, →, ↑, ↓
    • Select highlighted application window - return
    • Toggle preview of selected application window - spacebar
    • Cycle forward through applications - `
    • Cycle backward through applications - tab
link|improve this answer
feedback
up vote 2 down vote

I have found that in Mission Control I can use Command-` to switch between open applications, although ⇧-Command-` does not seem to do anything. Also note that pressing return after the correct window is displayed does not exit Mission Control with that application focused; it seems that you must press escape.

You can also navigate between workspaces in mission control by pressing Command-Control and either ← or →. Once again, I find it necessary to press Esc to leave mission control with that workspace focused.

If some of these keyboard short cuts do not work for you then you can check in the Keyboard Shortcuts section of the keyboard system preferences.

link|improve this answer
I wasn't able to navigate between workspaces by pressing Command-Control <- or ->. I found that Control + 1, Control + 2, etc. would get me to the workspace that I want. – ShaChris23 Jul 21 '11 at 20:40
2  
Navigate between workspaces for me is Control <- and Control -> – ShaChris23 Jul 21 '11 at 20:43
feedback
up vote 2 down vote

You'll want to go to: System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Shortcuts -> Mission Control

There you will see commands you can bind keyboard shortcuts to.

link|improve this answer
1  
Yeah, thanks for the tip. Too bad though Mission Control preferences doesn't seem to support navigating between applications at all -- only workspaces. =( – ShaChris23 Jul 21 '11 at 20:44
feedback
up vote 0 down vote

In Keyboard Preferences > Mission Control you can bring back the keyboard commands for switching to a particular space- I've always worked with 4 spaces, and now 'Control 3' brings me to space 3, 'Control 4' to space 4 etc. I do miss having the current space displayed in the menubar, my next quest is to find this...

link|improve this answer
feedback

protected by Community♦ 18 hours ago

This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 10 reputation on this site.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.