Lion Frustrations: Mission Control

Okay, don't get me wrong, I love Lion, however Mission control is driving me crazy. It is mainly because I cannot rearrange desktops (easily at least). I have apps I have opened an put in full screen and it would be so much more user friendly if I could rearrange desktops.
Another frustration is that Mission Control does not play nicely with multiple displays. It would be nice if each desktop would display on a separate display. So desktop 1 would display on my first screen and desktop 2 would be on my second screen, then when I do a three finger swipe it would then switch to displaying desktops 2 and 3. This way makes so much more sense. That would also resolve the issue of full screen apps leaving the second display blank.
I've seen this issue brought up on the web all so often, you would think Apple would get on the ball to fix this.
I almost wish I could write an app that does this. Does anyone have any insight on how to do this? Does anyone know if one like this is already in development? This functionality is crucial to my workflow.

Yeah this is not normal at all...I'm facing the same problem....*** I use this computer to work not to brush tooth to turtles....this is really not normal please fix asap...is impossible to work like this....I miss spaces...

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Mountain Lion and Mission Control

I upgraded to Mountain Lion. Since then Mission control freezes on a daily basis and will only reset by doing a computer restart. Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions?

This happens to me too - I think the problem is somehow related to the screen saver and system sleep. There's an easy remedy:
Go to your System Preferences --> Desktop and Screen Saver. Click on the "Screen Saver" section, and click "Hot Corners". Set one of your hot corners to "Start Screen Saver".
Next time Mission Control fails, just point your mouse to the "Start Screen Saver" hot corner, and wait for the screen saver to start up. When you start working again, Mission Control will be back to normal.
It doesn't fix the problem, but it's whole lot faster than restarting or logging out each time it happens.

OS X Lion's Mission Control is missing key features of Expose

Who else agrees that Apple has missed the mark with Mission Control? It's a seemingly good idea to categorize windows by application in Mission Control, but there is now no way of seeing ALL open windows at once. For instance, I usually have multiple windows open from a single appkication, such as Safari. In Mission Control, I can only view my Safari windows stacked on top of one another and have to click each window individually to see it. Apple, PLEASE bring back the all open windows view that Expose used to have. It is one if the most crucial tools for window management. Until then, I'm going back to Snow Leopard.
Who else agrees that Mission Control should show all open windows, without stacking them on top of one another?

I think some perhaps do not realize that many people miss the actual spaces in combination with exposé. It was quite powerful for those of us that need to constantly access and shift around multiple apps. While I understand there are many users that have adopted the pad mentality, I for one still use a Wacom tablet for everything—including browsing the web—as do many other professionals. Mission Control is a catastrophe for this, and generally for everything within my workflow. Photoshop follows every desktop I move to, which is super annoying, and is a prime example of how much of a joke mission control really is (blame adobe whatever...still horrible). But more importantly, I can drag an app to a desktop, but NOT from a desktop into my current desktop. This is fatal to productivity when working in programming, 3D, compositing, design, etc..
I am pleased to hear there could be some evolution taking place with Exposé; regardless of my personal views. Anything is better than what we have now. A touch pad dominant environment may be the wave of OSX future to many, but to me it's only one step closer to soley using Linux based operating systems.
Sorry for the long post... Hopefully a few of you that have never worked in this way can see how it goes beyond just Exposé from certain perspectives... RIP spaces . Exposé is only partially as good without them imho. Open spaces > then exposé while in spaces mode > move one app to one space, another to another, put anything exactly where you want it, all without closing out—meanwhile being able to see literally every document/app perfectly clear.

1 OSX Lion Mission Control vs Snow Leopard Expose can't we combine the two (by leaving older Expose options inside) and get Apple back to leaping forward again?

So I am a web/software developer and I am having major beef with OSX Lion's Mission Control. While I think Mission Control and Application Windows are interesting additions to the multi-tasking nature and scheme of the OS, removing the older Expose Spaces and All Windows is a huge mistake. Couldn't Apple have just left all of the old stuff in? Then the system would be complete. As pretty as Mission Control and Application Windows is, the older Snow Leopard Spaces and Expose moved much faster and tamed all of my apps in a very efficient way.
Here is why Mission Control is not as fast as Spaces and Expose:....
1. With Spaces all of the desktops and their connected monitors were consolidated to one monitor in which you can easily see everything going on from a birds eye view. You cloud easily drag open windows between them freely and even swap spaces. This was huge because you could see everything. You could even activate All Windows over Spaces and see everything..Mission Control will group everything but you can't move programs across desktops unless it's the main desktop to the little desktop. Nor can you move windows across monitors. This is frustrating. Also the desktop are split to their respective monitor so I no longer have a birds-eye key-map access.
2. All Windows is so necessary and slick. Mission Control or Application Windows can't quite keep up. If I have a cluttered desktop and hit all windows, I can get any window at any time no matter how buried it is. Application Windows is useful but only applies to the focused application…but what if it's buried? I have to activate mission control first, select one of the windows from the program group, then activate Application Windows to get to that window. Also if there are many windows open for an application, Mission Control cannot replace All Windows because they stack and you can't quite tell which of the windows you want is accessible in that stack.
The bottom line is, put both of them together! Keep the old functionality as an option, because truth be told, the old way of doing things is still considerably faster under heavy work loads. I would use the Snow Leopard expose features more often. There is still room for Application Windows and Mission Control, but even after re-training myself I feel I'm moving at 70% of the multitasking speed that I used to move at before using Snow Leopard Expose. I mean this legitimately, I develop using multiple OS's along with video chat and instead of being a leap forward, Lion is a step backward and that just isn't like apple, everything Apple has done has been leaps and bounds forward. Let's leap forward and not only have all the sweet new features that Lion offers, but combine with the productive features that really moved and maybe just integrate into Lion's style. Bottle that and you have something sweeter than Yoohoo.

I completely agree with airbnboy. I used to be able to quick organised different windows within the same app to different spaces (now "desktops" for no apparent reason). This worked very smoothly in expose/spaces. I'd use one gesture to get to spaces, then another for expose, and I'd have all my windows in all spaces visible.
Now, I can't even see all of my windows in specific to one desktop! The best I can do is double scroll to see *some parts* of the windows on a desktop. So now, selecting a window for a specifc app is huge pain.
Worse than this, on moving windows from a desktop to another in, Mission Control will change the ordering of the stacks (per app, not the windows in the stacks). Umm, what is the possible benefit there?
So, now there is no use of spatial memory - e.g. Window X for App Y was in the top left of all my windows in the top left space, and I want to move it now. It's no longer possible to see all app windows in a specific "desktop", and much more effort is required to move windows around.
Great, well done Apple. Can we please, please have Expose and Spaces back as an option? Or at the very least, some way to view all windows for a specifc app on a specific desktop - and by "view", I mean see the whole window, not just a tiny indicator of the window, or a slightly expanded stack that may not give enough context.
The only reason I "upgraded" to Lion was to get XCode 4.2.

Mission Control messing with Lion's default background

Strange and frustrating Mission Control behaviour in the attached picture. Lion's default background pops-up to block most of the desktops. This happens atleast with my external Acer display (with Apple's display port to dvi adapter) but it has sometimes occurred with the native display too. Then there is this another annoying feature when I shutdown my computer and the OS asks do I want to open up the same windows on the start-up. Lion surely opens up everything but every app window is on the same desktop so I have to re-arrange them. Changing Mission Control preferences does not help, the apps are cluttered on the same desktop on startup.

Please read this: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Blocklisting/Blocked_Graphics_Drivers

Mission Control is a step backwards

As kids we learn how to organize things and more often than not, the first step is to lay out everything so you can see EVERYTHING. Picking one out of 20 is really EASY for us humans. That's what we learn as kids -- putting stuff together like puzzles. This comes naturally. And Expose+Spaces was just that....
I have been using Mission Control for a a long time now but I can't for the life of me figure out why Apple would ditch something that has worked well in the past.
Mac OS Lion's Mission Control tries to be smart, but its being smart in all the wrong places:
Side swipe is inefficient. I have quite a few apps running in full screen. I get tired of swiping left and right to "locate" my stuff.
Full screen apps and dashboard as tiny thumbnails in mission control? Its a cluster**** (pardon my frustration here) of stuff put together and it confuses me more that the previous expose+spaces.
Apps of the same kind grouped together? Now I have this sinking/uneasy feeling that I can't find what I'm looking for because its not showing me *all* my windows or is buried under some other window. The confidence I had with expose+spaces is now lost.
When Windows came out with Win+Tab functions (that 3D window thing) I always said how really useuless that was when compared to expose especially because it hid 1 window behind another. And fast forward 3+ years, Mac OS X is taking the same step back by grouping all browser windows together.
Expose+Space was simple, uncomplicated and unassuming.
Mission Control is complex, complicated and totally assuming.
Please bring Expose+Spaces back or evolve Mission Control to something like it.
PS-1: Expose of safari should include tabs in the expose view. Why is this so hard? Why do I need to open new safari windows to see it in expose/Mission control?
PS-2: I know there's been feedback around this in this forum and I'm doing my part to make myself heard hopefully by Apple -- I've done the feedback thing already.

Yay! Apple listened, err, I think.
http://osxdaily.com/2012/07/30/expose-mac-os-x-mountain-lion/
You can almost get the old style Expose back with "Group windows by application" turned off in Mountain Lion.
Not entirely quite the same as the old style Expose. But I can live with this. Side swipe is still inefficient and I end up doing this often:
- Swipe left
- Oops, this isn't the right window.
- Swipe up to get Mission Control.
- Find the right window.
Side swipe never gives me the thing I'm looking for and as a result I'm not very confident using it unless I have a single full screen app running. Anyway I have adjusted to use Mission Control instead to switch between full screen apps. Its not all that bad with that setup.
Now, Safari 6 has side swipe and I'm not loving it either. But I guess we'll have to live with it. Anything is better than nothing I guess..

Screen jumping in Mission Control after wake

I have a mid 2012 Macbook Air running Lion. It's a fantastic machine and I'm enjoying using it very much. One small issue that I've noticed occurs over half of the time after I wake it from sleep, either by opening the clamshell or hitting the keyboard/mouse click. I usually have two desktops and a few full-screen apps open in mission control, and what happens is immediately after wake the screen switches from whatever desktop or app I was using to some other desktop or app, as if I'd swiped the trackpad left/right with three fingers. This is kinda frustrating because the app that I was last using is usually the app I want to use when the computer wakes up again and so I have to go into Mission Control and navigate back to it.
I've searched google and various support forums using keywords like "Mission Control wake switching problem", but have come up short. I can't be the only one experiencing this, can I?
The only other factor that might be relevant is that I migrated all the data from my 2008 Macbook running Snow Leopard to this Macbook Air running Lion. Maybe some of my Exposée/Spaces preferences are interfering invisibly with Lion's Mission Control? I think thats how I've still got double-tap-and-hold to drag enabled, which I am very happy about.
Thanks for any attention or help you can offer.

I googled so many iterations of terminology for the issue for so long before coming across this. I have an 11" air on ML and have this issue. I didn't notice the issue under lion, but it has been there since I upgraded to ML and persisted through all updates. I just did the 2nd air update to bringing my system to OS X 10.8.2 (12C3006).
After I put it to sleep, it's set to wait 5 minutes before requiring password.
Sometimes it's hard to reproduce at will, but it seems to occur after the Macbook has been asleep for at least 15 or 20 seconds and will happen until some indeterminate time thereafter (or in my case 5 minutes max, but still not always that long, and never after requiring pass).
My screen either shifts back to the main desktop or one fullscreen app/desktop to the left (no discernible pattern on that one).
Nothing shows up in console as this occurs that seems related.
I had some other complaints about airplaying video and general graphics performance (my late 08/2009 13" macbook performs subjectively better despite being objectively only 50-75% as fast), so after doing everything conceivable to troubleshoot the issue (including multiple re-formats and re-installs), I took it in.
Since this was the only thing I could readily reproduce that was outright wrong (they wouldn't even look at airplay and dismissed UI stutter), everything was based on this. We couldn't reproduce it on the others in store after setting them up identically, so they said they'd take it to check further. Initially they did nothing but a diagnostic and tried to give it back to me (I had to wait three days with no contact for that!). The girl claimed they had made some sort of software change, but after I got it home, it was readily apparent that they'd done nothing. I brought it back in that same evening (somewhat irked at that point), and they took it back promising they'd send it off to the next tier or whatever and make sure I was in the loop along the way. After several more days with no contact they tell me it's ready. This time they say they've changed the logic board (which I'm inclined to believe they did since I got an email saying my account had been logged into by a 13 inch air right after I reinstalled and put in iCloud info — are the mobos the same size between the two?) They did that and gave it back to me, rattled off some bs about it "probably being within specification" (aka "we don't know; please go away"), and sent me on my way.
Yet again I was able to reproduce, so I reformatted again. Issue seemed to be gone, but I just noticed it back again. Initially I thought I had traded issues. After the replacement my screen stays black for 15-20 seconds after trying to wake before giving pass screen (only after it's been asleep long enough to enter standby).
So after all of that, unless there's an issue with the SSD, this would seem to be purely a software bug, and one specifically with ML at that. I don't believe there's third party influence because I've been able to reproduce on almost completely clean installs of ML. I'm pretty sure I've done it on completely clean, but I know for a fact I've reproduced it with only Chrome and Pages installed. The only other thing that could be of influence is that I synced iCloud stuff, but when I took it to Apple store we created a new user and were able to reproduce there.
This bug is particularly irksome because I shut my macbook any time I think I'll be leaving it alone (for battery), but am somewhat inclined to open it again for something right as the window starts for this to happen (but not long after unless I'm going to wait more than 5 minutes, which is why I'm not sure how long the window is).
So I know a lot of this is ranting, and ultimately doesn't really help, but I didn't just want to say "me too."

Can't See All Windows in Mission Control

My favorite feature on the mac has always been the ability to see all open windows with a simple click (F3 on my keyboard). I often have multiple word documents and multiple pdf files open, as well as two or three different browser windows, several image files, and who knows what else. It is very common for me to have 10-20 open windows and it was always a huge help to be able to see them all at once, with filenames that would pop up when hovering with the mouse. This feature made it incredibly easy to move from file to file and truly see everything on the desktop at once.
As far as I can tell, this is no longer possible with Lion and Mission Control. Now if I have multiple windows open in a single application and enter Mission Control I see them tiled over one another, without filenames displayed for any. Sure, I can see all the applications I have open, but what good is that if I can't see which files I have? It's making it very difficult to work effectively-- basically I have to minimize each window one by one until I find the one I want.
Am I missing something? Can anyone using Lion tell me how to see a graphic representation of ALL open windows, with filenames? Like I could in the good old days? Or is there something like a "see all open files" ability in Finder?
Thanks!

I know what you mean - it was nice to see all the windows.
Tell Apple here: Apple - Mac OS X - Feedback
To mitigate this problem there is "App expose" which lets you see all open windows for any given application.
And, in Mission Control you can spread a given application's windows a little further apart or you can preview any given window within Mission Control.
How you do all that stuff depends on how you've configured mouse, keyboard and trackpad. For example, on my trackpad, to spread MC windows a bit I slide two fingers up (with cursor over the group of windows). To preview a given window, I put the cursor over the window and hit the space bar. For me, App expose can be activated by 4 fingers down for the frontmost app, and four fingers down with the cursor over the chosen app in the dock.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4689
charlie

Ever since I upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion, Mission Control quits unexpectedly?

I upgraded to Mountain Lion not too long ago and ever since I did, Mission Control just quits. I can't use the three finger swipe upward method, clicking the icon on my dock, or the button on my keyboard. I'm incredibly frustrated and nothing remedies the situation at all, other than restarting my computer. This happens multiple times a day, every single day. Is that really the only way to fix this? Sorry if this question has already been answered.

This is not a virus. However, it definitely sounds like there's something wrong with your Mac. It's hard to say what that might be without more information. It could be RAM, as roam points out, though that wouldn't be my first thought. Incompatible third-party software is a far more likely explanation. Try some of the fixes in Understanding upgrade nightmares.

How can i use my pictures for Mission Control Spaces in Lion?

How do I get a chosen selection of my own photos to be available for use as desktop pictures, with a different one for each Space in Mission Control in Lion?
I have a new Macbook Air, Thunderbolt display and Lion.

As long as your Office for Mac is 2011, you will have no problems using the programs. If it is the Office for Mac 2008 version, there have been some mixed reviews. 2004 will not work at all.
I have the 2011 version and have not had any problems since upgrading to Lion.

Frustrating lack of support for Mission Control / Spaces on Mac OS

I'm posting this on the InDesign board, but this question applies equally to all apps in the Creative Suite.
Is there any way to make InDesign/Creative Suite work properly with Spaces (a feature that has been around for years now)? It is incredibly frustrating to not be able to use this excellent organisational aid with any of the Adobe apps. There seems to be a whole mishmash of problems with it, from pallettes disappearing and moving to a different space to the document you are working on, to entire apps not being visible in Mission Control. Not to mention problems when trying to hide/unhide apps.
When I'm working with any other apps on my system, I can take advantage of Mission Control, but have forego these advantages when using the Creative Suite. Isn't it really about time that Adobe put some effort into supporting these OS-level features. Whether you favour Mac OS or Windows, you should be able to take advantages of the system you prefer to work on.
Is there any word on whether CS6 will support these features? (I'm not exactly holding my breath).
Thanks.

When I'm working with any other apps on my system, I can take advantage of Mission Control, but have forego these advantages when using the Creative Suite. Isn't it really about time that Adobe put some effort into supporting these OS-level features. Whether you favour Mac OS or Windows, you should be able to take advantages of the system you prefer to work on.
Is there any word on whether CS6 will support these features? (I'm not exactly holding my breath).
There is no word on anything about InDesign CS6 yet. (Those who know can't say, and I'm not aware of any substantive leaked information.)
I think that Spaces/Mission Control support is probably predicated on the Carbon to Cocoa conversion. So until InDesign is a Cocoa app, this is unlikely to improve. Personally I manage to avoid using Spaces to any significant degree, so I don't really notice these things. Have you tried Photoshop, which is a Cocoa app? Does it behave better?
I don't know to what extent these issues are specific to the app, or all tied up in libraries that are common to all the Adobe apps.

Indesign cs6 menu and tool bar disappear between windows using mission control in mountain lion

heres 2 screen grabs before and after. while navigating between 'spaces' using mission control in mountain lion. issue - the menu and tools bars disappear - not all of them just parts of them. to get back i hit 'tab' button twice which hides and shows tools. very annoying - does anyone know of a fix or is this another bug which i have to live with. im using a macpro june 2012/running 10.8.4 and 2 screens - left for artboard - right for all tool windows.

thanks steve - yes that works as does using the tab key - all well....until i move to another 'space' and then come back again.
for example: my setup is like this - no2 space has indesign project. no3 space has photoshop. so im working on a page within indesign and i need to edit an image- i double click the pic and it opens in photoshop on the other 'space' save the file and go back to indesign to update pic and find menu/tools all over the place - so hit tab twice back to normal - until i 'move' out of that space into another - photoshop/ mail/ whatever - as i toggle between spaces the indesign menu will always be 'corrupt' for a better word. hope that makes sense.

I have a MacBook and I recently upgraded to Lion, but I can't do everything Lion has to offer. For example I can't do the 3 finger slide up gesture to go to mission control it won't go? Why?

I have a MacBook and I recently upgraded to Lion, but I can't do everything Lion has to offer. For example I can't do the 3 finger slide up gesture to go to mission control it won't go? Why?

To see which model you have go to the Apple in the upper left corner and select About This Mac, then click on More Info. When System Profiler comes up check the Model Identifier.
For MacBooks it's only the Late 2008 model 5,1 Aluminum Unibody and the Late 2009 model 6,1 and Mid 2010 model 7,1 White Unibody that have the multi-touch trackpad.

Mission control on OsX mountain lion

My mission control on OsX mountain lion does not smoothly zoom out or in when showing all the apps, how do I restore that function?

Apple are revamping support, you'll see something like this - select Apps and Software etc:
...next screen should have Purchases, Billing and Redemption links.
AC

How do I add spaces in mission control in mountain lion?

I use an external monitor on the right side of my mbp, the external monitor (when in use) is my main screen. I want my (auto retracting) dock on the right side of my right screen (the external one). The top right corner is my hot corner for mission control.
With this setup, when I move my mouse to the right top corner I'll enter mission control, but somehow the "add a new space pop-up button" will not show up. I haven't tried this setup in Lion so I do not know if this is a bug for ML. I really like my dock on the right side of the screen, left is no option and I'm sick of having it at the bottom, but I do want to be able to add spaces, any thoughts how to do this?

multiple ways,
go to mission control and:
hold option, a half of a desktop with a plus will appear, click it.
drag an application's window next to the spaces there are already.
put an app in fullsreen mode.
move mouse over the top left side of the screen, and the desktop with the plus sign will appear to add a new space.

Lion Frustrations: Mission Control

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