MacBook Pro Mission Control Space switching shortcut issue

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Level 1

24 points

MacBook Pro Mission Control Space switching shortcut issue

This is a question about the keys to "Move left / right on Space" in Mission Control.

The default is "Control-Arrow", which is great on a desktop when there is a control key next to the arrow key.

BUT on a new Macbook Pro, they are on opposite sides!

I would like to remap this key sequence so that "Command-Arrow" shifts Spaces. But the option to specify the "Keyboard Shortcut" for this operation has been removed from System Preferences!

Does anyone know how to do this? With many hours of work I was able to modify com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist

to move *one* of these to Command-Arrow, but not the other. I also tried using Karabiner.

The upshot was that all the keys stopped working and I had to re-install Preferences completely from scratch.

All my previous laptops and desktops have these keys in the right position (both on the right). Does Macbook Pro / Tahoe really break this?!

Thanks for any help or ideas?

BTW - the remapping commands I tried - which didn't work - were

defaults write com.apple.symbolichotkeys AppleSymbolicHotKeys -dict-add 79 "<dict><key>enabled</key><true/><key>value</key><dict><key>type</key><string>standard</string><key>parameters</key><array><integer>65535</integer><integer>123</integer><integer>524288</integer></array></dict></dict>"

defaults write com.apple.symbolichotkeys AppleSymbolicHotKeys -dict-add 80 "<dict><key>enabled</key><true/><key>value</key><dict><key>type</key><string>standard</string><key>parameters</key><array><integer>65535</integer><integer>124</integer><integer>524288</integer></array></dict></dict>"

MacBook Pro (M5 Max, 2026)

Posted on Jul 9, 2026 10:17 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

6x6

Level 7

23,211 points

Jul 9, 2026 10:34 AM in response to Doxtor

In System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Mission Control, double-click the current key combination to edit and modify it.

Otherwise, you could use the 3-finger swipe on the trackpad. (Swipe up to show Mission Control, swipe left or right to go the previous or next space.

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Answer 2

Doxtor Author

Level 1

24 points

Jul 9, 2026 9:40 PM in response to Doxtor

I finally found a solution. There is a way to remap just the *right command key* to "control" using hdutil.

sudo hidutil property --set '{"UserKeyMapping":[{"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingSrc":0x7000000E7,"HIDKeyboardModifierMappingDst":0x7000000E0}]}'

To get this to work, say from a Terminal window, you also need to turn on "Input Monitoring" for the app (Terminal in this case). It takes effect immediately. But it is not persistent - you need to add a LaunchDaemon for that.

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Answer 3

Jul 9, 2026 12:14 PM in response to Doxtor

I give a 👍🏽 to using the trackpad gestures to move from space to space. These are second nature to me on my MacBook.

I also do like the ability to shortcut by Control ( ⌃ ) + number key, e.g. ⌃1 or ⌃2 to move to the first or the second space, and so on. This can easily be done on the new MBP keyboard with the left hand.

Find the settings for these in System Settings... > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Mission Control.

You can also enable/disable the Control+arrow key shortcuts there as well.

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Answer 4

Doxtor Author

Level 1

24 points

Jul 9, 2026 9:43 PM in response to 6x6

As I wrote, " The option to specify the "Keyboard Shortcut" for this operation has been removed from System Preferences!" (In latest Tahoe OS). See below.

[Edited by Moderator]

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