Glenn Buikstra
Level 1 (45 points)

Q: Assigning applications to spaces under Mavericks

In mountain lion you could assign an application to a particular space or all spaces. This option no longer seems to be available in Mavericks. The problem is that mavericks remembers the old settings. Is there a way to change the old settings?

MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2008), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 27, 2013 11:54 PM

by Glenn Buikstra,Solvedanswer
Glenn Buikstra Glenn Buikstra
Level 1 (45 points)
A:

I have fixed the problem.

 

Under your login goto /library/preferences, find and delete all the spaces.plist files (I had 3). Also find and delete the dock.plist file.

 

I also did a restart just to make sure.

 

The option to assign an application to a desktop and screen is now available through the dock again.

Posted on Oct 28, 2013 3:06 PM

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Glenn Buikstra

Q: Assigning applications to spaces under Mavericks

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  • by Glenn Buikstra,Solvedanswer

    Glenn Buikstra Glenn Buikstra Oct 28, 2013 3:06 PM in response to Glenn Buikstra
    Level 1 (45 points)
    Oct 28, 2013 3:06 PM in response to Glenn Buikstra

    I have fixed the problem.

     

    Under your login goto /library/preferences, find and delete all the spaces.plist files (I had 3). Also find and delete the dock.plist file.

     

    I also did a restart just to make sure.

     

    The option to assign an application to a desktop and screen is now available through the dock again.

  • by GVBender,

    GVBender GVBender Oct 29, 2013 6:42 AM in response to Glenn Buikstra
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 29, 2013 6:42 AM in response to Glenn Buikstra

    This solution confused me because I followed these steps and whenever I right clicked an app on the dock and chose Options, it did not show the option to assign the app to a space.  I had to open Mission Control and add a third desktop, even though I am only using two displays, before I finally got the option to assign an app to a particular desktop.  This seems like a bug.  If I am using two displays, with my laptop screen being Desktop 1 and my external monitor being Desktop 2, I should not have to add a 3rd desktop just to see the option to assign an app to a particular desktop.

  • by Glenn Buikstra,

    Glenn Buikstra Glenn Buikstra Oct 29, 2013 1:53 PM in response to GVBender
    Level 1 (45 points)
    Oct 29, 2013 1:53 PM in response to GVBender

    Sorry for the confusion. My issue was that I was not getting the option in the Dock at all, and I needed to change the settings I had set under Mountain Lion.

     

    However there is a difference in functionality that I hope is fixed. You can now only assign an application to one screen or the other. I would like to assign an application to a particular desktop within a particular screen similar to what was available under OSX 10.8.

  • by meghanclare,

    meghanclare meghanclare Nov 8, 2013 3:14 PM in response to Glenn Buikstra
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 8, 2013 3:14 PM in response to Glenn Buikstra

    Thanks! This did the trick for me. I was only getting the option to have a particular app in Display 1 or 2. Once I deleted the p list files I was able to pick from different spaces. (Although, on Mavericks, the default is to now have each display have its own spaces--rather than paired spaces as it was in the past.)

  • by cklunar,

    cklunar cklunar Dec 11, 2013 1:38 AM in response to meghanclare
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 11, 2013 1:38 AM in response to meghanclare

    It doesn't work properly. On a new MBP, so a clean installation of OS X 10.9, I have assigned Safari to Space 12, but if I close Safari and restart it then it reopens in Space 2.

     

    Apple have some work to do.

  • by Glenn Buikstra,

    Glenn Buikstra Glenn Buikstra Dec 11, 2013 12:45 PM in response to cklunar
    Level 1 (45 points)
    Dec 11, 2013 12:45 PM in response to cklunar

    With 10.9 the ability to permatly assign a program to a particular space is gone, you can now only assign to screen 1 or screen 2 etc.

     

    Athough multi screen support is a lot better, it's not yet perfect. The ability to assign a program permatly to a space ( or Desktop as its now called) on screen 1 or screen 2 would certainly make it that much closer.

  • by cklunar,

    cklunar cklunar Dec 12, 2013 5:55 AM in response to Glenn Buikstra
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 5:55 AM in response to Glenn Buikstra

    The options to assign an application to a particular space are still there when you RMB Click on the Application'sicon in the Dock.

  • by cklunar,

    cklunar cklunar Jan 7, 2014 1:27 AM in response to cklunar
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jan 7, 2014 1:27 AM in response to cklunar

    Fixed my issue by unchecking System Preferences > Mission Control > Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use.

  • by mariofromnewtown,

    mariofromnewtown mariofromnewtown Jan 15, 2014 2:40 PM in response to Glenn Buikstra
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 15, 2014 2:40 PM in response to Glenn Buikstra

    I agree with Glen Buikstra. It is possible to assign an app to a particular display (ok) but NOT to assign an app to a particular desktop WITHIN a display. There is not such an option and while I tried manually, every time I restart the mac the apps have often switched desktop.

    This is annoying. You still have to do all the work of assigning apps to desktop again and again. waste of time. Would it be difficult to add the option?

  • by cklunar,

    cklunar cklunar Jan 15, 2014 4:10 PM in response to mariofromnewtown
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jan 15, 2014 4:10 PM in response to mariofromnewtown

    Do you have "System Preferences > Mission Control > Automatically rearrange Spaces" unchecked?

    Can you get it to work with a single display?

  • by mariofromnewtown,

    mariofromnewtown mariofromnewtown Jan 15, 2014 7:19 PM in response to cklunar
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 15, 2014 7:19 PM in response to cklunar

    Hi cklunar,

    I am running Mavericks 10.9.1 on a iMac 2013. The second display is a iMac 2010 in target display mode.

    I have Automatically rearrange Spaces unchecked


    Ok, I have to say that while I was preparing the answer I played with the two monitors even more and this is now what I understand:

    - suppose I have 3 desktops on each monitor: Display 1 (Desktop 1-3), Display 2 (Desktop 4-6).

    - I am working on Display 1/Desktop 1, and the app is also on Display 1/Desktop 1 and I right click on the dock icon then I won't see the option of assigning to a desktop, only to a display (see screenshot). For instance I am typing in Chrome, which is in Display 1/Desktop 1. The same would be true if I was in Display 2/Desktop 4 while Display 1 is on Desktop 1. This is why I was getting it wrong.

    Screen Shot 2014-01-16 at 1.27.55 pm.png

    - I am working on Display 1/Desktop 2, and the app is still on Display 1/Desktop 1 and I right click I will now see the option of assigning to a desktop (see screenshot).  The same would be true if I was in Display 2/Desktop 4 while Display 1 is on Desktop 2.

    Screen Shot 2014-01-16 at 1.30.09 pm.png

    - Some things are odd. For instance, I have iTunes on Display 2/desktop 6 but I would only have the choice of assigning it to Display 2/ Desktop 5 (see screenshot)

    Screen Shot 2014-01-16 at 1.37.42 pm.png

    I hope it makes sense, and I hope it is useful to others. I am relatively new to OS X.

    Mario

  • by DomenicoP,

    DomenicoP DomenicoP Jan 19, 2014 1:56 AM in response to mariofromnewtown
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 1:56 AM in response to mariofromnewtown

    I can't get it o work on Mavericks. I tried with all the possibile combinations of the Mission Control settings, maybe there is some other setting involved.

    Please report here if you find a solution.

    Regarding to this tutorial by Apple, this feature shoul always work

    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14155

    It's obviously not the case, so I hope they're gonna fix it in next releases.

  • by DomenicoP,

    DomenicoP DomenicoP Jan 19, 2014 1:58 AM in response to mariofromnewtown
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 1:58 AM in response to mariofromnewtown

    @mariofromnewtown Can you print out a screen of yours general and mission control options?

    It's pretty cool what's you're getting there.

  • by mariofromnewtown,

    mariofromnewtown mariofromnewtown Jan 19, 2014 9:26 PM in response to DomenicoP
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 19, 2014 9:26 PM in response to DomenicoP

    Here it is

    Screen Shot 2014-01-20 at 4.23.55 pm.png

    Screen Shot 2014-01-20 at 4.25.41 pm.png

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