Mission Control keyboard shortcuts for Spaces are still limited to 16

Not sure if people use Mission Control quite the way I do, so throwing out comments and pointing out a keyboard shortcuts bug (that I'm also submitting).


When I previously used Mission Control under Mountain Lion, I would work with secondary display, and I would usually have 9-12 Spaces open at the same time. This allowed me to segregate different activities, some being frequent quick tasks, and others that would last days. I was aware that the maximum of Spaces was 16, so I would try to reduce my tasks when they exceeded 12. The only thing I took care about was physically moving windows to the main display before disconnecting the secondary display (to avoid osx getting confused when moving to a different secondary display).


I switched over to Mavericks a few weeks ago, and I have been learning the new mechanics. I am okay with how Spaces are separate for each display. However, due to how I would have many Spaces open, I am now relying on keyboard shortcuts for Spaces. Because I often want my Spaces paired between left-hand and right-hand display, I create twenty Spaces (i.e., ten for each display), such that my keyboard shortcuts are as follows:


Ctrl + 1 = Desktop 1

Ctrl + Alt 1 = Desktop 11


Ctrl + 2 = Desktop 2

Ctrl + Alt 2 = Desktop 12


etc.



In this manner, I can keep Spaces paired up when switching between my activities, plus be able to occasionally switch a single Spaces pane.


Setting up the keyboard shortcuts is done in Preferences >> Keyboard >> Mission Control. What was initially confusing is that the "Switch to Desktop X" options do not appear unless you first create the extra Spaces. However, despite having created twenty Spaces, note how the shortcuts only go up to 16 (see screenshot).


This appears to be an oversight based on how Spaces were previously limited to 16 in Mountain Lion. From my perspective, this is technically a bug because it is an artificial limit on how I use Spaces.



User uploaded file



After searching for an official limit on the number of Spaces that one can have open (in Mavericks), I found the following support page that claims 16, but this is clearly no longer correct.


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



I suppose that I could just keep creating Spaces until I hit some sort of limit (i.e., limited by resources). Would be easier if the limit (or lack of limit) were simply stated.

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Jan 23, 2014 11:06 AM

Reply
3 replies

Jul 7, 2014 10:43 AM in response to Eager Beager

This seems to be ongoing issue because bug not fixed. I haven't received any bug report feedback, so not sure if being ignored. Seems simple enough on the surface of things.


  1. Using Mavericks 10.9.4
  2. In System Preferences >> Mission Control, set “Displays have separate Spaces” = ON
  3. With two displays, create twenty Spaces (i.e., ten for each display)
  4. Go System Preferences >> Keyboard >> Shortcuts >> Mission Control
  5. There will be “Switch to Desktop X” for 1 through 16, but none for 17 through 20.
  6. This is a bug.

Aug 15, 2014 8:16 AM in response to Eager Beager

So I recently bought a replacement for my home system and have been steadily adding software and tweaking. When I started adding Spaces, I found that I was limited to the old cap of 16, rather than being able to have 20 (i.e., 10 separate Spaces for each display).


This is disappointing because I have been getting good mileage by having 10 Spaces for each display. My only previous complaint was the 16 Space cap, which had been a hangover from Mountain Lion.


With 10 Spaces for each display, I could setup my keyboard shortcuts as follows:


  • Left-hand display = Desktop [1..10] = ^ [1..0]
  • Right-hand display = Desktop [11.20] = ^⌥ [1..0]



However, with the 16 Space cap, the best that I can currently do is:


  • Left-hand display = Desktop [1..8] = ^ [1..8]
  • Right-hand display = Desktop [9..16] = ^⌥ [1..8]



Instead of enforcing the 16 Space cap, it would have been more convenient to increase it to a 20 Space cap, such that one could arrange Spaces for the entire row of number keys (i.e., 1..0].


This strikes me as lazy coding. Does anyone know why 16 was originally chosen?

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Mission Control keyboard shortcuts for Spaces are still limited to 16

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