Multitasking on Mac has long been a sore spot. In fact, between Snap Layouts and Snap Groups, it is one of the main advantages windows 11 continues to have on MacOS.
Or so I thought.
Little did you know that MacOS also has a neat productivity trick up its sleeve known as hot corners. It’s been around forever, but once I started using this feature, I couldn’t keep my hands off my Mac Mini, which helped me figure out how it can be used to overcome some of the shortcomings of macOS and catch up with what’s new. Windows can do. .
Desktop screen corner is like show desktop
One of the things I use a lot in Windows is the ability to bring up the desktop with a single click. This is because I often stack my most used files on the desktop, as well as some critical applications for my daily workflow. You can show your desktop in Windows by clicking the thin line next to the date and time. It’s a critical feature that’s been in Windows for a while and it’s very simple.
Well, with Hot Corners on MacOS, I can do the same thing. Hot Corners, found in System Preferences in the menu desktop and screensaver, can be set to use the corners of the screen to automatically launch an application or menu. Setting it to show my desktop was one of the first things I wanted to try.
Once selected, Hot Corners now shows my desktop by simply hovering over the bottom right hand side of my screen. This is what I usually do on Windows, and now it works on MacOS just as easily. It’s a very convenient way to peek at the desktop without having to minimize all my open windows.
The app’s Windows screen corner is like Alt + Tab
Another thing I use a lot on Windows is Alt + Tab. This is a great way to switch between open apps. It is true that MacOS also has this feature. You’ll get a slim preview window that will show you icons for your open apps. However, the preview doesn’t show what’s happening in open windows and groups all open apps together as one.
Well, having used Windows most of my life and being a fan of Windows, I found that the Windows feature of the app in Hot Corners looks a lot like this. Once set up, I can hover over the top right of my screen and see all instances (open and minimized) of an app.
MacOS will even show you the minimized instance of an app window at the bottom of the screen, with a quick way to bring it back. It really helps me get back to my windows faster, just like Alt + Tab on Windows.
Mission Control screen corner is like Snap Layouts
Snap Layouts in Windows allows you to organize your open windows in various ways for better multitasking. Mission Control on MacOS is a bit like that. When I set it up through Hot Corners, I see all my open apps, just like I would when clicking one of the options in a Snap Layout window. I can then click on one to bring it to the front as needed and then drag it where I want it on the screen.
Mission Control may not “snap” the window for me like Windows 11’s Snap Layouts do, but it’s similar in that you get a view of all open apps and a full-screen preview of what what is happening in them to switch between . to break windows, i use showwhich uses keyboard shortcuts similar to Snap Assist in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
The corner of the LaunchPad screen is like the Start menu
Alright, I’ll finish with the last thing I noticed about Hot Corners. There’s an opening to set it to show LaunchPad, which lists all installed apps on macOS.
As a fan of Windows, this really reminds me of the Start menu. Every time I move the mouse to click the Start menu, it’s always to open an app.
With LaunchPad Hot Corner, I can easily open an application on my Mac, just like on Windows. Who would have known it could be so simple? You may finally start using LaunchPad as intended.
One more way I’m becoming a Mac fanatic
Active corners are just another way i’m slowly becoming to a Mac fanatic. I already talked about how it attracted me in the past thanks to the M1 chip and the Mac Mini which is already optimized and faster than my main PC (a Surface Laptop Studio).
With cool new features like Stage Manager, Continuity Camera, and an updated Mail app in the next version of macOS, I may be moving for good very soon.
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