Fortunately, Mac computers come with three built-in features that can help you manage your digital workspace effectively, enhancing your workflow in line with today’s hectic pace of getting things done.
Split View Lets You View Two Apps Side by Side
Split View is a neat but little-known feature that allows you to fill your Mac screen with two apps without having to manually move and resize each app. See above for an example of Chrome and Word being viewed in Split View.
It’s a simple three-step process to bring up Split View:
Click and hold the full-screen button in the top-left corner of an app’s window. After holding the button, you should see the window shrink, one side or the other will highlight to show you where you’ll place the window. Click to place the current window on the left or right side of the screen. You can then select another app window you’ve already got open to fill the other side of the screen.
This can be a brilliant way to transfer information between apps, multitask, or just fit everything on your screen in a tidy fashion.
Connect an External Monitor to Increase Your Screen Real Estate
Similar to Split View, connecting your Mac device to an external monitor can be an excellent way to increase screen real estate, especially thanks to the dual mirroring function that can be found in System Preferences.
While the screenshot above shows the Mac screen and monitor in mirror mode, with this disabled, you can effectively place two completely separate workspaces on your two displays—one on your laptop screen, and another on your monitor screen. This is another great feature for users needing to manage multiple workspaces.
Go to System Preferences > Displays while your monitor is connected to choose how you want it to work.
Create Virtual Desktops and Spaces to Separate Your Apps
Lastly, for those who need even more workspace separation, or can’t use a monitor, creating new Virtual Desktops or Spaces can help to manage tasks efficiently. This effectively gives you dozens of new windows where you can place apps or information.
You can add new Spaces by simply pressing F3, heading up to the top of your window, and pressing the small ‘+’ button at the top-right of the screen.
To scroll between Spaces on a trackpad, swipe left or right with three or four fingers. On a Magic Mouse, swipe with two fingers. You can also press the Control key with the Left or Right arrow key, or head into Mission Control. Check out this article for a guide to Mission Control and other core Mac features.
macOS Makes It Easy to Get Organized
These three inbuilt Mac features make it incredibly easy to stay organized, manage your workspaces, and optimize your workflow to suit whatever task (or tasks) you’re working on. Whether you want to split apps to view them side-by-side, increase screen real estate with a monitor, or create and use multiple workspaces, macOS has got you covered.
