Is there a way to move the current window to another desktop without using a mouse in OS X?

Question

In OS X as I'm aware to move the current window to the next desktop, I'd click down on the title bar of the window to have it in move mode, and then while keeping the mouse button down, press Ctrl+← or Ctrl+→. If you don't have a laptop, this may require three hands. Alternatively you can go into spaces and drag a window from one desktop to another.

Is there an easier way to do this, with the keyboard only (and two hands max)?

Answer 1

As of 10.7 you can activate "mission control" and then drag-n-drop your window to whatever desktop group.

See: OS X Mountain Lion: Work in multiple spaces

Answer 2

I think the best you can do is hold the window title bar with the mouse, then press Ctrl-1 (or 2, 3, 4, whatever). This requires using the mouse, but it's a little more convenient than other methods.

Answer 3

If you install "BetterTouchTool", you can create a keyboard/mouse/gesture shortcut to either:

1. move application window to the other monitor,
2. maximize application window to the other monitor.

Works really well! Plus, "BetterTouchTool" has tons of other nifty features that you may find useful. It's free.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, as of 10.5.4 at least, there is no way to do this using a keyboard shortcut only.

You can however do it using just the mouse, which also requires just one hand, by dragging the window to the edge of the screen. You can set more options for this using the Warp or Secrets preference panes (both free).

Answer 5

It seems like Amethyst (https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst) could switch application to any workspace.

Answer 6

There is a tool called Zooom that will allow you to grab any part of a window to move it using a hotkey, and also similarly resize windows, again with a hotkey. This is very nice when moving from a linux wm to OS X, however I'm still wondering if just basic switching as in the question is available without additional software purchases.

Answer 7

Optimal Layout, an app I developed, lets you use keyboard commands to move, resize and change the Space of groups of windows.

Answer 8

The easiest way to do this is to enable the shortcuts in settings to switch to the desktop of your choice as seen below. Once you've enabled it you can move the window of your choice by holding your mouse button and executing your shortcut.

Answer 9

If you are using window manager not desktopg environment, you can do that by modifying keymap, function TakeToWorkspace or SendToWorkspace.

For example in fluxbox.

$vi ~/.fluxbox/keys
Super_L 1 :TakeToWorkspace 1
Super_L 2 :TakeToWorkspace 2
Super_L 3 :TakeToWorkspace 3
Super_L 4 :TakeToWorkspace 4
Super_L 5 :TakeToWorkspace 5
Super_L 6 :TakeToWorkspace 6
Super_L 7 :TakeToWorkspace 7

Will allow you to press "mac button" + workspace number and focused window will be taken to the right workspace.

Answer 10

A. Control-Up, then drag the window to the TOP of the screen. Those are desktops. A fair bit harder to realize than Linux desktops; but, it works. Apple is trying to show you what is already on each desktop. B. The F3 button also activates Mission Control. Note: Use Control-side arrows to switch desktops

Answer 11

I use Amethyst to accomplish this. It has some really nice customizable shortcuts for window management.

amethyst settings screenshot

Amethyst is by default a tiling window manager, however, I disable all tiling in amethyst settings and only use it for the window management keyboard shortcuts. Probably overkill, but it works.

Answer 12

So for macOS 10.14.6 click on the apple menu and go to System Preferences and go to Mission Control click on Hot Corners in the bottom left corner of the window put Mission Control in one of the corners. Take your mouse up to the corner you assigned it to and it will separate the open windows on your desktop out pick what you want on a new desktop and drag it up to the top menu bar. Done you can create as many new desktops as the OS will support. Or swipe up with three fingers on your laptop and drag the application you want on the second desktop up to the top menu bar.

Answer 13

Since all other answers seem to be fine using the mouse in some way. I'll give my tip as well. If you have an Magic Mouse you can double tap with two fingers to launch the mission control.

Answer 14

If you drag using the title bar and hold it against a border of the screen it should move after a few seconds (if there is a 'Space' for it to go to). Sure you have to use the mouse but there's no key commands involved.

Answer 15

So, trying all the bogus methods out there accidentally led me to the solution everyone's looking for:

Click and Hold the window you want to move. Hold the Ctrl button. Drag the window to the edge of the screen until it moves the window to a new desktop. Drop the window and release the Ctrl button. Boom. Done.

Alternately, you can use Mission Control to drag and drop apps onto the Desktop you want, but that's not the solution you're looking for. Move along.