I can’t seem to figure this out but I use a few macOS desktops (spaces) and want them to be in the same arrangement every time I open an app. How can I accomplish this?
every time I open an app, I should auto arrange itself accordingly
EDIT: I’m not talking about auto arrangement of spaces. I’m talking about a feature which opens a specific app/browser profile on a specific desktop.
By default, spaces automatically rearrange as you use them. You can turn off the automatic arrangement by going to System Settings > Desktop & Dock and disabling the “Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use” setting.
It is not entirely clear from your image what you are trying to accomplish. As @timstringer notes, first turn off the ‘Automatically rearrange Spaces …’ setting if you haven’t already.
As you may know, you can pin applications to spaces so that they always open in that space. But if you want the same app to open windows in multiple spaces (your image appears to have a web browser open in multiple spaces) that won’t work.
You can use an app like Bunch to deploy apps across multiple spaces, which may do much of what you want. But it is not exactly what you’ve asked for.
You could set up a Keyboard Maestro macro that watches if an app launches and then launch other apps. And if those apps are pinned to spaces it might do what you want. Or the macro could trigger a Bunch.
Hope this helps.
[Added to post as well]
I’m not talking about auto arrangement of spaces. I’m talking about a feature which opens a specific app/browser profile on a specific desktop.
Open the app in de Space you want to assign it to. Then right click on its dock icon and choose ‘options → this desktop’.
As noted above, I do not think this will work if the goal is browser-profile 1 in space 1 and browser-profile 2 in space 2, for the same browser.
It might work with a bunch file, where the commands are move to space 1 and open browser-profile 1, then move to space 2 and open browser-profile 2. But I’ve not tried this.
You are correct. Tbh, I’ve read diagonally through the thread so my fault, sorry.
With a Bunch it is possible (I’ve done so in the past).
I couldn’t find a way to do it in bunch. LMK if you know of a bunch cmd or another way
This was a fun challenge, but ultimately I was not able to get it to work with Bunch. The best I could do was open Safari in multiple spaces, but not get the browser profiles to open. My test Bunch file is shown below. Perhaps someone else such as @Swifferdusterrr can help out with a solution.
This Bunch file will open Safari in Space 1 and Space 3, but it does not open the specified profiles. And the profile that is opened is not consistent across uses (it may just be the last opened). And there were some occasions where additional browser windows were opened.
Finally, the key combo {~$@n} is option - shift - command - n, where “n” is the profile number, beginning at 0.
Perhaps this will give you a starting point for experimenting. And maybe you’ll be happy with having multiple browser windows open on different spaces, and changing the profile manually.
---
title: Test Bunch
---
# Test Bed for Bunch Ideas
#-------------------
# Move to Space 1
# Open an instance of Safari
# Invoke Safari and send the key combo ⌥⇧⌘1 to switch to Profile1
#-------------------
{^1}
$ open -n -a "Safari"
Safari
- {~$@1}
# Wait 10 seconds
(delay 10)
#-------------------
# Move to Space 2
# Open an instance of Safari (after 15 seconds)
# Invoke Safari and send the key combo ⌥⇧⌘2 to switch to Profile2 (after 20 and 25 seconds)
#-------------------
{^3}
$ open -n -a "Safari" ~15
Safari ~20
- {~$@2} ~25