There's a lot to explore in macOS, from file sharing to keyboard remapping, so you'd be forgiven for not discovering all the features Apple's desktop operating system has to offer. One of the most useful and least known features is something Apple calls hot corners.
Like keyboard shortcuts, hot corners can help you do more in less time on your Mac. The idea is that certain actions are triggered when you move the pointer to one of the corners of the screen. Better yet, you can configure these actions to correspond to the jobs you do most frequently in macOS.
You can, for example, quickly create a new note in Apple Notes, start the system screen saver, or open Mission Control. You also don't have to enable all four corners at the same time: you can choose which ones are active at any time.
Set up active corners
To choose a function for each corner of the screen or disable particular active corners:
- Open the Apple menu and choose System settings.
- Open the Desk and base and scroll down to the end.
- Click hot corners (bottom right) to view the current settings.
- Select any shortcut from the four drop-down menus.
- Click Made to apply the changes.
You can add any modifier key (Domain, Change, Optioneither Control) or modifier key combination to an active corner. The modifier key options make hot corners a slightly more deliberate action and reduce the chance that you'll accidentally activate a hot corner just because the pointer is in a corner of the screen.
- Press and hold the desired key or key combination while selecting an active corner function.
- Click Made to apply the changes.
You get 11 options for each hot corner:
- mission control
- Application windows
- Desk
- Notification Center
- Launch pad
- quick note
- Start screen saver
- Disable screen saver (so that it never appears)
- Put the screen to sleep
- Lock screen
- EITHER no action absolutely
Perhaps the two most useful options, from a productivity standpoint, are Mission Control and Launchpad. The first takes you to an overview of the currently running applications and all the desk spaces that you've set up, while the latter takes you to the macOS equivalent of the Start menu, where all your apps can be accessed.
Using hot corners
Making use of a hot corner is as simple as moving the pointer to the corresponding corner of the screen. Sometimes, as is the case when creating a quick note in Notes, an extra click is required to launch the shortcut. If you have set up a modifier key, you will of course need to press that as well.
So for example, if you have the top right corner of your screen set to Application windowsMoving the pointer to that corner will show all the open windows of the current application, making it a little easier to switch between them.
You can also drag files between apps using hot corners. Let's say one of your active corners is set to Launch pad– Try dragging an image from a Finder window to the active corner of Launchpad and then to the top of the Notes app shortcut. A new note will be created with the image in it. Set a hot corner for Deskand you can also drag files there.
This is one example of how useful hot corners can be, and there are many others. Personally I find the Lock screen One of the most useful: When I walk away from my desk, a quick swipe of the trackpad locks my MacBook, without needing to press any keys or click any menu.
Using multiple screens
Hot corners can be a bit funky when using multiple displays. Basically, all four corners will work independently on each screen, which may be fine for you, unless you want them to act as if you were using a single screen. In that case, your screens must be precisely aligned in System settings.
To change the alignment of multiple displays:
- Open the Apple menu.
- Select System settings > Screens.
- Click Arrangeand then click and drag the screens to align them. On any adjacent screen that is “joined” and aligned exactly, hot corners will be disabled.
- Select Made to confirm.
While hot corners don't do anything you can't already do in macOS with a few clicks or button presses, they are really convenient and can make a significant difference in how quickly you can navigate the operating system and its features.
