How To Restore the Full Desktop Bar in Mission Control on macOS

Author: erics, Posted February 26th, 2025 at 7:59:58am

With macOS Sonoma, Apple changed the way Mission Control displays virtual desktops, reducing them to small slivers that require hovering to expand. If you prefer the previous behavior—where the full desktop bar opened automatically—there’s a simple solution using a third-party tool.

How to Restore the Full Desktop Bar in Mission Control

Follow these steps to bring back the full desktop bar when using Mission Control:

1. Download and Install MissionControlFullDesktopBar.app
   The open-source MissionControlFullDesktopBar.app restores the expanded desktop bar in Mission Control.
   • Download the app from the MissionControlFullDesktopBar GitHub repo at:
     https://github.com/briankendall/missionControlFullDesktopBar/releases/download/v1.0.1/missionControlFullDesktopBar_1_0_1.zip
   • Locate the downloaded .zip file in your Downloads folder.
   • Double-click the .zip file to extract MissionControlFullDesktopBar.app.
   • Move MissionControlFullDesktopBar.app to the /Applications folder by dragging and dropping it.
2. Grant Full Disk Access to Shortcuts
   For the app to work properly, ensure Shortcuts has the necessary permissions:
   • Open System Settings from the Apple menu.
   • Navigate to Privacy & Security.
   • Scroll down and select Full Disk Access.
   • Click the + (Add) button at the bottom of the list.
   • Navigate to Applications, select Shortcuts.app, and click Open.
   • Ensure that Shortcuts is toggled ON in the Full Disk Access list.
3. Assign Fn + Up Arrow to Open the App
   To make launching Mission Control with the full desktop bar seamless, use the Shortcuts.app to assign a keyboard shortcut:
   • Open Shortcuts.app on your Mac.
   • Click the + (Create Shortcut) button to create a new shortcut.
   • In the right panel, search for Open App and drag it into the shortcut workflow.
   • Click App in the newly added action, then choose MissionControlFullDesktopBar.app from the list.
   • Click the Settings (i) button in the top-right corner of the shortcut window.
   • Click Add Keyboard Shortcut, then press Fn + Up Arrow.
   • Close the settings and Save the shortcut.

Once set up, pressing Fn + Up Arrow will launch Mission Control with the full desktop bar, bringing back the experience many users prefer.

With this simple tweak, you can enjoy Mission Control as it was meant to be—giving you quick and easy access to all your virtual desktops without the extra hover step.

Categories: How-To's, Technology Tags: Access, Control, Full, Full Disk Access, howto, Mission Control, tips