How to set up hot corners on a Mac

Each of the four corners of the screen can run its own action. Three of the actions are about windows: Mission Control, Application Windows and Desktop. They open the same views as Mission Control’s keyboard shortcuts, which makes a corner most useful when your hand is on a mouse rather than the keyboard.

Set a hot corner

The steps are the same in macOS 14 Sonoma, 15 Sequoia, 26 Tahoe and 27, according to Apple’s hot corners guide for each version.

1. Open Desktop & Dock settings

   Choose Apple menu › System Settings, then click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar.

2. Click Hot Corners…

   Scroll down if you don’t see it. A sheet opens with a pop-up menu next to each corner.

3. Choose an action

   Click the pop-up menu for a corner and choose an action. Leave a corner on the dash (–) to keep it off.

4. Click Done

   Push the pointer into the corner to try it.

One corner is already set on a Mac you haven’t changed: Apple’s guide says the bottom-right corner opens Quick Note by default.

These are the actions in the menu. The names are from System Settings on macOS 26.2; Apple’s guides show one change between versions, Launchpad in macOS 14 and 15 and Apps in macOS 26 and 27.

The window actions worth a corner

Mission Control, Application Windows and Desktop each have keys of their own, listed in Apple’s Mission Control guide. A corner earns its place when you’re working with a mouse: Apple’s gestures list gives the Magic Mouse a gesture for Mission Control (double-tap with two fingers) but none for the other two, and those gestures need a Magic Mouse in the first place.

Click a window in Mission Control or Application Windows to bring it to the front. To leave without picking one, or to bring the windows back after Desktop, move the pointer into the corner again.

Application Windows always uses the front app, the one whose name is in the menu bar, so switch to the app before you move into the corner. App Exposé on Mac covers the other ways in, including the Dock. Mission Control on Mac explains what it shows and what it leaves out, and how to show the desktop covers every way to move the windows aside.

Pick corners you won’t brush past on the way to something else. The Apple menu sits at the top-left, and Control Center and the clock sit at the top-right, so a pointer heading for either can set off a corner there. If that keeps happening, add a modifier key.

Add a modifier key

A corner with a modifier key runs its action only while you hold that key, so passing through the corner does nothing. You can use ⌃, ⌥, ⇧ or ⌘, or several of them together.

1. Open the corner’s menu

   In System Settings › Desktop & Dock, click Hot Corners…, then click the pop-up menu for the corner.

2. Hold the keys and choose the action

   With the menu open, press and hold ⌃, ⌥, ⇧ or ⌘, or a combination, and choose the action while you’re still holding them. The key symbols then show next to the action.

3. Click Done

   Hold the same keys as you move the pointer into the corner.

To take the modifier off, open the menu and choose the action again without holding any key.

Hot corners aren’t working

• Nothing happens in the corner. Open Hot Corners… and check the corner has an action, not the dash. If a key symbol shows next to the action, the corner works only while you hold that key. And push the pointer all the way into the corner: it has to reach the very corner of the screen.
• A corner goes off when you don’t mean it to. Add a modifier key, or move the action to a corner you reach for less often.
• A small note appears in the bottom-right corner. That’s Quick Note, the bottom-right corner’s default. Apple’s Notes guide has you click the note to open it. To stop it appearing, set that corner to the dash; you can still start a Quick Note by holding Fn (or Globe) and pressing Q.
• Launchpad isn’t in the menu. In macOS 26 Tahoe and later, Apps takes its place.
• The screen saver starts, but your Mac isn’t locked. Start Screen Saver and Put Display to Sleep lock your Mac only after the delay set in Lock Screen settings. In System Settings › Lock Screen, set Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off to Immediately (Apple’s guide), or set the corner to Lock Screen instead.
• The corner works, but Mission Control doesn’t behave. That’s Mission Control, not the corner: Mission Control not working goes through its settings.
• Still nothing. Choose Apple menu › Log Out, log back in and try again, then restart if that doesn’t help.