MacOS – Drop window as maximized to a new desktop instead of fullscreen

desktopfullscreenmacosmission-controlspaces

The default behavior when you drag a window to a new desktop is to make it fullscreen. Is there any way to have it maximized instead of going full screen.

Referring to the following:

  1. ^+Up
  2. Drag a window to the mission control bar and make the new desktop show up
  3. Drop it at the new desktop. (it becomes fullscreen here, but I want it to be maximized, not fullscreen, which is the default action.)

Best Answer

Dragging a window to the Spaces bar as you describe will always create a full-screen space for that app, but there's another method to add a space, drag a window to the Add Space + icon on the right side of the Spaces bar:

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This method, described in this support article, will create a new space with the window you dragged.

The window will retain its size and won't be maximized, though. However, you can maximize it yourself before or after dragging:

  • either by using Window>Zoom (doesn't always work as you'd expect)
  • or as follows: while pressing Option, drag a corner of the window to the nearest corner of your screen. It will expand the window in all directions, until the window takes up the full screen.
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