The Disorienting Desktop
macOS utilizes “Spaces” (virtual desktops) to help you organize your workflow. By default, Mission Control includes a feature designed to be helpful: if you have an application open in Space 2, but you are currently working in Space 1, and you click on that application’s icon in the Dock, macOS will violently and automatically swipe your entire screen over to Space 2. While this ensures you find the window you clicked on, it can be incredibly disorienting. If you simply wanted to open a new window for that app in your current Space, the automatic switching forces you to constantly drag windows back and forth across virtual desktops.
Anchoring Your Apps
To maintain control over your virtual desktops and stop macOS from automatically switching Spaces when you click an application icon, you must disable this specific Mission Control behavior.
Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen and select System Settings. In the left-hand navigation sidebar, scroll down and click on Desktop & Dock. In the main right-hand panel, scroll all the way down until you reach the “Mission Control” section. Look for the toggle switch explicitly labelled When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application. Click this toggle to turn it completely Off. Now, if you are in Space 1 and click the Safari icon, it will simply open a fresh, blank Safari window right in front of you, rather than throwing you into Space 2 where an old window is sitting.