The Disorienting Jump
macOS utilizes a virtual desktop feature called “Spaces,” allowing you to separate your open windows across multiple horizontal screens. Mission Control manages these Spaces. By default, macOS includes a highly polarizing feature: if you click on an application in the Dock, or click a link that opens a specific app, macOS will automatically rapidly slide (or “switch”) your view to whichever Space currently houses an open window for that application. If you have a chaotic workflow with a web browser open on Space 1 and Space 4, clicking a link might violently yank you across three virtual desktops without warning, completely breaking your concentration.
Anchoring Your View
To maintain your spatial awareness and stop macOS from automatically switching Spaces when you switch applications, you must disable this specific Mission Control behavior.
Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen and select System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions). Scroll down the left-hand sidebar and click on Desktop & Dock. In the main right-hand panel, scroll all the way down to the bottom until you find the section labelled Mission Control. Look for the toggle switch labelled When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application. Click this toggle switch to turn it Off (it will turn grey). From now on, if you click an app in the Dock, the menu bar will change to that app, but your physical view will remain firmly locked on your current Space.