What Are macOS Hot Corners?
Navigating through multiple windows, launching the screen saver, or quickly retreating to the desktop can require frustratingly precise trackpad gestures or memorising obscure keyboard shortcuts. Apple provides a highly productive, built-in alternative called Hot Corners.
Hot Corners turn the four extreme corners of your Mac’s display into invisible trigger zones. When you push your mouse pointer all the way into one of these designated corners, macOS instantly executes a pre-assigned action. This allows for lightning-fast navigation that requires almost zero precision; simply flick your mouse to the corner of the screen to activate the feature.
How to Configure Hot Corners in macOS
Setting up Hot Corners takes less than a minute and requires no third-party software.
Step 1: Access System Settings
- Click the Apple menu () in the top-left corner of your screen.
- Select System Settings (or System Preferences on older versions of macOS).
- Scroll down the left-hand sidebar and select Desktop & Dock.
Step 2: Assign Actions to the Corners
- Scroll to the very bottom of the Desktop & Dock menu and click the Hot Corners… button.
- A dialogue box will appear representing the four corners of your screen. Each corner has a drop-down menu.
- Click a drop-down menu and select an action for that specific corner.
Available actions include:
- Start Screen Saver: Excellent for quickly hiding your screen when leaving your desk.
- Mission Control: Instantly displays all open windows across your desktop.
- Desktop: Sweeps all windows aside, allowing immediate access to files saved on your desktop.
- Put Display to Sleep: Instantly turns off the screen to save battery and secure your Mac.
- Quick Note: Brings up a small notepad in the corner of the screen for rapid data entry.
Once you have assigned your preferred actions, click Done.
How to Prevent Accidental Hot Corner Triggers
The biggest complaint new users have about Hot Corners is accidentally triggering them when trying to click a menu bar item or close a window near the edge of the screen. If you find your screen saver activating unintentionally, you do not need to abandon the feature entirely.
macOS includes a hidden modifier feature to prevent accidental activations.
- Return to the Hot Corners… menu in System Settings.
- Open the drop-down menu for the corner you want to modify.
- Before selecting an action, press and hold a modifier key on your keyboard, such as Command (⌘), Option (⌥), Control (⌃), or Shift (⇧).
- While holding the key, select the action (e.g., Start Screen Saver).
The action in the drop-down menu will now display the modifier symbol (e.g., ⌘ Start Screen Saver). Click Done to save.
Now, simply moving your mouse into the corner will do nothing. The action will only trigger if you physically hold down the Command key while moving your pointer into the corner. This provides the speed of a Hot Corner while completely eliminating accidental activations.
Best Productivity Workflows for Hot Corners
If you are unsure how to best utilise the four corners, consider this popular configuration used by Mac power users:
- Top Left: Put Display to Sleep. Use this when stepping away for a coffee break to instantly lock your Mac and save battery.
- Top Right: Quick Note. A flick to the top right instantly opens a note to jot down a phone number or thought without disrupting your current workflow.
- Bottom Left: Desktop. Use this to quickly drag and drop a downloaded file from your browser directly onto your desktop.
- Bottom Right: Mission Control. A quick way to find a lost window when you have too many applications open simultaneously.