Mission Control not working on your Mac? How to fix the shortcut, swipe and key

Why is Mission Control not working on my Mac?

Work through these in order; the first fixes most cases.

1. Restart the Dock. Mission Control runs inside the Dock, so a stuck Dock takes it down. Type killall Dock in Terminal; apps and windows stay open. See a frozen Dock.
2. Check the gesture. System Settings, Trackpad, More Gestures, Mission Control: it may be off, or set to three fingers when you use four.
3. Check the shortcut. System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Mission Control. Mission Control should be ticked, with ⌃ ↑. Another app may have taken it: see shortcut conflicts.
4. Check the F3 key. On a laptop with standard function keys on, press fn with it.
5. Restart the Mac if none of these help.

Why does Mission Control open when I drag a window?

Current macOS opens it when you drag a window to the top of the screen. Turn off Drag windows to top of screen to enter Mission Control in Desktop & Dock, Mission Control, if you do not want it.

Why are windows too small in Mission Control?

It fits every window on the desktop into one screen, so many windows means small ones. Group windows by application in Desktop & Dock stacks each app's windows together, which can make them easier to tell apart.

How Mission Control works when it does: the Mission Control guide.

Checked on 16 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) running macOS 27.0.1, by reading its settings and the labels in System Settings. Nothing was changed.