GridLion

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Getting Started

Use this page when GridLion is installed and permissions are in place. It covers the core workflow: see your Spaces as a grid, move by direction, jump directly, and rearrange visually.

What GridLion does

macOS keeps Spaces in a horizontal Mission Control strip. GridLion lets you treat that strip as a 2-, 3-, or 4-column grid so you can build spatial memory around where each Space lives.

GridLion does not replace Mission Control. You still create, remove, and manage Desktops, full-screen apps, and tiled windows through macOS. GridLion adds the grid picker, hotkeys, direct jumps, and optional overlays on top.

Step 1: Choose a grid shape

  1. Open GridLion settings from the menu bar.
  2. Go to Display settings for the screen you want to configure.
  3. Choose a 2-, 3-, or 4-column grid.

Left and right movement follows row-major order. Up and down movement use the configured columns.

Step 2: Learn directional switching

Assign shortcuts for left, right, up, and down. When you move, GridLion resolves the target visual cell back to the matching macOS Space and switches there.

If a move reaches an unavailable cell, GridLion can either block at the edge or wrap through rows, depending on your settings.

Step 3: Open the grid picker

The manual picker shows the current display's Spaces in a visual grid. Use arrow keys to move the highlight, Return to switch, Escape to dismiss, or click a cell with the mouse.

When Screen Recording is available, cells can show screenshots. Otherwise they show app icons or a neutral fallback.

Step 4: Arrange Spaces visually

Drag real Space cells inside the picker to create an app-owned visual order. This changes how GridLion renders and navigates the grid without forcing macOS Mission Control to expose a native grid.

If placeholders are enabled, GridLion can keep empty visual slots after a Space is removed so the rest of your grid does not collapse unexpectedly.

Two useful starting profiles

Keyboard-first

  • Set directional shortcuts for left, right, up, and down.
  • Add direct jumps for your most-used Spaces.
  • Enable the picker shortcut for visual confirmation.

Visual-first

  • Enable the persistent overlay on each display.
  • Use screenshot previews if Screen Recording is granted.
  • Keep the picker available for drag reordering.