Spaces used to show the space number in the menu bar; I would glance at it regularly to see which space I was in (1, 2, 3, etc).
How do I get Mission Control to display the current desktop in the menu bar like that?
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Maybe the open source WhichSpace project can do this:
WhichSpace
Have you ever forgotten which space is currently active on OS X (10.11+) and wanted a quick way to tell? Didn't think so... but I did!
Screenshot
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This open source project is by far the best solution I've found, if you want a simple number to ID the current Space. No bloated duplication of features like some other options. – apraetor Sep 13 '16 at 15:10
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2To make WhichSpace start automatically when you log in, open System Preferences, Users & Groups, Login Items, and add WhichSpace to the list. – Benedikt Köppel Nov 2 '16 at 11:13
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1Interested programmers: this watches and reads the file
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.spaces.plistto get workspace information. This bash command dumps the monitor information:plutil -convert json -o /dev/stdout ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.spaces.plist. essentially the program looks in.SpacesDisplayConfiguration["Management Data"]["Monitors"].– user1034533 Nov 19 '18 at 22:33
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I could not find any built-in feature for this, so I decided to use the backgrounds.
I found a background image that I wanted, and made 8 copies of it.
Then I wrote the numbers 1-8 on each of them, next to where the dock usually is.
Then you press ctrl+1 to make sure you're in desktop 1, right click the background, and choose the image with 1 written on it.
Then close down the system preference box (otherwise you end up changing only desktop one).
Then press ctrl+2 and do right click again.
Not allowed to post screenshot :( to show how it looks.
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can you upload the screenshot to imgur.com and post a link to it here? – Robert Hume Jul 29 '11 at 12:44
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Good idea, I upvoted so you might have enough rep for an image upload – conorgriffin Jul 29 '11 at 12:44
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+1. not a bad idea. I'm going to overlay numbers on the 4 corners of my background. Thanks for posting this... – gMale Jun 29 '12 at 16:17
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This problem now has a much more robust solution, thanks to Total Spaces. This app brings back the old 2D grid of spaces and shows the space number in the menu bar.
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1Unfortunately that solution relies on code injection into Dock - which requires the turning off of some security features on El Capitan. It was a good solution in 2012, but not any more. – Floris Dec 24 '15 at 20:44
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I found this question because I had the same issue. Turns out, all I really wanted was to instantly know what screen I am on.
I just accidentally "discovered" the obvious: if you 4-finger swipe up, everything zooms out. Across the top, all your desktops are shown and your current desktop is highlighted! (4-finger swipe down to go back to normal).
So this quick & easy approach solves things for me! Besides requiring much less work, it's also better than making custom numbered background images because I often have windows that entirely block my background. Now, I just swipe up, then back down and, in a split second, I know exactly where I am.
Posting here just in case it helps someone else...
[ 2 ], setting its refreshing rate by naming the bash script "desktop.3s.sh` for a 3 second interval. . . . . Extremely easy & pragmatic! – clemsam lang Dec 17 '18 at 8:25