Comprehensive Guide to Mac Trackpad Gestures and Force Touch

Mac Trackpad Gestures

Page 4 – Gestures for the Desktop, Notification Center, and Finder

Need to quickly open the Notification Center or show the desktop? Maybe you love the Launchpad and want a quick way to access it. Here are some gestures to do that, and more.

First, let’s open the Notification Center. Swipe from right to left on your trackpad, starting at the far right edge. The Notification Center will pop open for you.

Mac Trackpad Gestures - Notification Center
Swipe with two fingers from the right edge towards the left to open the Notification Center

If you want to show your desktop clear of all your windows, spread your thumb and three fingers apart. Bring them back together again to get your windows back where they were.

Mac Trackpad Gestures - Show Desktop
Show your empty desktop by spreading your thumb and three fingers apart

Now, let’s say you want to move a file from one folder to another using the Finder. This is very easy with a Mac trackpad gesture, since all you have to do is swipe the files with three fingers, and move to the folder where you want to copy them to. This one has to be enabled in Accessibility -> Mouse & Trackpad -> Trackpad Options -> Enable Dragging.

Mac Trackpad Gestures - Three Finger Drag
Drag files using the three-finger drag gesture

Up Next: Gestures for Launchpad and Mission Control

2 thoughts on “Comprehensive Guide to Mac Trackpad Gestures and Force Touch

  • Yes, that’s true. Hence this statement:

    Speaking of which, this guide assumes you are running macOS Sierra on a MacBook or MacBook Pro with a Force Touch trackpad, or any Mac with a Magic Trackpad 2.

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