Name your desktops. Know where you are.

Keep one desktop per client, project or subject? SpaceNamer puts each one’s name in your menu bar and takes you there in one click. No permissions, nothing changed in macOS.

Buy for $6.99Download for Apple silicon

Pay once. 3 Macs. macOS Ventura or later. No Accessibility permission.

SpaceNamer names each desktop in the menu bar. Pick one and macOS slides there.

“Desktop 2” tells you nothing.

You set up a desktop for each client. Then there were five of them, and every one looked the same. So you swipe left, swipe right, open Mission Control, squint at the thumbnails, and still wonder whether the spreadsheet is on 4 or 8. After a restart, it’s worse.

Mission Control: five desktops, all alike.

What it does

  1. 1
    📬 Email Sat 9:41 AM
    Inbox

    See where you are.

    The current desktop’s name and emoji sit in your menu bar all day. No wallpaper tricks, no Stickies hiding under windows.

  2. 2
    📬 Email Sat 9:41 AM
    📬 Email
    💻 Coding
    🗂️ Client work
    🏠 Personal
    Rename Spaces…

    Get there in one click.

    Open the menu, click a name, and macOS does its own animated switch. No keystrokes faked, no Dock scripted.

  3. 3
    💻 Coding
    shop-api
    Built-in Retina Display
    🗂️ Client work
    Proposal.pages
    Studio Display

    Every display, its own list.

    On two or three monitors, the menu groups desktops by display and checks the one that’s active on each.

Name them your way. Try it here.

This is SpaceNamer’s Rename Spaces window. Type a name or swap an emoji and the menu bar follows as you type. Click a desktop in the menu to move the checkmark.

Rename Spaces
#DisplayNameEmoji
1Built-in Retina Display
2Built-in Retina Display
3Built-in Retina Display
4Built-in Retina Display
4 spaces
📬 Email Sat 9:41 AM
📬 Email
💻 Coding
🗂️ Client work
🏠 Personal
Rename Spaces…
Launch at Login
License…
SpaceNamer v1.0.6
Quit⌘Q

Names longer than 20 characters are shortened in the menu bar, as in the app.

One desktop per whatever you juggle.

People who run five or more desktops tend to split them the same way: one per client, project or subject.

Freelancers and agencies

One desktop per client.

See which client you’re in before you paste something into the wrong deck.

🏢 Acme

🌲 Harbor & Pine

🧪 Lumen Labs

🧾 Admin

Developers

One per repo or ticket.

No Accessibility permission and no SIP changes, so it passes on a managed work laptop.

💻 shop-api

🧩 web-app

🐛 BUG-2141

📟 On call

Students and researchers

One per subject or paper.

Keep the reading, the data and the draft apart, and get to each one in a click.

📚 Thesis

🧬 Lab data

📝 Seminar notes

🎓 Applications

Coming from Windows or Linux

The named desktops you had before.

Windows and KDE let you name desktops. Now your Mac’s menu bar shows yours too.

💼 Work

💬 Chat

🌐 Browse

🎧 Music

Two displays. Two lists.

macOS gives each display its own desktops, and most tools pretend there’s only one. SpaceNamer lists every display under its own name.

  • Desktops grouped under each display’s name, like Built-in Retina Display and Studio Display.
  • A checkmark on the desktop that’s showing on each display, so you know what’s on both screens.
  • The menu bar shows the desktop on the display you’re working in.
  • Click any desktop on either display to go there.
🗂️ Client work Sat 9:41 AM
Built-in Retina Display
📬 Email
🏠 Personal
Studio Display
💻 Coding
🗂️ Client work
🎨 Design
Rename Spaces…
Launch at Login
License…
SpaceNamer v1.0.6
Quit⌘Q

Nothing to grant. Nothing to break.

Most desktop-naming tools switch desktops by faking keystrokes or scripting the Dock. That’s why they ask for the Accessibility permission, and why they stop working when macOS changes. SpaceNamer doesn’t.

No permissions.

No Accessibility. No Screen Recording. Nothing to approve in System Settings.

No hacks.

No System Integrity Protection changes, no code injected into macOS. Fine on a managed work Mac.

Native switching.

Clicking a name hands focus to a window on that desktop and macOS takes you there itself.

Nothing phones home.

No account, no analytics in the app. Its only network request is your license check.

Tested on every macOS release from Ventura to the current one. When Apple ships a new version, we test that week. See the compatibility page.

One price. Three Macs.

$6.99once
Buy for $6.99
  • Use it on 3 Macs
  • Free updates forever, no version 2
  • Names and emoji for every desktop
  • One-click switching, per display
  • Email support from the developer
  • 30-day money-back guarantee

Your license key arrives by email within a minute.

Questions

Does it rename desktops inside Mission Control?

No. macOS doesn’t let any app change those labels without disabling system protections, and we won’t ask you to do that. Your names appear in the menu bar and in SpaceNamer’s menu, which is where you look anyway.

What permissions does it need?

None. It never asks for Accessibility or Screen Recording, and it doesn’t touch System Integrity Protection.

Will it survive the next macOS update?

It reads desktop information the same way macOS itself does and switches desktops through public window focus, so there’s far less to break than in tools that fake keystrokes. We test each new macOS release the week it ships and publish the result on the compatibility page.

Spaceman and WhichSpace are free. Why pay?

Spaceman caps names at three characters and can’t switch desktops. WhichSpace shows numbers and mirrors one item across every display. If those fit you, use them. SpaceNamer gives you full names, one-click switching, per-display lists, a signed and notarized build, and updates for each macOS release.

How many Macs can I use it on?

Three. Moving to a new Mac? Remove the license on the old one from the License window, or free a seat from the customer portal.

Do my names survive a restart, or reordering desktops?

Yes. Names are tied to each desktop itself, not to its position, so they follow the desktop when Mission Control reorders it or after a restart.

Does it work with multiple monitors?

Yes. The menu shows one list per display with a checkmark on each display’s active desktop.

Will it clutter my menu bar?

It’s one item showing the current desktop’s name, and it replaces a trip to Mission Control. Long names are shortened, and it works alongside menu bar managers like Bartender.

Intel Macs?

No. SpaceNamer runs on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 13 or later.

Can I turn off the switching animation?

Not today. SpaceNamer uses macOS’s own switch, animation included.

Is it notarized? What happens when I download it?

Yes, it’s signed and notarized by Apple. Unzip, move it to Applications, open it. No warnings, no right-click tricks. It updates itself from then on.

What if it doesn’t work for me?

Email us within 30 days and you get your money back.

Stop guessing which desktop you’re on.

One purchase, three Macs, no permissions, 30 days to change your mind.

Buy for $6.99 Download for Apple silicon 30-day money-back guarantee