MainSide Project
Names that stick
A name belongs to the desktop, not its position. Reorder, add or remove desktops and every name stays put.
v1.0 · macOS 15+Your Spaces,
Your Spaces,
finally named.
Marquee replaces Desktop 1, Desktop 2… with names and colours you choose: in Mission Control, your menu bar, and a ⌘⇥‑style switcher.
No account · Nothing leaves your Mac · Apple silicon & Intel
- Desktop 1|
- Desktop 2|
- Desktop 3|
The problem
Desktop 1, 2, 3… which one was it?
- Desktop 1Main
- Desktop 2Design
- Desktop 3Side Project
- Desktop 4Client Work
macOS won't let you rename a desktop. Marquee does, and shows the name wherever you look for it.
Features
Know where you are. Get where you’re going.
Main
Design
Side
Right in Mission Control
Swipe up and your names are right where “Desktop 1” used to be.
Colours, automatically
Each new desktop gets its own colour, so you spot it before you read it. Change it any time.
Side ProjectTue 9:41
Main
Design
Side Project
Your menu bar knows
The name of the space you're on, always in your menu bar. Click it to jump anywhere.
Research
Fullscreen apps, too
Name Safari’s fullscreen space “Research” once, and it’s called that every time Safari goes fullscreen.
⌃→×∞
No “Switch to Desktop N” neededZero setup
Allow one permission and you’re done. No shortcuts to turn on, no nine-desktop limit.
The switcher
⌘⇥, but for your spaces.
Press ⌥ ⇥ to see every space as a card, with its name, colour and apps. Start typing to find one, then press ↩.
Right-click a card to rename it, change its colour or give it a shortcut.
- ⇥←→ Move between spaces
- ↩ Switch to it
- A–Z Search by name
- 1–9 Jump straight there
- esc Close
Spaces6
Type to search spaces
- Main1Desktop 1
- Design2Desktop 2
- Side Project3Desktop 3
- Research⤢4Fullscreen · Safari
- Client Work5Desktop 4
- Music6Desktop 5
Click the panel and start typing, or try ⇥ and the arrow keys. Right-click a card for more.Tap a card to switch to it.
MainTue 9:41
Main
- Main⌃⌥1
- Design⌃⌥2
- Side Project⌃⌥3
- Client Work⌃⌥4
Click a row, or click the panel and press 1–4.Tap a row to jump to that space.
Shortcuts
One keystroke to any space.
Give the spaces you use most their own shortcut, like ⌃⌥1for Main. Press it in any app and you're there.
- Every shortcut is yours. Change any of them in Settings, or right-click a space in the switcher.
- Sticks with the space. Reorder your desktops and ⌃⌥1 still goes to Main.
- As many as you like. No nine-desktop limit. Nothing to turn on in System Settings.
Rename space
Desktop 3
Colour
In Mission Control
Side Project
CancelSave
Make it yours
A name and a colour. That's it.
Press ⌃ ⌥ R to rename the space you're on. Pick one of twelve colours or your own. New desktops get one automatically.
Try it: type a name or pick a colour.
Light & private
Does one thing. Leaves the rest alone.
No account
Install it, allow one permission, name a desktop. Done.
Nothing leaves your Mac
Your names and colours stay in a small file on your Mac. No analytics, no cloud.
No system changes
No SIP tweaks, no Dock changes. Quit Marquee and macOS is just as it was.
Light on resources
A native Swift menu bar app, not a web wrapper. It stays quiet until you need it.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Why does Marquee need Accessibility access?
To switch spaces for you. macOS has no public way to do that, so Marquee presses its built-in “Move left/right a space” shortcuts. The same permission lets it hear its own shortcuts and put your names in Mission Control. You allow it once.
Why does macOS say it can't check Marquee? Is it safe?
It's safe. Marquee isn't signed with an Apple Developer ID or notarized yet, because Apple charges $99 a year for that, so macOS asks you to confirm it once: open System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. The warning only means Apple hasn't reviewed it. Marquee makes no network connections, asks for one permission (Accessibility), and keeps your names in a small file on your Mac. To check your download, hover the file name in the download window to see its SHA-256 checksum.
Can I rename a space I'm not on?
Yes. Press ⌥⇥, right-click the space and choose Rename…, or click the pencil next to it in the menu bar. The same right-click menu changes its colour and its shortcut.
Does it change macOS or need SIP turned off?
No. Marquee changes nothing in macOS or the Dock. Your names are drawn on a see-through layer over Mission Control, so quitting the app brings “Desktop 1” back.
Which Macs and macOS versions does it support?
macOS 15 Sequoia and later, tested on macOS 26. There's a download for Apple silicon and one for Intel.
Does it work with fullscreen apps?
Yes. Fullscreen spaces get names and colours too, remembered by app, and you can switch to them like any other space. One exception for now: when a fullscreen app is the current space in Mission Control, you'll see the native label there.
My desktops keep changing order. Why?
macOS reorders desktops by recent use unless you turn off “Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use” in System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Mission Control. Your names follow each desktop either way.
Do I need to turn on “Switch to Desktop N” shortcuts?
No. Marquee uses “Move left/right a space”, which macOS has on by default, so any number of desktops works.
Name your first space.
It takes ten seconds. After that, you'll always know where you are.
macOS 15 or later · Apple silicon & Intel