Switching to some apps in a different virtual display doesn't work I have OS X El Capitan (10.11.6) installed on my MacBook Pro 2015. I use Spotlight a lot to switch between apps in different virtual desktops and one day some months ago I noticed that it won't switch to the virtual desktop of the app I wanted to switch to. The same happens if I click on the icon in the dock.

Some apps that it doesn't switch to are Skype, FileZilla, IntelliJ Idea and more.
The setting System Preferences > Mission Control > "When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application" must be enabled for OS X to automatically switch your desktop/Space when changing to an open program.

Otherwise, it will stay in the current space and one of a couple of things will happen, depending on the way the application is programmed:


The menu bar will change to that program's, but nothing else on the screen will change, or
A new window for that program will be opened (think a text editor opening a new, blank document), along with the menu bar changing