Aside from the new dark mode UI in Mojave, one of the most useful additions to the next version of macOS is Stacks, a feature that automatically sorts and arranges all the files on your desktop into tidy little groups.
It’s a quick and easy way to declutter all the photos, PDFs, random downloads, and whatever else is making your computer screen look like a garbage dump. But in some ways, Stacks makes cleaning up your junk a little too easy, which is why we were so excited to learn that in Mojave, there’s a hidden option that brings back the chaos.
It was first discovered by @ChrisMorrigOG on Twitter, but we were able to replicate it in house as well. First you’ll need to turn off Stacks. That’s in the Finder menu bar. Go to View and then tick off the Use Stacks option. Next right click anywhere on the desktop. You’ll see Clean Up. Now press the Option key and Clean Up will become Mess Up. From there, all you have to do is click, and then revel in the madness as all your previously organized files get scattered randomly across your screen.
And even though I struggle to see how useful the Mess Up option would actually be on a day-to-day basis, with seemingly every new gadget or app so hellbent on improving speed and efficiency, it’s rather refreshing to see a feature that does the complete opposite. Congratulations Apple, you’ve made tech fun again, even if it’s only for a hot second.
P.S. You better not remove this feature before Mojave gets released in the fall.