Stop OS X from switching desktops for already active App

[lucasvickers]

My situation.

2 Desktops Various Terminal windows. I have a Terminal in Desktop 2, lots on the Desktop 1.

I have a terminal window open on Desktop 1, but another hidden behind a screen.
Terminal is active
I select the Terminal icon from dock
OS X switches me to a terminal window on Desktop 2
What I want instead is all the Terminal apps to move to front focus, but stay on Desktop 1. I have the same problem with all apps, it's not just Terminal.

My workaround is to select the Desktop (click desktop), then click Terminal icon. It's very annoying though.

any ideas?

[ganbustein]

It's behaving as designed. Clicking on the Dock icon for the current application, when it has windows open in multiple spaces, switches to the next such space and brings one such window to the front. If you have one app's windows spread across multiple spaces, that's the easiest way to jump between just the spaces the app has a presence on.

Some other options you might want to explore:

• In System Preferences→Mission Control, turn off "When switching to an applicationon, switch to a space with open windows for the application".
• Don't open windows for the same application in multiple spaces.
• Use ⌘` to cycle through the current app's windows that are in the current space.
• Use "App Exposé", normally bound to three- or four-finger swipe down on the trackpad, or to F10 on the keyboard, to instantly see all windows for the current app, no matter what space they're on, and even if they're miniaturized. App Exposé is also available as "Show All Windows" in the Dock icon's menu.
• Use Mission Control, normally bound to three- or four-finger swipe up on the trackpad, or to double-tap with two fingers on the mouse, or to F9 on the keyboard, to see all un-miniaturized windows in the current space, grouped by application.

[lucasvickers]

Thank you for the detailed post! I appreciate it.