Open the Settings App (gear icon on your Start Menu) Go to System - Multi-Tasking There you will find a new drop-down to choose the action associated with the Alt + Tab keyboard shortcut. Click on the System tile. Switch to the Multi-tasking tab on the left side of the panel. Scroll down until you see the Sets section. Click on the dropdown menu under Pressing Alt+Tab shows the most recently used, then select Windows only from the options. The default setting is Windows and tabs, which shows both open windows and tabs.
AltTab brings the power of Windows’s “alt-tab” window switcher to macOS.
Installation
Alternatively, you can use homebrew:
| Homebrew 2.5 or above | Homebrew 2.4 or below |
|---|---|
brew install alt-tab | brew cask install alt-tab |
Compatibility
From macOS 10.12 to 10.15
Localization
The app is available in:
Bahasa Indonesia, Čeština, Deutsch, English, Español, Français, Italiano, Lëtzebuergesch, Magyar, Nederlands, Norsk, Polski, Português, Português (Brasil), العربية, Slovenčina, Slovenščina, Suomi, Svenska, Türkçe, Русский язык, українська мова, 中文 (简体), 中文 (繁体), 日本語, 한국어
Configuration
Change the shortcut keys, switch to a Windows theme and more, using the Preferences window:
Alternatives
Before building my own app, I looked around at similar apps. However, none was completely satisfactory so I rolled my own. Also, the almost-good-enough apps are not open-source.
| Alternative | Differences |
|---|---|
| HyperSwitch and HyperDock | $10. Closed-source. Thumbnails are too small. App icon is on top of the thumbnail |
| WindowSwitcher | $7. Closed-source. Thumbnails are small and blurry. App icon is on top of the thumbnail |
| Switch | Open Source. Thumbnails are small. Very little customization. Latest release is from 2016 |
| Witch and Context | $10-15. Closed-source. Focus on text. No thumbnails |
| MissionControl Plus | $10. Closed-source. No chronology and order to windows. Hard to navigate windows with keyboard |
| Built-in MissionControl | No keyboard support |
Built-in ⌘ command + ⇥ tab | Only shows apps, not windows (note: can press down to see window of selected app) |
Built-in ⌘ command + ` | Cycles through tabs and windows, but only of the same app. Only cycling, no direct access |
There are also related apps which don’t really overlap in functionality, but target similar needs: Swish, Hookshot, Magnet, Spectacle, Rectangle, yabai, LayAuto, OptimalLayout, BetterTouchTool, BetterSnapTool, Moom, uBar
Screenshots
| 1 row | 2 rows | Windows theme |
|---|
License
AltTab is under the GPL-3.0 license.
I don’t know about you, but Alt + Tab has become an essential Windows feature for me, so when I ended up with blurry windows in Windows 11, the whole thing has become quite a pain in the neck.
It’s not like I wasn’t able to use it anymore, but my Alt + Tab screen looked awful, which makes little sense for an operating system that’s supposed to be as modern as it gets.
But of course, given Windows 11 is still in its early days and is only available in the Windows Insider program, this makes perfect sense, and it was pretty clear Microsoft was supposed to fix the whole thing rather sooner than later. Can i use office 2019 on windows 7.
And as it turns out, this was one of the first things Microsoft addressed as part of the Windows Insider program, as the most recent preview build of Windows 11 finally resolves the blurry windows in Alt + Tab.
Alt + Tab now looking good
As you can see in the screenshot here, everything is looking exactly as you’d expect it to look, so if your thumbnails are blurry, just make sure you install Windows 11 preview build 22000.65. It’s available right now as part of the Windows Insider program in the Dev channel.
On the other hand, keep in mind Windows 11 is still a work in progress, so don’t be too surprised if you come across other bugs while using it.
Alt Tabla
According to Microsoft’s own schedule, the operating system is projected to get the go-ahead in the fall of the year, and the company has even dropped some hints the release could take place in October. Windows 11 will be offered as a free upgrade to certain eligible Windows 11 devices, with the upgrade to land in the last months of this year and then continue into 2022.