Why isn't Alt-Tab working for switching windows of the same app?

Question

In my MacBook Pro running Lion, I use Command + Tab to switch apps, and Alt¹ + Tab for switching windows within an app.

In my work iMac, also running Lion, Alt + Tab isn't doing anything, and I can't find any setting for that. Also, I dont remember tweaking anything in the MacBook Pro to get this to work.

note ¹ - Alt is the same as Option on most Mac keyboards, but mine just has Alt printed.

Just for the record Command + ` (the key above tab) works really well for me. — bassplayer7, Mar 06 '12 at 13:18
This is not default behaviour on your MBP. Somebody must've changed the default key mapping. — EmmEff, Mar 06 '12 at 23:37
It's because the dock needs to be killed and restarted, checkout the answer here: https://superuser.com/questions/7715/cmd-tab-suddenly-stopped-working-and-my-dock-is-unresponsive-what-do-i-do/7717#7717 — Leon Gaban, Jun 08 '18 at 04:12

score 41 · Answer 1 · edited May 17 '18 at 16:39

41

Try Command + ` (backtick). That is the default.

edited May 17 '18 at 16:39

jeffmaher

165

answered Mar 06 '12 at 13:47

FCC

449

4

command + ~ does absolutely nothing on my 2015 Macbook Pro. – IgorGanapolsky Sep 17 '15 at 17:43
1

Note, however, that it won't cycle to minimized windows. – Muhd Dec 30 '15 at 21:35
2

Bloody hell, this cycles instead of being alternate. What's the command for alternate tab? – Pacerier Oct 17 '17 at 05:24
This is the answer: https://superuser.com/questions/7715/cmd-tab-suddenly-stopped-working-and-my-dock-is-unresponsive-what-do-i-do/7717#7717 – Leon Gaban Jun 08 '18 at 04:13

score 34 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 06 '12 at 14:17

34

Option+Tab shouldn't be assigned to switching windows by default. You could've reassigned it in the Keyboard preferences:

It could also be handled by some third party app like Witch, LiteSwitch X, or Keyboard Maestro on the MacBook Pro.

edited Mar 06 '12 at 14:17

bmike

235,889

answered Mar 06 '12 at 11:00

Lri

105,117

1

Thanks! I dont remember having done that, but whatever. I reccomend this shortcut, its very convenient to have command + tab and alt + tab so close to one another – 0al0 Mar 06 '12 at 11:35
1

This is not the answer! This is: https://superuser.com/questions/7715/cmd-tab-suddenly-stopped-working-and-my-dock-is-unresponsive-what-do-i-do/7717#7717 – Leon Gaban Jun 08 '18 at 04:12

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 14 '14 at 01:52

4

Mavericks use Command + Tab to switch between the application but if you want to cycle through the different window of same application use this: Command + Tab + DownArrow it will show all the open windows of the same application which you can select using arrow keys.

answered Apr 14 '14 at 01:52

rahul

141

2

ugh there has to be an easier way to do this... – lobi Apr 28 '16 at 16:15
found it: https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch :) – lobi Apr 28 '16 at 16:39

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 28 '16 at 16:40

4

Use Hyperswitch. I just stumbled on this posting now, and did some digging and found this nice "new" app.

https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch

Works well for me (basically turns your mac's application-switching into a windows-style task-switching environment <- much more intuitive especially when working w/ multiple screens/spaces).

answered Apr 28 '16 at 16:40

lobi

149

1

Apple is really behind, why staying blind over the years, this is simple stuff, navigating through Apple OS is a mess, people shouldn't need to pay an extra software to do sth that simple. – Raphael St Nov 16 '23 at 15:07

score 2 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 08:04

2

Go to Applications ➔ Utilities ➔ Terminal.app

[type]
killall -9 Dock

Reference https://superuser.com/questions/7715/cmd-tab-suddenly-stopped-working-and-my-dock-is-unresponsive-what-do-i-do/7717#7717

edited Jun 15 '20 at 08:04

Community

1

answered Aug 30 '18 at 20:23

devCra

31

Not an answer to the question here, but an answer to mine :-) – jcaron Apr 03 '23 at 23:53

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 10 '12 at 09:49

1

On german Keyboard Layouts changing windows of an app is mapped to Command + < and Command + Shift + < respectively.

answered Mar 10 '12 at 09:49

oschrenk

373

I have a german MBP15 Retina with english keyboard. CMD-~ didn't work, but CMD-shift-< does. CMD-> does other things, though. Thank you. – lilalinux Feb 02 '15 at 16:15
Ah, of course I had to add shift: < is a shift character :-) – lilalinux Feb 02 '15 at 16:27

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Jul 03 '22 at 16:11

0

I have just tried AltTab. You can check. Hyperswitch is getting really awkward lately.

answered Jul 03 '22 at 16:11

Soner from The Ottoman Empire

444

Why isn't Alt-Tab working for switching windows of the same app?

7 Answers7