{"id":1020,"date":"2021-10-09T09:20:15","date_gmt":"2021-10-09T16:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmr.dev\/blog\/?p=1020"},"modified":"2022-08-08T19:22:59","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T02:22:59","slug":"macos-doesnt-have-a-key-productivity-feature-of-windows-switching-windows-easily-heres-how-to-add-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/2021\/10\/09\/macos-doesnt-have-a-key-productivity-feature-of-windows-switching-windows-easily-heres-how-to-add-it\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Add Alt + Tab to macOS (Windows-like behavior)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I recently starting using a Mac laptop again for the first time in almost 6 years, and the stark contrast between the two major OSes was made all the more clear to me. Little things about macOS I never noticed before my long stint with windows practically jumped out at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such glaring oversight that seemed to be unforgivable is the fact that macOS doesn’t currently have a good built in window switcher. If you hold CMD (command) + Tab, you will get an application switcher, but it does not switch between active windows of the same program. This limitation is hard to form a habit around, as I found myself frequently attempted to CMD + Tab to another Firefox window, or another instance of a Finder window I had open. However, I found a nifty application that can bring that behavior to macOS, and I highly recommend you try it out. If you build the fast switching window shortcut into your daily routine, it will help maximize your productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how to get it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download Standalone App Here (Alt-Tab)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also get it through brew,<\/a> in which case I will assume you don’t need further instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Download Alt-Tab from here<\/a> OR the link above (same link)<\/li>
  2. Drag it to your \/Applications folder by clicking Finder > Applications on sidebar & drag+dropping into the window<\/li>
  3. Double click to launch<\/li>
  4. Click the Controls tab
    1. Make sure shortcut 1 is highlighted<\/li><\/ol><\/li>
    2. Change the shortcut to your desired keys by clicking the keys in the line “Hold [KEY] and press: [KEY] Select next window”
      1. I highly recommend using CMD + Tab for the average user<\/strong><\/li><\/ol><\/li>
      2. Now, close the window, don’t quit it.<\/li>
      3. Test! You should be able to switch between applications and their windows with a nice, graphical interface upon pressing CMD + Tab. If you want to switch to the last used application then press CMD + Tab ONCE<\/em>, meaning if you press CMD + Tab and release, you will continue to switch between your recently used applications. This is a great trick for copying down information, or quickly referencing another window while completing the current task.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        \u263a\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

         <\/p>\n

        \r\nIt helps me if you share this post\r\n\r\n\r\nPublished 2021-10-09 09:20:15 ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        I recently starting using a Mac laptop again for the first time in almost 6 years, and the stark contrast between the two major OSes was made all the more clear to me. Little things about macOS I never noticed before my long stint with windows practically jumped out at me. One such glaring oversight … Continue reading How to Add Alt + Tab to macOS (Windows-like behavior)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[832,833],"tags":[867,866,864,865,870,868,869],"class_list":["post-1020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-software","category-technology","tag-alt","tag-alt-tab","tag-mac","tag-macos","tag-switch","tag-tab","tag-window"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1020"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2449,"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1020\/revisions\/2449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rose.dev\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}