#Mac command tab mac os x#
#Mac command tab windows#

(All of these feature are also available via the keyboard-no mousing required.) In many ways, these features (and the next one) make LiteSwitch X a sort of pop-up “Dock.” (The built-in switcher gives you options for only switch, hide, and quit.) And if you click-hold (or right-click) on an application’s icon in LiteSwitch’s display, a contextual menu provides additional options: Get Info, Show In Finder, Hide/Show, Switch & Hide Others, remove from LiteSwitch’s display permanently, Relaunch, Quit, Force Relaunch, Force Quit, or Mark for Quit when LiteSwitch exits. When an application is highlighted in LiteSwitch’s onscreen display, you can use keyboard commands to quickly switch to it, hide it, quit it, force quit it, or switch to it and hide all other apps.

You can perform more actions on the selected application.

(Tiger’s built-in switcher has added Command-` support.) With LiteSwitch X, you use the much easier Command-Shift or Command-`. If you’re running Panther or earlier and want to cycle through applications in reverse order using the built-in switcher, you have to use the somewhat awkward keyboard combination Command-Shift-Tab. With the built-in switcher, it’s Command-Tab or nothing. Shortcut, but you get a wide enough variety of choices that you’re likely to find one you like: Command-Tab, Option-Tab, Control-Tab, Command-Return, Option-Return, or Control-Return.

LiteSwitch lets you choose your preferred keyboard shortcut.

(Tiger’s built-in switcher has improved significantly in this respect compared to earlier versions of the OS, so if you’re using Tiger, this benefit won’t be as big of a deal to you.) Since you’re more likely to want to switch to an app you used recently than one you haven’t used in a couple hours, this makes for a better switcher, in my opinion. What’s “properly”? The current app shows up first in the list, then the most recently used app, and so on.

LiteSwitch sorts applications properly.

Gems, but also to explain why I think they’re so cool, here are the reasons I find LiteSwitch X to be an indispensable utility: Since my job as Macworld’s resident Gemologist is not only to

#Mac command tab mac os x#

(In fairness to LiteSwitch X’s poll numbers, Mac OS X Hints readers tend to be early adopters-I’m sure that more than a few LiteSwitch X fans with Intel Macs were likely using other methods at the time of the poll simply because LiteSwitch X wasn’t yet compatible.) Clearly, there’s a lot of “Why would I need that?” going around. That showed that of the nearly 1300 respondents who claimed to use some method of keyboard switching-OS X’s built-in Command-Tab switcher, LiteSwitch X, Keyboard Maestro, or Witch-as the method they most often use to switch between applications, only 3 percent (39 respondents) use LiteSwitch X. This is similar to a long-time macOS feature called Exposé or Mission Control.That inspired me to finally sit down and say, “Here’s why.” That and a

#Mac command tab windows#

If you press Command+Tab, highlight an app’s icon, then push the up or down arrow, you will launch a mode that shows thumbnails of all that app’s open windows on the screen. There are other things you can do with the Command+Tab switcher. Exposing Open Window Thumbnails with Command+Tab Once you’ve highlighted the app you want to switch to, release Command+Tab and the app will be brought into the foreground. Or you can press Command+Tab and use the left- and right-arrow keys to select an app.

You can also hold down Command+Shift and tap “Tab” to move the selection cursor in the opposite direction-from right to left. If you hold the Cmd key down while tapping the Tab key, the cursor will move between the icons from left to right. A row of app icons will appear in the center of your screen.

If you’d like to quickly switch between open apps on a Mac, press Command+Tab. This feature has been in Windows since Windows 2.0 in 1987, and macOS has a similar shortcut. In the world of Windows, many users are familiar with a feature often called “Task Switcher” that allows you to quickly switch between open applications by pressing Alt+Tab.