Alt-Tab on a Mac: what the Windows shortcut becomes

If you've moved from Windows, Alt-Tab is probably the habit that breaks first. The keys carry over almost exactly; what they do doesn't. Here's what changes, why, and how to get your old habit back if you miss it.

The short answer

On a Mac keyboard, Command (⌘) sits next to the space bar, where Alt sits on a Windows keyboard, so ⌘Tab is the same motion as Alt-Tab. The Mac's Alt key is called Option (⌥), and on a Windows keyboard plugged into a Mac, Apple says to press Alt where a shortcut says Option (Mac keyboard shortcuts).

A quick ⌘Tab takes you back to the app you were just in, the way a quick Alt-Tab takes you back to the last window. Hold ⌘ and keep tapping Tab to go further down the row.

Apps, not windows

Microsoft's list of Windows 11 shortcuts describes Alt-Tab as switching “between open windows” (Keyboard shortcuts in Windows). Apple describes ⌘Tab as switching “to the next most recently used app among your open apps”. That's the whole difference, and everything else follows from it:

• One icon per app. Three browser windows are one browser icon. ⌘Tab gets you into the app, and ⌘` then moves between its windows.
• Apps stay open without windows. In most apps, closing the last window doesn't quit the app on a Mac; Apple's guide to app windows notes the app stays open, with a small dot under its Dock icon. It stays in ⌘Tab too, and switching to it may show nothing but its menu bar. Press ⌘Q to quit it; quit vs close on a Mac explains the difference.

It fits the way a Mac works: only one app at a time is active, and its menus fill the menu bar at the top of the screen, so the app is the natural thing to switch to. Once you think of ⌘Tab as “switch app” and ⌘` as “switch window”, the two keys cover most of what Alt-Tab did.

Minimized windows stay put

On Windows, picking a minimized window in Alt-Tab restores it. On a Mac, ⌘Tab brings the app forward and leaves a minimized window in the Dock. To get it back, click it in the Dock, or Control-click the app's Dock icon and choose it from the list of windows. More ways, including the keyboard: how to restore a minimized window.

The Mac habit that avoids this is hiding instead of minimizing. ⌘H hides all of the front app's windows at once, ⌥⌘H hides every other app, and when you ⌘Tab back to a hidden app its windows come back with it. Minimize vs hide covers when each is the better choice.

Other desktops

Macs have virtual desktops too; Apple calls them spaces, and every full-screen app gets one of its own. ⌘Tab lists your open apps whichever desktop their windows are on. When you pick one, macOS by default jumps to a desktop that has the app's windows. Apple's guide to spaces names the setting: System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Mission Control › When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application.

What you can't do with ⌘Tab is choose which of the app's windows, or which desktop, you land on. To move between desktops yourself, press ⌃← or ⌃→, or swipe left or right with three or four fingers.

Built-in workarounds

None of these is Alt-Tab, but together they get close:

1. ⌘Tab, then ⌘`

   Switch to the app, then press ⌘` until the right window is in front. ⇧⌘` goes back.

2. App Exposé for one app

   Press ⌃↓ to spread out the front app's windows, then click one. On a trackpad, turn it on in Trackpad settings and swipe down with three or four fingers.

3. Mission Control for everything on screen

   Press ⌃↑ to see all the windows on the current desktop, with your other desktops and full-screen apps along the top. It's the nearest thing to Task View.

Every built-in option, with its trackpad and mouse versions, is in how to switch between windows on a Mac.

Apps that bring back Alt-Tab

Several third-party window switchers put a list of windows back on a shortcut. One is named after the habit: AltTab, a free, open-source app that opens on ⌥Tab and shows a live thumbnail of every window. Its FAQ says it needs Screen Recording for the thumbnails, and search comes with its paid Pro tier; Flick vs AltTab puts it next to ours. The others differ in what they list (apps, windows or browser tabs), whether you can type to find a window, how they're priced, whether they show live previews of each window, and which permissions they ask for. The ones we checked, with what each does well, are in alternatives to ⌘Tab.

With Flick

Flick is our window switcher, and its default shortcut is ⌥Tab: hold ⌥, tap Tab, let go. On a Windows keyboard connected to a Mac, that's literally Alt-Tab. Every window gets its own row, so three browser windows are three rows with their titles. Picking a minimized window brings it back from the Dock, and picking one on another desktop takes you there.

The rest of the habit carries over too: a quick tap flips between your two most recent windows, ⇧Tab moves back up the list as Alt-Shift-Tab does, and Esc closes it without switching. On a Mac keyboard, where ⌘ is the key next to the space bar, you can give Flick ⌘Tab instead; it then replaces the macOS app switcher while it runs and hands it back when it quits. ⌥Tab or ⌘Tab helps you choose. The free version switches between your 5 most recent windows.

See how Flick lists every window