Command-Tab (⌘Tab) not working on your Mac? Fixes to try

⌘Tab switches to the app you used last. To pick another, hold ⌘ and keep tapping Tab, then let go. These are the keys from Apple's guide to moving between app windows:

⌘Tab switches apps, not windows: it brings an app forward, not a particular window of it. If that's what seems broken, see switching between windows of the same app. If ⌘Tab does nothing, or something other than the app switcher appears, work down this list.

An app took over ⌘Tab

⌘Tab isn't among the shortcuts in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts (checked on macOS 26.2), so there's no checkbox that could have turned it off. Apps can take it, though. These window switchers can put themselves on ⌘Tab, according to their makers' sites:

• AltTab uses ⌥Tab out of the box and can be set to ⌘Tab.
• Command-Tab Plus is an alternative to the macOS app switcher and can use ⌘Tab, ⌥Tab or another shortcut.
• Contexts includes a ⌘Tab replacement that lists windows separately.
• rcmd includes a Command-Tab replacement, in its free version too.
• Witch lets you give ⌘Tab to one of its switchers.
• Flick, in its ⌘Tab mode. See With Flick.

If ⌘Tab opens a different switcher, the app it belongs to has the keys: change the shortcut in that app's settings, or quit it. If nothing at all appears, check the apps you have running that do this kind of thing:

1. Quit each likely app

   Use its menu bar icon or choose its name in the menu bar, then Quit, and try ⌘Tab after each one. For an app with no menu, select it in Activity Monitor, click the Stop button and choose Quit, or Force Quit if it isn't responding (Apple's steps).

2. Log in without login items

   Not sure which app? Log out, then hold ⇧ while you click Log In and let go when the Dock appears. Apple's guide to login items says this keeps them from opening. If ⌘Tab works now, one of them is the cause.

3. Stop it opening at login

   In System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions (Login Items in macOS 14 Sonoma), select the app and click the Remove button, or change its shortcut so you can keep it.

The same hunt works for any shortcut that two apps want: how to find a keyboard shortcut conflict covers the general case.

Restart the Dock

The macOS app switcher runs as part of the Dock, so if the Dock gets stuck, ⌘Tab can stop with it. Restarting the Dock takes a moment, and your apps and windows stay open:

1. Find the Dock in Activity Monitor

   Open Activity Monitor, in the Utilities folder of Applications, and select Dock in the list. Typing “Dock” in the search field narrows the list.

2. Quit it

   Click the Stop button at the top of the window, then Quit (Apple's steps). The Dock disappears and macOS starts it again on its own. Then try ⌘Tab.

End a remote session

If you're controlling another Mac with Screen Sharing, ⌘Tab can go to that Mac rather than yours: in Control Mode, Apple says, you control the shared screen. Click a window on your own Mac and try again, or end the session. In Screen Sharing, choose Window › Connections, select All Connections, move the pointer over the session and click Disconnect (Apple's guide). With another remote-control app, end its session the same way and try ⌘Tab again.

Secure Input

This one affects ⌘Tab only when another app has taken it over. macOS has a mode, Secure Input, that keeps other apps from reading what you type. Apple says secure keyboard entry in Terminal can prevent other apps from detecting what you type there, and the maker of Witch says in its questions and answers that while Secure Text Input is on, Witch can't capture ⌘Tab. So if the switcher you put on ⌘Tab fails only while Terminal is in front, see whether Terminal › Secure Keyboard Entry has a checkmark. Other apps can turn the same mode on while you type in them; how to find a keyboard shortcut conflict has more on tracking down the app.

Check the keyboard

Try another ⌘ shortcut, such as ⌘Space for Spotlight, and the ⌘ key on the other side of the Space bar. If those fail too, the problem is the keyboard or a setting, not ⌘Tab. Check these, from Apple's guides:

• Modifier Keys. In System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts, click Modifier Keys. Each modifier can be set to act as another key or to do nothing, so make sure Command is set to Command. Restore Defaults puts them all back (Apple's guide).
• Slow Keys. In System Settings › Accessibility › Keyboard, make sure Slow Keys is off. With it on, a key must be held longer than usual before it counts.
• A wireless keyboard. Make sure it's on and charged and that Bluetooth is on, then disconnect it and connect it again. Try a different port, keyboard or Mac to find which part is at fault.

Apple's guide for when your Mac doesn't respond to key presses has the full list, including Mouse Keys and the Input menu.

Log out or restart

If ⌘Tab still does nothing, log out and back in: choose Apple menu › Log Out, or press ⇧⌘Q. Logging out closes your apps, including any that took ⌘Tab. If you think one of them is the cause, deselect Reopen windows when logging back in before you confirm, so its windows don't come straight back (Apple's guide to logging out). Hold ⇧ as you log in to keep login items closed too.

If that doesn't help, restart: choose Apple menu › Restart, with the same option for reopening windows (Apple's guide).

With Flick

Flick is one of the apps that can take ⌘Tab. In ⌥Tab mode, the default, it never touches ⌘Tab: you open Flick by holding ⌥ and tapping Tab, and ⌘Tab stays the macOS app switcher. In ⌘Tab mode, Flick replaces the macOS app switcher while it runs, along with ⇧⌘Tab and ⌘`. Quit Flick, or choose Option ⌥ + Tab in Settings › Shortcuts, and all three go straight back to macOS.

Flick hands ⌘Tab back even if it stops unexpectedly, and leaves it alone until it has the Accessibility permission; get the macOS app switcher back covers each case. What each mode keeps and replaces is in choosing ⌥Tab or ⌘Tab, and if you want a switcher on ⌘Tab on purpose, alternatives to the macOS app switcher compares several.