Every key on this page comes from the app maker's documentation or the app's own menus, checked on a Mac with macOS 26.2 in Safari 26.2, Chrome 155, Finder and Terminal. Safari 27's shortcut list has the same tab keys. Where the documentation and the menus differ, the difference is noted.
The keys most apps share
Apple's Mac User Guide gives one pair of keys for apps with tabs, using TextEdit as its example: ⌃Tab goes to the next tab and ⌃⇧Tab to the previous one (Use tabs in windows). All four apps below list them in their menus.
| App | Next tab | Previous tab | Go to a tab | See all tabs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safari | ⌃Tab or ⇧⌘] | ⌃⇧Tab or ⇧⌘[ | ⌘1 to ⌘9 | ⇧⌘\ |
| Chrome | ⌃Tab or ⌥⌘→ | ⌃⇧Tab or ⌥⌘← | ⌘1 to ⌘8; ⌘9 for the last | ⇧⌘A (tab search) |
| Finder | ⌃Tab | ⌃⇧Tab | None listed | ⇧⌘\ |
| Terminal | ⌃Tab | ⌃⇧Tab | None listed | ⇧⌘\ |
⌘T opens a new tab in all four, and ⌘W closes the front tab in Safari, Chrome and Terminal. Apple also notes that app shortcuts can change with your language and keyboard layout, so if a key doesn't do what this page says, look in the app's menus: the shortcut shown there is the one for your keyboard.
Safari
From Apple's Safari keyboard shortcuts, the same in the guides for Safari 26 and Safari 27:
| Keys | What it does in Safari |
|---|---|
| ⌃Tab or ⇧⌘] | Next tab |
| ⌃⇧Tab or ⇧⌘[ | Previous tab |
| ⌘1 to ⌘9 | Goes to one of your first tabs (see below) |
| ⇧⌘\ | Shows or hides the tab overview |
| ⇧⌘T | Reopens the last tab you closed |
The number keys come from a setting that's on unless it's been turned off: if they don't switch tabs, choose Safari › Settings, click Tabs, and turn on Use ⌘-1 through ⌘-9 to switch tabs (Change Tabs settings). Apple's pages describe ⌘9 two ways. The Tabs settings, and the shortcut list for Safari 26 on macOS 14 and 15, say ⌘1 to ⌘9 select your first nine tabs; the shortcut list for Safari 26 on macOS 26, and for Safari 27, says ⌘1 to ⌘8 pick the first eight and ⌘9 your last tab. To find a tab by name rather than by position, see how to search your open tabs in Safari.
Chrome
Chrome's help lists ⌥⌘→ and ⌥⌘← for the next and previous tab on a Mac, ⌘1 to ⌘8 for a specific tab and ⌘9 for the last one (Chrome keyboard shortcuts). Chrome 155's Tab menu adds ⌃Tab and ⌃⇧Tab, as Select Next Tab and Select Previous Tab, so either pair works.
| Keys | What it does in Chrome |
|---|---|
| ⌥⌘→ or ⌃Tab | Next tab |
| ⌥⌘← or ⌃⇧Tab | Previous tab |
| ⌘1 to ⌘8 | Goes to that tab |
| ⌘9 | Goes to the last tab |
| ⇧⌘A | Opens tab search, to find a tab by name |
| ⇧⌘T | Reopens closed tabs, in the order you closed them |
Tab search covers the tabs of every Chrome window in the same profile, not only the one in front (Incognito tabs aside): details in how to search your open tabs in Chrome.
Finder
Finder's Window menu lists Show Next Tab (⌃Tab) and Show Previous Tab (⌃⇧Tab), and its View menu has Show All Tabs (⇧⌘\), which shows every tab in the window as a thumbnail. ⌘T opens a new tab and ⇧⌘T shows or hides the tab bar (Mac keyboard shortcuts).
Don't reach for the number keys here: in Finder, ⌘1 to ⌘4 switch the window between icon, list, column and gallery view, not between tabs.
Terminal
From Apple's Terminal keyboard shortcuts, which match Terminal's menus on macOS 26.2:
| Keys | What it does in Terminal |
|---|---|
| ⌃Tab | Next tab |
| ⌃⇧Tab | Previous tab |
| ⇧⌘\ | Shows all tabs, or leaves the tab overview |
| ⌘T | New tab |
| ⇧⌘T | Shows or hides the tab bar |
Terminal's next and previous window keys, ⌘` and ⇧⌘~, are in the same list; they move between windows, not tabs.
Other apps
Apps that draw their own tabs, such as Firefox, Microsoft Edge or a code editor, choose their own keys. They aren't in the table because we couldn't check them in their current versions. A good first try is ⌃Tab and ⌃⇧Tab. If that doesn't work, open the app's Window, Tab or View menu: each command's shortcut is shown beside it, and Apple's own guides send you there when a shortcut doesn't behave as listed (Safari keyboard shortcuts).
If ⌃Tab does nothing in one app, another app may have taken the shortcut for itself; keyboard shortcut conflicts on a Mac shows how to find out. For moving between windows rather than tabs, see Mac window shortcuts.
With Flick
Tab keys move you around one window. When the tab you want is in another window, another browser or on another Desktop, Flick gets you there instead. With a license, hold ⌥, tap Tab and type part of a tab's title or address: matching tabs from Safari, Google Chrome, Chrome Beta, Brave and Microsoft Edge show up as rows of their own, and letting go switches to the tab and brings its window forward. Safari's tabs are listed only while Include private windows is on (why).
Finder and Terminal tabs are different. macOS keeps only the front tab of a window on screen, so in Flick a Finder or Terminal window with tabs is one row, named after its front tab: switch to the window with Flick, then press ⌃Tab. The reason, and how to give a tab its own row, are in why Finder and Terminal tabs show as one row.
See how Flick searches browser tabs
Sources
Checked on , against the guides below and in the menus of Safari 26.2, Chrome 155, Finder and Terminal on macOS 26.2. Apple's Terminal guide for macOS 26 and 27 lists the same tab keys as Terminal's menus.
- Use tabs in windows on Mac, Mac User Guide, Apple
- Mac keyboard shortcuts, Apple Support
- Keyboard shortcuts and gestures in Safari on Mac and its Safari 26 versions for macOS 26 and macOS 15, Safari User Guide, Apple
- Change Tabs settings in Safari on Mac, Safari User Guide, Apple
- Keyboard shortcuts in Terminal on Mac, Terminal User Guide, Apple
- Chrome keyboard shortcuts, Google Chrome Help
