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Mastering the Mac App Switcher: Essential Tips and Hidden Tricks

I didn't know I could launch Expose from app switcher... great tip!

Command + ~ and all the app switcher functions are my most used short cuts.
Command + ~ will cycle through all open windows in your current app, holding shift will reverse in case you didn't know that trick.
 
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You can also cycle through a single apps windows with the app switcher open by:
1) hitting the 1 key while still holding the cmd key
2) release the cmd key, and use option-tab to cycle through each apps' windows individually
 
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Easiest way to cycle through windows of a single application is “cmd+~”. No extra steps necessary. Like when using cmd+tab to cycle applications, shift will reverse the direction.
 
Yeah it's okay, but stuff like this reminds why app-switching is a constant ding in MacOS. The solution has been staring Apple in the face for literally 16 years (the window-hover of Windows, which has been around since 2009). Cmd-Tab helps, the old tool HyperDock really helped (sadly no longer supported). Mission Control can kinda awkward help. Stage Manager is complete trash. None of it is as simple and direct as mouse-hover-show-windows.
 
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TheDailyApple said:
Easiest way to cycle through windows of a single application is “cmd+~”. No extra steps necessary. Like when using cmd+tab to cycle applications, shift will reverse the direction.
Click to expand...
This is the most basic of commands outside of command + tab. It should really be in this write up.
 
henkie said:
Thanks! What always bothers me is the fact that command tab does not work going to a fullscreen window if an app has multiple windows. Let’s say, you have 3 Word files open, one of them full screen (for me this is the main word file I am working on). And Safari just in a normal window. Command Tab does not switch between the full screen Word and Safari, but instead always goes to one the other two word windows. It’s infuriating.
Click to expand...

henkie said:
Command Tab does not switch between the full screen Word and Safari, but instead always goes to one the other two word windows. It’s infuriating.
Click to expand...

I am with the same pain with you.

I think there is a way to switch to full screen windows too but can’t remember it.

Anyone here who knows the solution, please?
 
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Very good article and some very nice tips. Should help in saving time while opening and working with many windows/applications.
 
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Good hints. Many thanks.
For switching between the open windows of one app, I use the shortcut (Control+arrow down. Very handy. Actually you can set that shortcut in Settings > Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts)
 
I use the App Switcher all the time, especially when switching back and forth between two apps, but occasionally it seems to mess up and take me to the wrong app. I do wonder if I’ve bumped the mouse or something, but it does happen enough to also make me wonder if it’s a bug.

Anyone else experience this?
 
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Joe Myers said:
MacosRumors is officially macOS beginner tips.
Click to expand...
I don't think the article is for "beginners". It started for basic users but the further tips are for advanced users. I'm using macOS since 10.3, but I never thought about drag&drop.

I was a huge fan of using F9-F10-F11 keys, but later Apple decided to move the Expose to F3. Since then I really miss the F10 button for Application Windows Expose. The ~ key is quite on a different location in the layouts I use (German-Q and Turkish-F), and I'm lazy to map it to somewhere else. I wish the key binding for app-windows-expose was something else than ~ :)
 
MasterControlProgram said:
I use this too, being able to switch back and forth between the windows of a single app without having to use Command+Shift+` is so much better. I got so used to being able to do that in Windows that I never really adjusted to the MacOS way of doing it (plus the MacOS shortcut is not a very easy/comfortable set of keys to press when I want to rapidly switch back and forth).
Click to expand...
Not directing this at you, but it does annoy me every time someone says that you "just need to get used to the Mac way of doing it" regarding tab switching. I switched to Macs about 20 years ago. I prefer it in almost every way. I use "natural scrolling", for example (took me about an hour to get used to that). But not being able to switch easily between windows, rather than apps, is a missing feature - not just an alternate way of doing things. It's a need I have multiple times every day and no amount of "getting used to it" will change that.
Sorry. Rant over 😂

I've been using Alt-Tab for a few years and consider it absolutely essential (although in general I prefer everything to be as close to stock as possible). I love that Alt-Tab exists and wish its developers all the best, but it's the one app that I really wish would get Sherlocked! It just doesn't feel native. It's a bit hard to read, a bit slow to start. It works, and I use it, but would prefer the functionality to be built in.
 
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Maxis said:
I think there is a way to switch to full screen windows too but can’t remember it.

Anyone here who knows the solution, please?
Click to expand...

Ctrl-Cmd-f (escape gets you out).
4-finger swipe cycles through Full Screen apps and last used app.
 
Doesn't the Tilde key cycle through windows within the specific app?

Or is my mac OS that old that they changed it?
 
The tip for entering expose and revealing hidden apps while in the app switcher is awesome and super useful. More content like this, please!
 
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I still cannot understand why I cannot switch between windows, regardless of which app they belong to. Horribly inefficient. Which is the best add-in/hack to increase one's productivity?
 
Nice writeup. One thing missing though: how do I switch between windows? I just returned to the Mac after 20 years, and I was shocked not to be able to switch back and forth between two windows. Alt-Tab and all that - fine! But I want to increase my productivity substantially just by switching between the last two windows regardless of which app they belong to. How do I do that??
 
SamSwede said:
Nice writeup. One thing missing though: how do I switch between windows? I just returned to the Mac after 20 years, and I was shocked not to be able to switch back and forth between two windows. Alt-Tab and all that - fine! But I want to increase my productivity substantially just by switching between the last two windows regardless of which app they belong to. How do I do that??
Click to expand...
CMD Tab will kind of do that by starting with your last used app before the one you are currently in, and it will start go to which ever is your most recently used app window. You can toggle between those two apps with a quick CMD Tab.
 
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