3

I would like to switch between programs, not individual windows from every program. I believe this is how Windows used to work back in Windows XP.

When you switch between programs in macOS, you switch between applications showing their icon. When you select the program, it opens every window for that program.

Switch app on macOS.

When you use Alt + Tab in windows, a thumbnail of each window shows.

Alt Tab in Windows

Is there a program or shortcut in Windows to make Alt + Tab function like macOS?

This is the opposite question as this one: Is there any program or way to make Mac OS X's ⌘-Tab behave like Windows' Alt-Tab? [closed]

The closest program I have found was from NeoSmart Technologies, Link: Easy Window Switcher

But I wasn't able to get it to work on Windows 11.

Giacomo1968
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AndrewH
  • 213

5 Answers5

4

Not exactly what you want but:

Classic icons on Alt+Tab

Open the registry editor with admin rights and navigate to the following key.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Right-click the Explorer key and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the new value AltTabSettings

Double-click it and set its value to 1 to get classic icons on Alt+Tab.

enter image description here

Restart Windows Explorer to execute the change. To restart Windows Explorer, open the Task Manager and go to the Processes tab. Look for, and select Windows Explorer. Click the Restart button at the bottom right and when you next tap the Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut, you will see the following app switcher.

enter image description here

Source: https://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/classic-icons-on-alt-tab-windows-10/

Giacomo1968
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4

As an alternative to Auto Hot Key, I made a small program implementing Mac switcher behavior on Windows. It's standalone .exe to launch.

I just released the first version, so there are limitations, but if you'd like to give a try, please check:

2

As I said in the comments:

First, you can set groups of apps and switch between them with AHK like here

Also, how about WIN+TAB? you'll need to arrange each app on its own desktop, but it might be another resolution?

Giacomo1968
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Netan
  • 983
0

In Windows, you can switch between open windows and programs by pressing the shortcut Alt+Tab. Knowing the program number in Taskbar, you can use shortcut Win+Ctrl+N (where n is the program number in Taskbar) to switch between the windows of a specific program.

For example, if File Explorer is the third icon in Taskbar, Pressing Win+Ctrl+3 repeatedly will switch between all open File Explorer windows.

Giacomo1968
  • 58,727
-3

I have never needed nor tried to implement this in Winblows. However, you can try autohotkey and the following autohotkey script:

Autohotkey: https://github.com/AutoHotkey/AutoHotkey

Autohotkey script:

https://github.com/jendakol/autohotkey/blob/main/window-switch-multiple.ahk