10 Ways To Switch Between Windows In the Same App On a Mac

[@mrbee15]

To all new Mac users - this is the only channel you need! I'm quickly becoming a Mac-Master thanks to Gary

[@diddlybop]

I have been using macOS for about ten years and I had no idea I could make all of my windows into tabs! Thank you, great content that is straight to the point and informative.

[@razvanmihai4884]

Gary. Thanks for the comprehensive tutorial and specifically for pointing out the limitations of full screen. I realized why I am reluctant to use this feature, and now I know better what to expect.

[@DavidIsaacSingapore]

For power users, they keyboard shortcuts are the fastest way to navigate. Many power users prefer not using the mouse to navigate as it’s slower for often repeated actions. That’s why when referencing one document and editing another, being able to navigate between windows without paiusing typing / moving to the mouse is when you’ll feel seamless and in flow

[@mystickal6342]

True I am a Human Resource professional have to go through a lot of Candidates Data in word Docs and Excel among other HR Application i prefer using keyboard rather than Mouse

[@gurvirsingh2919]

@@mystickal6342 Hey, I'm a HR student, how can I begin in life after my college

[@travelledmatt3663]

Watched it for 1 minute and learnt 4 things. Amazing - thank you!

[@loisskiathitis8926]

A very useful and informative video tutorial today! Thank you, Gary 👏🏻❤️

[@timothymiller4771]

Gary, once again you have answered my "how do I do this" question! Thank you very much for being a great instructor and sharing your knowledge of Macs.

[@Joebnx1]

Oh Man, you just keep delivering! I’ve been using a Mac since the 80’s and you continue to show me ways of doing things I did not know you could do! The Apple Support Channel should just post a link to yours!

[@JoeCannon1]

Great video as usual! I like Using mission control in conjunction with hot corners. Makes it very easy to see all windows. But I like what you said about going full screen with Mission control I’m going to try that too

[@deliberateinnovation]

Stumbled on your channel. And your videos have helped transform me from a die hard PC advocate to a Mac user. Excellent video tutorials and explanations.

[@garycard1826]

I just watched this again! Gary, you sure are good at putting allot of information in a short, informative, video! Keep up the great work. 👍

[@williamgates4399]

As always, very informative and easy to understand. Thanks.

[@minewtk]

Thank you Sir! I tried several times to switch between open windows, no videos about it until I get here! #Gracias!

[@stealth797]

It's videos like this that make me grateful I subscribed to the channel. This is going to save me so much time in my music production software and other apps.

[@RainarAngelo]

The merge windows is sick!

[@zainulabdin3504]

Always have something new learning in Gary’s videos. Great work Man!

[@jondrive8801]

The Mac Master!

[@mdaniel22]

There’s also the tile to the left or right feature in Mac OS Monterey that helps in working with 2 windows at the same time. There’s also the option to resize the window to the left or right using the Accessibility feature and assigning a keyboard shortcut to it

[@aliaksandrcr8445]

Thank you for the tutorial. I had been looking for this information for a long time. It was very useful and complete.

[@thehonestman26]

How do you learn all this information so quickly and proficiently? Even when there are updates, you teach them like you have been using them for years. It's really quite impressive. I equate these videos to taking a class at school, and I have to watch them a few times for them to sink in. I would pay for a class in school, so I definitely need to contribute something to your Patreon account. Appreciate your knowledge.

[@macmost]

Thanks!

[@noupot]

Nice video

[@mystickal6342]

I think your video is the most productive video ever on mac shortcut through Keyboard. ❤❤Thanks . Can you make more videos on mac like this with more shortcuts especially zoom in zoom out and other features through keyboard

[@Ruchir205]

It was very helpful. Thanks for making this video.

[@user-mr2dt2mm8v]

great tutorial!

[@MaiElizabeth]

This is much more relevant to me than the previous recent posts.

[@kexinhuang727]

This is LIFE CHANGING! Thanks for sharing!

[@ceeclue7038]

Thank you. At any given time I am reviewing literature. With the latest iOS, minimize documents are arranged in full view to the left side of the screen; a major improvement from the previous OS.

[@htolko]

hi. i moved from windows not long time ago, and learn many Great tips! thank you!

[@VasileSurdu]

woah this 'Window - merge all windows' options works also in InteliJ which is groups all windows under tabs like Chrome. Thanks a lot for the video

[@undertheolivebranches]

Gary, I promise you are a lifesaver!

[@kexinhuang727]

Another option to move between tabs inside an app is to use option + command and left or right arrow. This one is more intuitive for me!

[@tbssic1]

GREAT VIDEO!!!

[@dannypeters330]

Great video

[@nativa69audiovisuales14]

Thanks a lot.

[@Profexxx]

Me: “of course I know about Command-Tab” Also me: “there’s tabs in Pages!?!?!”

[@photoipster]

I always learn something from you. You are amazing!

[@savrah]

Just What I needed to know. Thanks

[@MVMike62]

Thanks again Gary for amazing new shortcuts I've not used. #11 Though - I love to use Mission Control to show everything I have open. I've set a Hot Corner, top right on my Mac, to instantly Open or Close Mission Control. Fast and easy and no keyboard shortcut to remember. Thanks again!!

[@barusuuu]

wow, i dont know why it took so long to find someone to explain using cmd+` THANK YOU

[@harrysu4819]

Thank Gray

[@zinovevaleksei]

I've found the solution by pressing 'CTRL + DOWN', if couple of windows are minimized. Thanks. I use minimizing and unminimizing also with 'CMD + M' and than 'CMD + TAB (TABTABTAB...)' and than hold CMD, press and hold OPT, unpress CMD

[@on2a]

Very useful tip. Thanks for the reminder!

[@sergeya]

macOS window management is chaotic pile of legacy stuff. 😕

[@Gayatri_Deshpande]

Fantastic!!! Thank you so much

[@gulenadam8259]

Command + ' is only in English - British PC keyboard settings. Is there a universal shortcut?

[@macmost]

You tell me, since I only have that keyboard. Look in System Preferences, Keyboard, Keyboard, "Move Focus To Next Window." Is it on, and what is it set to?

[@ceeclue7038]

I am writing my doctoral dissertation. I find this extremely useful.

[@paulvanobberghen]

To switch windows of a same application on an AZERTY keyboard, you can also use the CMD+ˋ (back-tick) but it is not as conveniently located, above the TAB key as on QWERTY keyboards. It’s on the opposite side of the keyboard, above the right SHIFT key, on the same key as the £ sign. I always wondered how to do that. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

[@denhamk]

Tabs! Wow.. thanks! Didn’t know you could don’t that 🤯

[@JanKratochvilcom]

Thank you so much!

[@sundaynightdrunk]

Tabs in Finder make it so much easier to use. You can drag files between tabs, break them out as separate windows, etc. It's just like using a browser. Very handy.

[@shivakrishna1743]

Thanks!

[@TechGently]

Running Excel I have 3 files running, the Command Tild (~) is exactly what I needed. I have 3 lists I'm combining into one spreadsheet. Doing Copy/Paste. And I know there's a better way but I've got a deadline and I can't spend an hour figuring out how to merge Excel sheets and risk data issues.

[@michaelhill6453]

Tabs. Brilliant.

[@razvanmihai4884]

Shift-Command-Backslash(\) is a shortcut that gives a visual overview of all your opened tabs, making navigating your way through easier. Sadly, it is only available for Safari.

[@briantdaniel9280]

Hey Gary, just curious. What is your workflow? Are you a Command-Tab or Mission control type of Mac user? Or do you have all your apps in full screen?

[@macmost]

I use Command+Tab a lot. I use some apps full screen (Safari, Mail, Screenflow, Xcode) and others in windows on one Desktop. For Finder I have one Finder window open and several tabs and I never close it. But I have two screens, one always shows some windows (Finder, Messages, Reminders, Notes, some TextEdit windows) and the other is that Desktop and the Full Screen apps.

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

Each window you have a full screen app or is It one full screen tab at a time. When I’m under pressure at work I get lost between my screens and where each app is which gets me confused. Still can’t find best method.

[@macmost]

@@Abdullah-zl9ub For an app like Safari, I have a few tabs open in the Full Screen window.

[@Abdullah-zl9ub]

@@macmost oh sorry, I meant how many apps do you keep open or can you keep open in one window, also how do you manage to remember your desktops when you need to move between. I usually use mail, safari, WhatsApp and reminders. Thanks for answering always and for the videos

[@macmost]

@@Abdullah-zl9ub It depends on what I am doing. Many apps. I don't close apps unless I know I am done with them for a while (like the rest of the day maybe). I just have one Desktop with windowed apps and then 2-3 Full Screen apps. I don't need to remember which "space" has which since I use the App Switcher.

[@AnalogFlava]

Great video! But how the heck do I switch between open browser windows that aren't tabs. From one window to another, it used to be so simple with command and then key in between left shift and the Z button(looks like two arrows going in left/right) but nothing happens and I can't for the life of me figure out how to switch between two open safari windows. I don't even see the short cut in the windows tab in safari. When is use the safari expose or Mission Control function it seems to only be showing me one or two windows but I have 10 open in total. Language setting is US English, and no, the tab+command is not it, nor the button above tab or below the dollar sign. Hope you know what I mean? Cheers.

[@macmost]

The keyboard shortcut to switch between windows in the same app is Command+` (on US keyboards it is above Tab). But maybe you have those windows minimized? If so, you have to un-minimize them in the Window menu or from the Dock icon.

[@AnalogFlava]

Thanks, but unfortunately no. They aren't minimized. I have a Danish keyboard. So I don't have the button you mention. The button is literally next to the left shit tab that is commonly used on both Danish and other international keyboards I have used. So really this is baffling me and I can't find any answers 🥲@@macmost

[@Emily-vu2kj]

Hey Gary, thank you so much! However, control+back tic is not working for excel files. Is there any way that we can assign a shortcut to cycle windows in the same app?

[@kedb]

Interesting to see that all tabs show up in the Window menu within the Pages app. They don't show up in the Window menu of Safari or Chrome though. I have often "lost" web pages because of this. The Window menu in Safari only seems to show you the currently active (i.e. foreground) tab in each open Safari window. Any of the tabs that are not currently in the "foreground" of any multi-tabbed window aren't listed. It's been a source of some frustration for me, having to hunt through umpteen open Safari windows looking for a tab I've switched away from before switching to another window.

[@sheetal3248]

What is the issue u know sound output I am trying to figure out

[@RathinaVelJ]

Cmd + Tab and Cmd+~ is the best one for power users to quickly switch as you prefer less mouse actions. I use both shortcut and always keep my dock enable which helps me to switch like windows. But I've a question is there any way I can open an app windows resized to utilise all space except the dock area below. Now to do that I've to manually double click edges of a window. Still apple has to go longway to manage this in better way. As windows provides much better way. Stage manager seems kind of copy from windows and still has to evolve and provide flexible customisations.

[@macmost]

So have the windows resize to some pattern so they all fit in? Not sure how that would work. There's no option for that,. Arrange them as you like, but nothing that can do it automatically. I'd imagine if there was it would get it wrong, not knowing what you want bigger and what you want smaller.

[@RathinaVelJ]

@@macmost Thanks for your reply. I've seen your another video where you taught Option+ Double click on Corners that really really helpful to me to get the experience of windows. Thanks a ton. 😊

[@realexc89]

haven't been able to do that yet 3:12 I have a a MacBook Pro 2022 and that key is not on the keyboard anymore, well it looks like

[@realexc89]

after looking many google images I found out is Command+control+ "]}" (this key is to the left of the enter keyboard) and this work, damn I'm so happy , thanks for the video!!!

[@karan10]

How to switch between different apps with keyboard shortcut other than Command +Tab ? Just like the one you mentioned Command + ` .

[@macmost]

Command+Tab switches apps. Command+` switches windows inside an app. What are you looking to do that is different than either of those?

[@jo69123]

is there a way to open all active windows of the same app, via a single keyboard shortcut?

[@macmost]

Not sure what you mean. Only one window is active at a time. If an app has other windows, one will be the active one and others will be inactive (usually behind the active one).

[@pierrecabot]

merci!!

[@isaiahaldam6711]

Could you also create a video with shortcuts when using multiple displays?

[@macmost]

What are you looking to do, exactly? You can still use most (all?) of these with multiple screens.

[@isaiahaldam6711]

@@macmost I'm a windows user who has recently shifted to Mac OS. On windows when I had to send an application to another screen I would use windows + shift + arrow key. I watched your video where you showed how to create custom shortcuts to move to an external display but when I tried it, the application i intended to go to the second screen goes behind the application that's already present in the second screen. I wonder why it's so complicated on Mac OS while the same thing on windows is so easy.

[@macmost]

@@isaiahaldam6711 Is the app on the second screen in Full Screen mode? If so, the window you send there isn't "behind" it but on a different space. There are some things that are easy on Windows that take more steps on a Mac, and things that are easy on Mac that take more steps on Windows. They are different operating systems and behave differently.

[@isaiahaldam6711]

@@macmost Yeah, it's in full screen. We use the second screen to display content on TVs in church using a HDMI splitter. We try to keep the contents ready on the first screen and when the time comes we move it to the second screen. We've been doing that for so long on windows until we recently upgraded to a Mac mini. Could you suggest a seamless way to switch apps in full screen so that it wouldn't look odd for the audience? Also, I'm using my windows keyboard for the mac mini and I've heard that Fn + F key is the shortcut to full-screen an application, but I'm not sure which key is assigned as the Fn key on a windows keyboard. Could you let me know that too? Thanks.

[@macmost]

@@isaiahaldam6711 Maybe try using the Dock to switch apps on screen 1, and see if it works for you on screen 2. You are going to have to experiment with your setup to find the best way. As for the FN key, you'll need to experiment there too. I don't have a Windows keyboard to test.

[@ravenshadowz2343]

Hi, I got a problem that just started happening today. This is only happening on KZbin and only on Safari, when I scroll up to the top of the screen instead of stopping it will go to one of my video playlist and scroll pass that, then it shows my Facebook log in screen for example, what can I do to solve this problem?

[@macmost]

Sorry, no idea what you are experiencing there.

[@VA57AVA]

Apple needs to pay you more than KZbin pays you bro, was struggling as a noob Mac user

[@ceeclue7038]

Ever since installing the latest IOS, my MS 360 has become unstable; any keystroke on word page sends the cursor to another page. Any suggestions?

[@macmost]

No idea what would cause that, sorry.

[@martinstrandgaard1]

Thanks for this video! I am used to using the keyboard shortcut but since I got my new M1 mac my normal shortcut no longer works. I am on a danish keyboard and normally I would use Command + < Do you know if there is a way to customize the keyboard shortcuts for this or bring back this feature somehow? Thanks so much

[@macmost]

Not sure why it isn't working for you. Does it work with another keyboard combination?

[@martinstrandgaard1]

@@macmost No it is the same situation when I use the build in keyboard on the laptop or any of my two different external Mac keyboards

[@macmost]

@@martinstrandgaard1 I mean a keyboard combination, like something other than Command+

[@martinstrandgaard1]

@@macmost Ah of course, sorry. Yes I have tried all the combinations I can think of

[@macmost]

@@martinstrandgaard1 Does it show the shortcut in the menu bar then? If not, then you are spelling the name of the menu item incorrectly.

[@passportpropertygroup6962]

I am sorry, I love my Mac but in this particular instance in my opinion, the windows os seems to be more user friendly. Because all I have to do is ALT then Tab and I can already switch from the app I am working to the previous one and back again by pressing the same.

[@eugenn2848]

Wow. The window management on mac is so confusing!

[@madisonfitzpatrick5909]

Several of the keyboard shortcuts mentioned here aren't working for my on my new macboor air. I'm dying to use cmd+` but it just doesn't do anything and I can't figure out why. I've tested it in multiple apps and nothing. ctrl+down doesn't do anything either.

[@macmost]

Perhaps you are in Full Screen mode?

[@madisonfitzpatrick5909]

@@macmost It doesn’t work even when I’m not in full screen mode.

[@macmost]

@@madisonfitzpatrick5909 Which one? Command+` would only do something if there are two open windows for that app in that Space.

[@madisonfitzpatrick5909]

@@macmost I understand that. I figured out that it works in Mac native apps like Safari and Pages but not in other apps like Firefox and Word. Any idea if there’s a fix for that?

[@macmost]

@@madisonfitzpatrick5909 Definitely 100% works with all apps that use standard windows, including Firefox and Word.

[@CTimmerman]

AltTab is the best afaik.

[@avishubale]

Command backtick is not working for me on chrome

[@macmost]

Check in System Settings, Keyboard to see if it is still set as the shortcut for that. Also consider if there are other windows open for that app and if you are using any special modes like Full Screen or Split View, minimized windows, etc.

[@karenm2669]

I never understood the point of Mission Control. I’d liked the idea of organizing tasks on different desktops but never used Mission Control in conjunction so it quickly got annoying. Going to give that another shot.

[@emancipy]

I wish Apple would just keep things simple when switching between windows by using the command+tab.

[@thefakegarret]

Feels like I am being gaslighted to thinking my issues are not valid. I just need an easy alternative to alt+tab. Ugh.

[@macmost]

What issues do you mean? macOS is not Windows and vice-versa. If you want the closest of these 10 options to the Windows Alt+Tab, then it is probably number 6 in this video, Mission Control. But there are advantages and disadvantages to each method so if you want to learn some things, the rest can be handy.

[@gaweyn]

why the hell is there no shortcut to do this when the windows are on different desktops? The default cmd+tilde only works if the windows are on the same desktop

[@macmost]

There is. App Expose. It is number 7 in this video.

[@MitaliNeerPatel]

command + backtick doesn't work .

[@macmost]

Check in System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Keyboard to see if you have disabled it or changed it. "Move focus to next window."

[@robertgerard6200]

Apple used to allow you to use the Command + tilde to switch between one or more open emails but that no longer works. Sad they had to do that.

[@macmost]

That is the shortcut for switching between windows of the same app. It would work in Mail too, as long as you had each message in its own window, which would be an unusual way to work.

[@user-by7ht8qp4w]

I would prefer to just cycle through windows by clicking on the icon in the dock...

[@mppalves]

"Minimaze" and "close" windows in Mac are probably the most stupid and confusing thing I have ever seen in a computer OS. And it is so funny to hear people talking about as if there was no problem there...

[@happysilvester]

I know there is a third pary software which would allow you to switch between windows of open apps, because what MacOS offers is a joke, it is impossible to work like this... 10 ways to switch between windows, but the simplest and most used way CMD+tab is from another universe apparently

[@macmost]

Command+` isn't simple enough?

[@a.schekotov]

да не умеет ваш мак так же как это делает виндовс

[@davidroqueq.4271]

I don't like macOS, since they want me to use everything with a mouse. that makes my work slow

[@macmost]

Tons of keyboard shortcuts available for almost everything. Mac is very keyboard-friendly. What is it that you are having trouble with?

[@user-gb1cu5ub5c]

While your video was informative macOS window management sucks and is far from intuitive.

[@HemanthCs-xk3xd]

This guy has obviously never worked in a professional office environment coz all the hacks he is mentioning are maybe good for school kids doing their homework but not enough for professionals...

[@macmost]

Hacks? There are no hacks here, I'm showing you techniques for switching between windows in an app. And many of them. Not sure what you are getting at with your comment. Why wouldn't these be useful to someone working in "a professional office environment?"

[@Forediting-dp9hi]

wow, thank you so much!!

[@desertpatient]

Thanks bunches