How to switch between windows of the same app on Mac

Why ⌘Tab takes you to the app, not the window

On Windows, Alt-Tab lists windows. On a Mac, ⌘Tab lists apps, because macOS treats the app as the thing you switch to and its windows as belonging to it. Switch to Safari and you get Safari’s front window — whichever one you used last — however many others are open behind it.

So the Mac splits the job in two: ⌘Tab to get to the right app, then a second step to get to the right window of that app. Once you know the second step it’s quick. It’s easy to miss, because nothing on screen tells you it exists.

The shortcut: Command and the key above Tab

Press ⌘ and the grave-accent key — on a US keyboard, the key above Tab and left of 1, with the tilde on it. Each press brings the app’s next window to the front. Add Shift to go the other way, which is handy when you overshoot.

It works in nearly every app that has more than one window: Finder, Safari, Chrome, Mail, Pages, Preview, Terminal. It moves only between windows of the app you’re in. To get to another app’s window, ⌘Tab to that app first, then use the shortcut there.

It brings windows forward one at a time, in order. With two windows that’s perfect. With eight it means pressing until the right one turns up, with no way to see where you’re going — which is where the other routes below come in.

When the shortcut does nothing

Your keyboard has a different key there. On many keyboards outside the US — British, German, French, Nordic and others — the key above Tab isn’t the grave accent, and the shortcut lives on another key or seems to be missing. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts, choose Keyboard in the list and look at “Move focus to next window”. Double-click its shortcut and press the keys you want — ⌘ and the key above Tab on your keyboard, or anything else you’ll remember.

The window is minimized. The shortcut skips minimized windows; they stay in the Dock until you click them there. If you minimize a lot, this is the most common reason a window “isn’t there”.

The window is on another desktop or in full screen. A window in its own full-screen Space, or on a different desktop in Mission Control, isn’t in front of you, and stepping through the windows on screen may not bring it up. Use the app’s Window menu, or the Dock menu below, which list windows wherever they are.

Another app has taken the shortcut. A utility that assigns the same keys catches them first. If it stopped working after you installed something, check that app’s shortcut settings.

Other ways to reach one particular window

App Exposé. Press ⌃↓ (Control and the Down Arrow) and the app’s windows spread out on the screen; click the one you want. Minimized windows appear in a row along the bottom. If the shortcut doesn’t work, it may be switched off: it’s “Application windows” under Mission Control in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts. On a trackpad, turn on App Exposé in System Settings → Trackpad → More Gestures and swipe down with three or four fingers.

From the app switcher. Hold ⌘, press Tab until the app you want is highlighted, then press the Down Arrow. You get App Exposé for that app, so you can go from “some other app” to “that window of it” in one move.

The Window menu. Most apps list their open windows at the bottom of the Window menu in the menu bar, by name. It’s the slowest route and the most exact: when you have five documents open, the names tell you which is which.

The Dock. Control-click an app’s Dock icon and its open windows are listed at the top of the menu; choose one. Show All Windows in the same menu opens App Exposé for that app.

A hot corner. In System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Hot Corners, set a corner to Application Windows, and moving the pointer there opens App Exposé for the app you’re in.

Fewer windows to switch between

Sometimes the better fix is fewer windows. Finder, Safari, Terminal and many document apps can merge their windows into tabs: choose Window → Merge All Windows. Then ⌃Tab and ⌃⇧Tab move between the tabs, and there’s one window to find instead of six.

Placement helps too. With windows tiled side by side, the one you want is already on screen — snap windows to halves and corners — and if you work with the same arrangement every day, save the layout and bring it back in one go.

Seeing an app’s windows before you switch, with MacFixes

MacFixes’ Switch between windows fix shows the windows rather than making you guess. Press ⌥` and the current app’s windows appear side by side, each with a preview. Keep holding ⌥ and press the key again to move along; let go and you’re in that window. Minimized windows and windows on other desktops are shown by default, so the ones the Mac’s own shortcut skips are right there with the rest.

While the switcher is open, typing letters searches the windows, which helps when an app has many. W closes the highlighted window, M minimizes it, H hides the app and Q quits it, so you can tidy up without switching first.

The same fix puts every window on the Mac in one list with ⌥Tab, much like Alt-Tab on Windows; that page covers the switcher for every app. Both shortcuts can be changed. Previews need macOS’s Screen Recording permission; until you allow it, the switcher shows app icons instead.

Permissions, and turning it off

More fixes macOS doesn’t give you

One of 47 fixes and 10 apps in MacFixes. Every fix · Every app · Something else your Mac won’t do? Request it.