Keyboard shortcuts for switching apps and windows on a Mac
Command-Tab (⌘⇥) switches between apps, and Command-Grave accent (⌘`) switches between the windows of the app you are already in. Those two cover most switching on a Mac. When you need to see everything at once, Control-Up Arrow opens Mission Control, and Control-Down Arrow shows only the windows of the app in front.
The confusing part for most people is the split itself: macOS thinks in apps first and windows second, so the shortcut you need depends on which one you are trying to reach. Here is the full set, plus the tricks for windows that seem to vanish.
Command-Tab: switching apps
Hold Command and tap Tab. A row of app icons appears, in the order you last used them, with the app you were in just before this one already highlighted. Let go of Command and you are there.
That ordering is the useful bit. A single quick Command-Tab always takes you back to the previous app, and another quick Command-Tab brings you back again, so flipping between a browser and an editor is one press each way.
To go further down the row, keep holding Command and:
- Tap Tab again to move right, one app at a time.
- Add Shift (Command-Shift-Tab) to move left.
- Use the Left and Right Arrow keys, or point at an icon with the mouse.
- Press Q to quit the highlighted app, or H to hide it, without leaving the switcher.
Command-Tab only knows about apps. It brings an app forward with its windows as they were, but it does not pick a particular window and it does not bring back windows you minimized.
Command-Grave accent: windows of the same app
When you have three Safari windows or two Finder windows open, Command-Tab will not help, because they all belong to one app. Press Command-Grave accent to move to the app’s next window. In Finder and Terminal this sits in the Window menu as Cycle Through Windows. Most apps also go backwards with Command-Shift-Grave accent.
On a U.S. keyboard the grave accent key is the one above Tab. On other layouts the shortcut can land on a different key. To check yours, open System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts, choose Keyboard in the list, and look for Move focus to next window. You can change it there too.
The Window menu in most apps also lists every open window by name at the bottom. It is slower than a shortcut but helps when the windows look alike.
Hide, minimize or close: getting windows out of the way
These three sound alike but behave very differently when you want the window back.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⌘H | Hides the app in front, with all its windows |
| ⌥⌘H | Hides every app except the one in front |
| ⌘M | Minimizes the front window into the Dock |
| ⌥⌘M | Minimizes all of the app’s windows, in apps with Minimize All |
| ⌘W | Closes the front window or tab |
| ⌘Q | Quits the app |
Hiding is the one most people underuse. A hidden app keeps its windows exactly where they were, and Command-Tab to it brings every one of them back. Option-Command-H is the fastest way to clear the screen down to the one app you are working in.
Minimizing works per window. The window shrinks into the right-hand end of the Dock, and Command-Tab to its app will not bring it back on its own. That is the usual reason someone says a window has disappeared.
Getting a minimized window back
You have several ways back, from slowest to fastest:
- Click it in the Dock. Minimized windows sit to the right of the divider, near the Trash, unless you turned on “Minimize windows into application icon” in System Settings > Desktop & Dock. Then they are in the app’s Dock menu instead.
- Use the Window menu. Choose the window by name, and it comes back.
- Use App Exposé. Switch to the app and press Control-Down Arrow. The app’s open windows spread out, and minimized ones line up along the bottom. Click the one you want.
- Use the switcher. Press Command-Tab to the app, and while you still hold Command, press the Up or Down Arrow key to open the same App Exposé view for that app.
If you minimize windows all the time and keep losing them, try hiding the app with Command-H instead. It clears the screen just as well and Command-Tab undoes it.
Mission Control, App Exposé and desktops
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⌃↑ | Mission Control: every open window, plus your desktops along the top |
| ⌃↓ | Application windows (App Exposé): only the front app’s windows |
| ⌃← and ⌃→ | Move left or right a space, including full-screen apps |
| F11 | Show Desktop |
In Mission Control or App Exposé, click a window to go to it, or press Esc to go back to where you were. Many Mac keyboards also have a Mission Control key in the top row that does the same as Control-Up Arrow.
On a MacBook, F11 lowers the volume unless you hold fn, so Show Desktop is fn-F11 there. Function keys on a MacBook explains when you need fn and how to change it.
All four are listed in System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts, under Mission Control, where you can change them or turn them off.
If you work across several desktops or full-screen apps, Control-Left Arrow and Control-Right Arrow are worth learning early. They move between spaces in order, which is faster than opening Mission Control and clicking.
On macOS 15 Sequoia: tiling from the keyboard
macOS 15 Sequoia added window tiling with its own shortcuts, shown in the Window menu of most apps (the halves sit under Move & Resize). Globe-Control (fn-Control) with an arrow key tiles the front window to the left, right, top or bottom half of the screen. Globe-Control-F fills the screen without going full screen, Globe-Control-C centers the window, and Globe-Control-R returns it to its previous size. These are not in macOS 14 Sonoma.
Learning these, or teaching them
Shortcuts for switching are hard to learn by watching someone else, because nothing on screen shows what they pressed. A window just changes.
Typebar puts the keys on screen. Every key you press lights up on an on-screen keyboard, and each shortcut is named as you press it, which helps when you are recording a tutorial or showing a colleague how you move around. Hold Command for a moment and the keys relabel with what they do in the app in front, so you can see what H, M and W do there before you press them.
It also has an Apps layer: hold a key you choose and your running and Dock apps appear on their first letters. Press one to switch to it. For apps you use all day, that is often quicker than tapping through Command-Tab; switch to any app with one held key and a letter covers the setup. If you are still building the habit, how to learn Mac keyboard shortcuts and actually remember them has a practical routine.
Typebar is $9 once, with a 24-hour free trial, and runs on macOS 14 or later.
Questions
Why does Command-Tab not bring back my minimized window?
Command-Tab switches apps, and a minimized window stays in the Dock until you ask for it. Click it in the Dock, choose it from the Window menu, or press Control-Down Arrow and pick it from the row at the bottom.
How do I switch between two windows of the same app?
Press Command-Grave accent, the key above Tab on a U.S. keyboard. Add Shift to go the other way in most apps.
How do I go back to the app I was just using?
Press Command-Tab once and let go. The previous app is always the first one highlighted.