When I want to switch between windows using ⌘ Cmd + ⇥ Tab it does not work with hidden or minimized windows. I can see the icons of these windows in the application switcher but choosing them does nothing. How can I get this to work again?
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1I just got a Mac, and this whole minimizing shit and not being able to restore that Window from Cmd+Tab—although it is shown within the window switcher—is super illegal UX. – Kalaschnik Aug 5 '20 at 12:02
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@Kalaschnik Totally agree – aztack Sep 28 '20 at 3:58
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This one is a bit tricky :
press ⌘ Cmd + ⇥ Tab to show your running apps. Keep holding ⌘ Cmd.
press ⇥ Tab until you've selected the app
press the ⌥ Option, and let go of the ⌘ Cmd.
( You must release ⌘ Cmd after pressing ⌥ Option ! )
answered Dec 1 '13 at 2:22
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12Thank you, that worked. It's not very intuitive though. Is there a reason why it is necessary to press option to get the app back? – urbaindepuce Dec 1 '13 at 11:24
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7I did not know this trick. A little difficult for the fingers. – Nicolas Barbulesco Dec 1 '13 at 17:11
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4After playing, here are some notes. Contrary to what one could think, the Option trick does not show all windows in the target application. As long as the target app has at least one non-hidden window, the Option trick does nothing. Otherwise, when the target app has one or more hidden window(s), the Option trick shows one, and only one, of these windows. More interesting yet : with apps like the Terminal, or the Activity Monitor, the Option trick will create a new window. In fact, Apple Tab with the Option trick is the equivalent of clicking the target app in the Dock. – Nicolas Barbulesco Dec 17 '13 at 10:58
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7would be nice if osx could be configured to behave properly here ... osx is falling behind linux more every day – Scott Stensland Jun 11 '17 at 23:27
Use ⌘ Cmd-Tab to cycle to the desired application and then, while still holding down ⌘ Cmd, press the ↑ or ↓ arrow. This will show the application's windows in Expose. Select the desired window with the arrow keys and press Return to activate it.
http://www.macworld.com/article/1152366/commandtabminimizedwindows.html
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Found this more recent article useful and on point for this question. macworld.com/article/2048857/… – Ted Nov 11 '16 at 13:57
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1this is true however I fail to see the benefit of apple's approach to not auto show a minimized app's window when the app is selected using command+tab ... linux window managers just do what's most natural ... time to short apple stock – Scott Stensland Jun 11 '17 at 23:26
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Doesn't seem to work for me for either hidden or minimised windows. I always get "No Available Windows". I'm on Sierra if it makes any difference. – piit79 Jan 29 '19 at 11:16
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Pretty nice in combo with left/right arrows after you hit Ctrl+Tab too. Arrows all the way to the window you're seeking. – Josh Sutterfield Feb 10 '20 at 15:29
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This worked for me for ~8 years but suddenly stopped working today. Now I need to use this awkward approach: apple.stackexchange.com/a/112358/70049 – Jesse Buchanan May 8 '20 at 0:23
Try this:
On your Mac,
- Navigate to System Preferences
- Go to Mission Control
- Uncheck "When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application"
Try using the cmd+tab now.
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Press ⌘ Cmd + H to hide a window instead of minimising it.
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This is great, yet (on Catalina anyways) as a caveat, it looks like once you hide the windows, they can't be found with the up-arrow after cmd-tab mentioned in another answer. So odd that cmd-M and cmd-H both make the window hide in a completely different way, and are restored in completely different ways! – Josh Sutterfield Feb 10 '20 at 15:39
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I like this solution best. I just have to get in the habit of using command h to hide any windows I don't want up on the screen instead of minimizing them. Too bad there is not a mouse way of doing the Hide... the yellow button only does minimize. – Wes Oct 28 '20 at 17:20
Use AltTab, it is the exact replica of windows functionality of Alt+ Tab. Takes care of both minimised/maximised window.
It's free and open source.
HyperSwitch Does the trick : https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch
I tested it. It needs to be updated. It's free. When I Cmd+Tab on minimized app it's open!
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I just looked at the hyperswitch website and one of their "Known issues" is "No option to show minimized windows yet." ... ? I haven't actually tried it though! – Wes Oct 28 '20 at 17:24
AppleScript
tell application "Slack" to reopen (activate)
Or try my app Command-Tab Plus, in addition to proper work with hidden or minimized apps has many convenient features that are not efficiently implemented in the built-in MacOs App's switcher
For example, there were discussed the problems of Mac Os X apps switcher
Restricting Command+tab options to only apps that are in the current space
Show only apps that are in the current space
My symptoms.. CommandTab would toggle the heading bar for each application but only some windows for the application would show up.
The suggestion above: On your Mac,
Navigate to System Preferences Go to Mission Control Uncheck "When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application" Try using the CommandTab now.
Was already in place on my Mac. I did the opposite and now CommandTab works perfectly.
Like Pirate X mentioned. Alt+Tab works flawlessly. You can even set the key to be Command instead of Option (Alt) and have it work normally but being able to raise minimized windows without having to press alt on the selected window.
It's super easy to install if you have "homebrew" installed:
brew install --cask alt-tab
Or just go to their website: https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app and download it for manual installation.
