How to quickly switch between windows and apps on Mac

When you’re working on your Mac, the simplest shortcuts can help you do things faster and easier. Whether it’s gestures or keyboard shortcuts, there are plenty of ways to navigate your Mac and your apps. So, for more to add to your list of shortcuts, here’s how to quickly switch between windows and apps on Mac.

Switch between application windows on Mac

You likely have more than one app open at a time on your Mac. And while the Dock is handy for grabbing the app you need at the time; you can do it with one of two quick shortcuts too.

Keyboard shortcut

Hold Command + Tab and you will see a bar appear on your screen with all open apps.

Continue to hold Command and then press Tab to go through each application. You can hold Command and press Shift + Tab to go in the opposite direction.

And you can hold Command and use your left and right arrow keys too.

Release both keys when you land on the one you want and it’ll pop right to the front of your screen.

If you’re not fond of the keys being used, you can change them in your keyboard settings. Head to Apple icon > System Preferences > Keyboard from the menu bar. Click Shortcuts and select Keyboard on the left.

Trackpad gesture

If you have a Macbook and use your trackpad, you can see all open windows a bit differently. Using three fingers, swipe up on your trackpad. Then just move your pointer over the app you want to focus on, click, and it will become front and center.

Switch between windows of the same app on Mac

Along with switching between your open applications on Mac, you might want to switch between windows of the same app. For instance, you may have more than one Word document, Firefox window, or Numbers spreadsheet open at the same time.

Hold Command + ` (tilde key, to the left of 1 on your keyboard) to switch between windows of the same app.

If you hold Command and continue to click the ` key, it will move you through each open window. Just release your keys when you land on the one you want.

You can also use the trackpad gesture described above, just note that you will see all windows for all open applications.

More shortcuts

Here are some additional keyboard shortcuts you can use for your Mac in case you missed them.

Wrapping it up

Shortcuts using your keyboard or trackpad are just plain handy. It can be hard to remember them all, but once you start using certain ones daily, it’ll become such a habit that you won’t even think about it.

What are your favorite shortcuts? Which ones do you find the most useful? Let us know in the comments below or ping us on Twitter!

Start up your Mac in Windows or macOS with Boot Camp

After you use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows on your Intel-based Mac, you can set the default operating system to either macOS or Windows. The default operating system is the one you want to use when you turn on or restart your Mac.

Set the default operating system

In Windows on your Mac, click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Boot Camp Control Panel.

If a User Account Control dialog appears, click Yes.

Select the startup disk that has the default operating system you want to use.

If you want to start up using the default operating system now, click Restart. Otherwise, click OK.

You can’t change your startup volume to an external drive while you’re using Windows.

To learn how to change the default operating system using macOS, see Get started with Boot Camp.

Restart in macOS

In Windows on your Mac, do one of the following:

Restart using Startup Manager: Restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Option key. When the Startup Manager window appears, release the Option key, select your macOS startup disk, then press Return.

If you’re using a Mac notebook computer with an external keyboard, make sure you press and hold the Option key on the built-in keyboard.

Restart using Boot Camp Control Panel: Click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Restart in macOS.

This also sets the default operating system to macOS.

For more information about restarting in macOS, see the Apple Support article Restart your Mac in macOS or Windows.

Boot Camp could not switch between Windows and Mac OS

If you have installed Windows on Mac using Boot Camp, but you are facing problems switching between Windows and Mac, here is what you need to do to fix it. Although the process is straightforward, sometimes people do face difficulties and see the following error message while trying to switch from Windows to Mac- Boot Camp Could not locate the OS X boot volume.

If you face such an issue, then this post will help you.

Switch between Windows and Mac in Boot Camp

The process is straightforward when you need to boot into Mac OS X from Windows 10/8/7.

After installing Windows using Boot Camp, you should find a Boot Camp icon in the system tray. Just expand the system tray to see it. Now right-click on the icon, and select Restart in OS X.

In the next popup menu, you should select the affirmative option or the OK button.

It will restart your machine automatically and boot your PC into Mac.

Boot Camp Could not locate the OS X boot volume

However, some people have faced an issue where their computer has failed to switch from Windows to Mac. If you have made any mistake while installing Windows using Boot Camp, or the OS X system has some corrupted files of Boot Camp, you might see an error message like this-

In this case, you wouldn’t be able to switch from Windows to Mac. Also, whenever you turn on the machine, it will start with Windows instead of Mac.

In that case, here is a simple workaround.

Just restart your machine and hold down the Option or Alt key. Do not release this button until you get the option to choose the OS.

Once you get the choice, use the arrow key to select the OS and hit the Enter or Return button.

That’s it! You can use this method to switch from Windows or OS X and vice versa when using Boot Camp. However, as a Mac user, you can also open System Preferences > Startup Disk and select the system that you want to use to boot your computer.

Date: February 12, 2018 Tags: Mac

Related Posts

Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close on Mac

How to turn off Outlook Reminders and Reminder Sound on Mac

How to change Mac trackpad scrolling direction in Windows 10 Dual Boot setup

[email protected]

Sudip is a student who loves to engage with the latest technology & gadgets. Apart from writing about all things technology, he is a Photoshop junkie and a football enthusiast.

Switch quickly between users on Mac

If your Mac has multiple users, an administrator can turn on fast user switching to let more than one user stay logged in at the same time.

Turn on fast user switching

On your Mac, choose Apple menu

> System Preferences, click Users & Groups, then click Login Options.

If the lock at the bottom left is locked , click it to unlock the preference pane.

Select “Show fast user switching menu as”, then choose how the fast user switching menu looks in the menu bar.

Switch by using a password

On your Mac, click the fast user switching menu in the menu bar, then choose your username.

The fast user switching menu is in the upper-right corner of the screen and looks like a user icon or shows the name of the current user, depending on the setting in Users & Groups preferences.

Enter your password, then click the arrow.

Switch by using Touch ID

On your Mac, click the fast user switching menu in the menu bar, then choose your name.

The fast user switching menu is in the upper-right corner of the screen and looks like a user icon or shows the name of the current user, depending on the setting in Users & Groups preferences.

Place your finger on Touch ID.

To display the login window instead of switching directly to another user, click the fast user switching menu in the menu bar, then choose Login Window.

Use VoiceOver to switch apps and windows on Mac

When you have more than one app open, or more than one window open for an app, you can quickly switch between them using the Application Chooser or Window Chooser. The Window Chooser also provides easy access to system dialogs.

Note: VO represents the VoiceOver modifier. See Use the VoiceOver modifier.

Switch between apps

To open the Application Chooser, press VO-F1-F1, or double-tap near the left edge of the trackpad.

To navigate the list of open apps, press the Down Arrow or Up Arrow key, or flick down or up on the trackpad.

When you hear the app you want, press the Space bar or double-tap on the trackpad.

If you used the VoiceOver command to open the chooser, pressing the Space bar opens a submenu that lists all open windows, dialogs, or alerts for the app. Navigate a submenu in the same way you did the list of apps.

To exit the Application Chooser without making a selection, press the Escape key or Fn-Tab, or scrub back and forth with two fingers on the trackpad.

Switch between windows

To open the Window Chooser, press VO-F2-F2, or double-tap near the right edge of the trackpad.

To navigate the list of open windows and system dialogs, press the Down Arrow or Up Arrow key, or flick down or up on the trackpad.

To select a window or system dialog, press the Space bar or double-tap on the trackpad.

To exit the Window Chooser without making a selection, press the Escape key or Fn-Tab, or scrub back and forth with two fingers on the trackpad.