Windows – How to quick swap between two programs in windows

keyboard shortcutstabswindows

I am shortcut fanatic. The less I have to leave the home row the better. I know some general and ultimately useful windows shortcuts like

  • win + arrow to maximize/minimize/divide window
  • win + d to switch between desktop and currently open window(s)
  • win + e to open the file explorer
  • ctrl + t to open new tab in browser
  • ctrl + shift + t to open previously closed tab
  • ctrl (+shift) + tab to navigate between tabs
  • ctrl + 1-9 jump to tab
  • ctrl + w to close the current tab
  • alt (+shift) + tab to navigate between programs (one by one)

However, I don't know how to switch back and forth between two programs, two command prompts for example, if previous one is minimized. ctrl + esc works if both windows are opened adjacently on desktop and doesn't use that said shortcut for tab navigation. Is there some more reliable shortcut to restore and focus previous windows quickly? I would also like to know how to jump between two tabs in a browser.

Best Answer

Alt-Tab will swap between the two last visited programs. Suppose you have running programs A, B, C, and D, and D is currently in focus. Now, you want to start swapping between D and B:

  1. Press and hold Alt key,
  2. Press Tab key till you get to B,
  3. Release both keys.

Now, you would be with B in focus.

If you press ALT-Tab once, you go to D. If you press ALT-Tab again, you return to B (and so forth).

Hope I understood your question.