Mac Basics: Switching Apps

You can switch between apps in several ways, including doing the same thing you do to launch apps. The App Switcher, however, is the primary way to get from one running app to another.

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Video Transcript:  Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Today let me show you different ways you could switch between apps on your Mac. 
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So often on your Mac you're using more than one app at a time. But there's not enough room on the screen to keep all those windows there and the windows for those apps will either overlap each other or cover each other completely. So you often need to switch between apps. Bring one app's window to the front ahead of other windows. There are several ways to do this.
Here you could see I've got a mess of windows with different apps that are running. If I wanted to bring one to the front and I could see it all I need to do is click on it somewhere. Like, for instance, here I click on the Calendar window and it will bring Calendar to the front. Then I could click on Safari to bring Safari ahead of that. But often you can't see all of the windows for your apps or you can't see them clearly enough to know which is which. 
You could simply do the same thing that you would do to run the app. If the app is already running then it will simply bring that app to the front. So, for instance, I could go down to the Dock here. Notice I have a dot under each app that's current running. So if I want to bring one to the front like say Notes I can click on it in the Dock. Now, if Notes wasn't running it would launch Notes. But since it is already running all it does is bring it to the front. In fact you can use any method that you normally use to launch an app to also bring it to the front. So, for instance, I could go to Launchpad here and I could click Calendar and it simply brings Calendar to the front since it was already running. Or if I wanted to bring Pages to the front I could use Command Space to launch Spotlight, search for pages, and then press Return just like I wanted to launch Pages. 
Now this technique is handy when you're not sure whether or not the app is already running. For instance maybe I was using Pages hours ago and I don't remember if I Quit it or if the app is simply buried behind other windows. So just trying to launch Pages accomplishes the task of bringing Pages there to the front if it's already running or launching it if it's not. I don't have to worry about which one because it works in either case.
Now another way to switch between apps is to use the App Switcher which is built just for this. Using the App Switcher involves the Command key and the Tab key on your keyboard. What you want to do is hold down the Command key first. With that held down tap the Tab key. This brings up the App Switcher. You have to keep the Command key held down. Notice that the app that I was previously running is automatically selected. So Calendar was the front-most app. But by doing Command Tab now Pages is selected. If I press Tab again it moves to Notes. Press it again and it continues to move down the line. In fact if you go all the way to the end of the list and then Tab one more time then it goes back to the beginning. So now you could select which app you want to bring to the front. Then release the Command key and that app will pop to the front. You could also go backwards in this list by using Command Tab to bring it up. But then holding the Shift key down and then using Tab and it will go backwards through the list. Or use Command Tab to bring it up and then with the Command key still held down switch to the key above the Tab key. The one with the back tic or tilde character on it. Then you go backwards. You can't start the App Switcher this way but if you start it Command Tab and then us that key you'll go backwards through the list. 
Now all these techniques will also work if you've hidden the app. So for instance for Notes here I go to Notes and then go to Hide Notes or Command H. Now Notes is hidden but it's still running. I can see the dot under it there. Any of these techniques, like selecting it here in the Dock or using the App Switcher, will Unhide the app. However, that's not the case if you Minimize a window. If I click the yellow button here it minimizes that Notes window. It's now here in the Dock. Now I can switch to another app, say by clicking on that window. If I were to Command Tab to Notes I go back to Notes. But that window is still minimized. It's still down here in the Dock and I have to bring it up in order to see that window again. Another good reason to Hide instead of using the Minimize feature.
Now what about Full Screen Apps or when you have multiple desktops. So let's take Notes to Full Screen and then to switch back to all of the other apps that are on the Main Desktop I can use Control and Up Arrow. I can see Mission Control here with that Desktop and Notes. But I could also just use Control Left and Right Arrows to go between Desktops including Full Screen apps. So if I were to take several of these Full Screen and now I could see I've got three Full Screen apps here. I could switch between them by using the Control and then right arrow or left arrow including the Desktop that has all the remaining windows on it. But if I use the App Switcher it will automatically take me to the right desktop or the full screen app. So Command Tab and I'll go to Notes and when I release the Command key you could see it takes me over to that Full Screen window of Notes.
So that's a look at several different ways that you could switch between apps. So which is the one you should use. Well, the App Switcher is the primary one that most Mac users use. So practice using Command Tab if you're not already doing it to switch between your apps. It's the quickest way and you'll notice that if there are two apps you're switching back and forth between they are always the first two apps shown there in the App Switcher. So a quick Command Tab goes to one. Then Command Tab goes back to the other.

Comments: 3 Responses to “Mac Basics: Switching Apps”

Abu Ray

4 years ago

TIP: You can bring up the minimized windows using command tab and option key.

Ricardo

I run 8 desktops and consign each of my main apps to a vacant desktop, One top hot corner is set to Mission Control. To switch from one app to another flick mouse pointer to Mission Control Hot corner and click on the desktop you want to switch to. I find this faster and all apps can be full screen which is essential on my 13" MacBook.
Ricardo

I omitted to mention in my previous post, that using multiple desktops you can instantly switch from one program to another by sliding 3 fingers to either left or right.

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Mac Basics: Switching Apps

Comments: 3 Responses to “Mac Basics: Switching Apps”

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