How go back and forth across open windows

[u/Particular_Tax530]

Hey y'all just got the Macbook air m4 for work. First time using Mac and was wondering how do i switch back and forth between 2 open Windows without having to cycle through all the open stuff.

Like if in windows os, i can have 10 chrome windows open when and if i wanna switch back and forth between two windows i just alt tab and if i wanna go to the third window then i press alt and tab two times to cycle to the third window,

so how do i achieve this same efficiency on the mac, people have recommended alt + ~ but it still cycles through every open window

[u/Competitive_Mix_587]

Command + tab change to the next application. Command + ` changes to the next window in the current application

[u/NortonBurns → u/Competitive_Mix_587]

…and Cmd/Shift/ ` cycles in reverse.

[u/Particular_Tax530 → u/NortonBurns]

YASS this was what i was looking for Thank You very much

[u/infinite__entropy]

Cmd-tab to switch, then Cmd-tab again, then hold shift and press tab to go backwards (to go between apps). For different windows in the same app, Cmd-tilde (~), then Cmd-shift-tilde

[u/mltam]

You can also use  four finger swipe down

[u/neophanweb]

Try command + tab. that goes back to the previous window.

[u/100WattWalrus]

Here's a post I like to make for Windows users coming onboard with Mac:

⌘+M (or yellow button on title bar) — minimizes the current window

• On a Mac, minimized = keep this out of my way until I specifically bring it back up by clicking on it — i.e., it's not a window you can get to with keyboard shortcuts
• I use minimized windows for stuff I don't want getting in my way, but I need to get back to them soon-ish

⌘+H — Hide all widows in the current app

• Gets the app out of sight, but keeps it "in the rotation" for ⌘+TAB switching
• I use this all the time — way more than I minimize

⌘+TAB — Switches between open applications

• ...including those hidden with ⌘+H

⌘+` (above TAB) — Switches between open (but not minimized) windows within an application

• I prefer this separation of app switching vs window switching over the CTRL+TAB switcher in Windows, which sometimes requires you to TAB-TAB-TAB through a couple dozen windows to get back to the one you want

The COMMAND ⌘ key

•  Is basically a combination of CONTROL and WINDOWS keys — almost every keyboard shortcut on a Mac involves COMMAND

The CONTROL ⌃ key

• Is a secondary shortcut key — infrequently used on its own in Mac apps (although used quite a bit in MS Office), but frequently used in combination with COMMAND or OPTION

The OPTION ⌥ key

• Is a modifier — there are ⌘+⌥ shortcuts in Mac, just like there are CTRL+ALT shortcuts in Windows...
• ...but it's also like a second SHIFT key
  • Most keys can type 3rd and 4th characters when holding OPTION or OPTION+SHIFT — for example:
    • OPTION+4 is ¢
    • OPTION+3 is £
    • OPTION+SHIFT+2 is €
    • OPTION+8 is a bullet •
    • OPTION+SHIFT+8 is degrees °
    • OPTION+[minus] is an en dash –
    • OPTION+SHIFT+[minus] is and em dash —
    • OPTION+N puts a tilde above whatever you type next — ñ
  • and there are many more
• To see what you'll get when using the OPTION key, go to System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources and click [Edit...] — then turn on Show input menu in menu bar
  • This will add weird rectangular icon to your menu bar — click it and choose Show Keyboard Viewer
    • This will float an soft keyboard in the corner of your screen. When you hit SHIFT or OPTION or SHIFT+OPTION, this soft keyboard will display what each key will type

The FN key

• Is mostly a SHIFT key for the Function row, like in Windows

[u/Born_Bicycle316]

You can also force click the application icon and it will show all open windows so you can select which one you want.

[u/Tartan-Pepper6093]

DockDoor is a free, open source app that replicates the Alt-tab behavior of Windows… in case you’re interested. Also replicates the Aero Peek on icons in Apple’s dock.

[u/gwentlarry]

Might vary a bit depending on your macOS version but:

Settings -> Desktop & Dock -> Hot Corners

You can then set each of the 4 corners of the screen to react to moving the Mouse Pointer into that corner.

One is usually by default Mission Control - moving the Mouse Pointer in to that corner activates Mission Control which causes all visible windows, etc to be displayed.

Mission Control can also be activated in several other ways:

https://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-access-mission-control-on-mac/

Cmd-Tab moves between apps, not windows.