Every Mac user worth their salt knows you can press Command-Tab to access the Application Switcher and quickly move between open applications. But what if you want to switch between windows within an application? Exposé lets you flick out with three fingers to get a view of all windows open in every app (or press F3 on Apple keyboards, or set up another keyboard shortcut), but once you have Exposé open, you have to use a mouse or trackpad to click the window you want. I’ve been looking for an all-keyboard solution as easy as Command-Tab.
And now it’s here. WindowSwitcher is a light utility that sells for $3.99 in the Mac App Store, and it lets you cycle between one application’s open windows--including Inspectors and Style palettes--by simply pressing Option-Tab. That’s it.
Tab between windows just like you’re used to using Command-Tab to switch apps.
In testing, I hit my first snag right away--WindowSwitcher doesn’t work in Google Chrome, my default browser. (Although instead of having multiple Chrome windows open, I can just switch between tabs with Command-Option-Tab.) But WindowSwitcher worked as advertised in Firefox and Safari.
It didn’t work in Adium, although if you have all your Adium chats in one window, you can use Command and the arrow keys to move between them. iChat has a similar feature, but WindowSwitcher works in iChat too.
It worked in iTunes when I had the App Store open in a separate window (right-click > Open In New Window). It worked to tab between open email windows in Outlook. In Photoshop, it worked to cycle between open images, but it included the toolbars as separate windows, too. In productivity apps like WriteRoom, TextEdit, Word, and Excel, it worked wonderfully. Training myself to go from Command-Tab to Option-Tab was a snap.
The bottom line. After two days using it frequently with my work MacBook Pro, I picked up a MacBook Air at home that didn’t have it installed, and I found myself missing it within minutes. Now it’s on all my Macs, and I’m one more keyboard shortcut closer to nirvana.
64-bit processor, Mac OS 10.6 or later
Cheap, lightweight, and easy to use.
Doesn’t work in Google Chrome or Adium. No list online of other apps it might not work with.
Guillaume Labarthe
May 03, 2012 at 12:07am
I'm the app developer.
This is the first return of experience i have and i will investigate the fact that WindowSwitcher doesn't work with some other applications. I will post an Update soon on the AppStore.Thank you for the review.
andyfinnell
May 02, 2012 at 3:25pm
If you're looking for a way to tab through windows using only the keyboard, one of my apps, Illuminate (from Fortunate Bear, LLC) does exactly that. Furthermore it works in Chrome and Adium. It is a bit more expensive, $9.99, but it also does more. For example it supports tabs in Safari and Chrome and has a Quick Switch feature where you can enter part of the name of the window and press return to immediately bring that window up.
