---
title: "The switcher | Findow Docs"
description: "Everything you can do while holding \u2325Tab."
canonical: https://findowmac.com/docs/switcher.html
---

Everyday moves

# The switcher

Everything you can do while holding ⌥Tab.

Tap the shortcut to jump back. Hold it for a moment to see your windows. Start with [Find a window](https://findowmac.com/find-a-window.html) if you're new.

## While you hold

| Key | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Tab, ←, → | Move through windows |
| ⇧Tab | Move back |
| ↑, ↓ | Walk the selected window's stack of tabs |
| Any letters | Search |
| Delete | Remove the last letter |
| The key above Tab | Flick back to your previous window |
| 1 to 9 | Switch to a workflow, until you've started a search |
| Return | Open the selection |
| Esc | Close without switching |

Two fingers on a trackpad, or a mouse wheel, also move through windows.

The Wheel and List styles run top to bottom, so ↑ and ↓ move through windows there, and ← and → walk a stack of tabs.

## Act on a window

While holding, you can act without leaving the switcher. If your switcher shortcut uses ⌘, these use ⌃ instead.

| Key | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| ⌘W | Close the selected window |
| ⌘M | Minimize it |
| ⌘H | Hide its app |
| ⌘Q | Quit its app |

## Drop files on a window

Drag files onto the switcher to open them in the selected window's app.

## Settings

All of these are in Settings > Switcher.

- **Keyboard shortcut:** ⌥Tab unless you change it.

- **Current app's windows:** turn on the ⌥ and backtick shortcut walk only the front app's windows. Off by default.

- **Swipe up to open:** three or four fingers. Three fingers also opens Mission Control unless you turn that off in System Settings.

- **Show windows from:** all desktops, or this desktop only.

- **Show the switcher:** where the pointer is, with the current window, or on the main display.

- **Leave out an app:** keep an app out of the list.

- **Tabs:** off, stacked per window, one by one, or only while searching. macOS asks once for each browser.

- **Private windows:** choose how they appear. Safari can't report private windows, so they're treated as normal windows.