How to Switch Between Windows on Mac (Every Method)

The built-in ways to switch windows

macOS has several window-switching tricks built in. They're worth knowing — and worth knowing the limits of.

Cmd-Tab — switch apps {#cmd-tab}

Hold Cmd and press Tab to cycle through open *apps*. Release on the one you want. Fast, but it switches apps, not windows — if the app has several windows, you still have to find the right one after you land.

Cmd-` (backtick) — windows of the current app {#cmd-backtick}

Once you're in an app, press Cmd-` to cycle through *that app's* windows. Handy, but it only works within a single app and only for windows on your current Space.

Mission Control — see everything {#mission-control}

Swipe up with three or four fingers (or press the Mission Control key) to see every open window spread out. Great for a visual overview, but it's a trackpad-and-click gesture — you leave the keyboard, scan a grid, and click the one you want.

Application Windows (App Exposé) {#app-expose}

Swipe down with three or four fingers to spread out just the current app's windows. Same trade-off as Mission Control: it's spatial and mouse-driven.

The catch with the built-in methods

Notice the pattern: the fast method (Cmd-Tab) only switches *apps*, and the methods that switch *windows* (Mission Control, App Exposé) make you leave the keyboard. And none of them let you simply type the name of the window you want. (Coming from Windows and missing Alt-Tab? Here's how to Alt-Tab on Mac.)

That matters most when:

• You keep many windows per app (browsers, Finder, terminals, editors).
• Your windows are spread across multiple Spaces and displays.
• You're a keyboard-first worker who resents reaching for the trackpad.

The fastest method: a command palette

A command-palette switcher fixes all three. Switchi puts every open window one keystroke away:

• Press ⌘E (the default global shortcut, fully rebindable) from any app or Space.
• Type a few letters — Switchi fuzzy-matches the app name and window title at once.
• Press Enter to jump straight to that exact window.

Because Switchi reads the real window list from macOS, it finds windows on every Space and display, including ones you can't currently see, and raises the precise window you picked by its stable CGWindowID. You can also switch between windows of the same app just by typing part of each window's title — no more Cmd-` roulette.

And once a window is in front of you, you can act on it from the same palette: minimize, close, pin, fullscreen, or quit — by keyboard or click.

Which should you use?

• Two or three apps, one window each? Cmd-Tab is fine.
• Many windows in one app on the current Space? Cmd-` works.
• A quick visual overview? Mission Control.
• Anything busier — many windows, multiple Spaces, keyboard-first? A command palette like Switchi is the fastest, most reliable way to switch.

Switchi is native to macOS, menu-bar only, private by default, and a one-time purchase ($9.99 lifetime license). Try it free for 7 days and see how much faster switching gets.