Cmd+Tab: switch apps like a pro

You know the basics — holding Cmd and tapping Tab to cycle through open apps is something everyone learns fast. But the app switcher hides a few extra tricks that turn it into a small control center: you can quit apps, hide them, or move between windows of the same app, all without ever letting go of the Cmd key.

A typical scenario

You sit down at your computer in the morning and find ten apps still open from the night before — a browser, an editor, a chat app, music, a calculator. Closing them one by one by clicking the X means ten clicks and mousing back and forth between windows. Instead, hold Cmd and tap Tab over to the apps you don't need, and press Q to close them one after another — your hand stays on the keyboard the whole time and the mouse never gets touched.

How to do it

1. Hold Cmd and repeatedly tap Tab — you move forward through the app icons at the top of the screen; hold Shift at the same time to move backward.
2. While still holding Cmd, press Q — this quits the selected app right there, without letting go of Cmd or closing the switcher first. A great way to quickly clear out everything you don't need from the previous day, first thing in the morning.
3. Press H instead of Q — the app stays running but disappears from view, handy when you just want it out of the way temporarily rather than closed.
4. Once you're stopped on an app's icon, press the down arrow — previews of all its open windows appear, and you can keep navigating between them with the arrow keys.
5. The switcher works with a trackpad too: a three-finger swipe left/right between full-screen apps is a close relative, even though it's technically a different feature.

The best tools

• Cmd + Tab (built into macOS) — free, works instantly, nothing to configure.
• Witch — extends the switcher to move between individual windows, not just apps, and adds its own shortcuts.
• AltTab — a popular free alternative that adds window previews right into the classic Cmd+Tab window, similar to Alt+Tab on Windows.
• Rectangle / Magnet — not directly about switching, but a great companion when you need to snap a window to half the screen right after switching to it.

What you get out of it

• Time: clearing out open apps via the keyboard takes a fraction of the time clicking the X with the mouse would — for anyone with dozens of windows open daily, that's a few minutes saved every morning.
• Smoother work: your hands stay on the keyboard, so switching doesn't interrupt typing or your train of thought.
• Clarity: the distinction between closing (Q) and hiding (H) lets you tidy your screen without losing work in progress in an app you just don't need to see right now.
• Less on-screen chaos: faster cleanup means fewer open windows to get lost in when looking for the one you actually need.

Pro tip

Cmd + ` (the key just below Esc) switches between windows of the same app — say, between two browser windows or two documents in an editor. It's a natural companion to Cmd+Tab: one shortcut handles switching between apps, the other handles switching between windows within the one you're currently in.