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I can't get used to the fact that I can't alt-tab to a minimized window. Nor can I figure out how to switch to any particular minimized window. You have literal

• hx833001 5y ago
  One way of addressing this is to use the intended method, which is to Hide the application instead of minimizing it. Cmd H hides the application away, and it pops back to the front with a Cmd Tab.
  • jeltz 5y ago
    Why havent they removed the mostly useless minimize feature?
• uuyi 5y ago
  I don't actually minimise windows on the mac at all. I just sling them on a contextual virtual desktop and then triple-swipe up when I need a different one. Not once have I had to sit there mashing alt-tab and guessing then.
• nerdjon 5y ago
  Has Mac changed its default settings? The Dock shows you any minimized windows on the right. If for some reason this is no longer default (I don't remember the last time I setup a new Mac and didn't carry over settings) Right Click the dock >> dock preferences >> Uncheck "Minimize windows into application icon"
  • olyjohn 5y ago
    Well, that did work. But now I just have a massive pile of minimized window icons... and still no keyboard shortcut to switch to them.
    • nerdjon 5y ago
      I guess like the other person mentioned I just don't find myself minimizing that often on Mac. That being said there is an option. The first is if you are in an application you can do control-down or (if you enable it under gestures >> more gestures for your trackpad) you do 3 fingers down you will see the minimized windows for your current application at the bottom. I did also just look it up and apparently if you do cmd-tab and press up on an application it does the same thing. Not exactly what you are looking for, but you can at least do it on a per application level for anything minimized.
    • bouke 5y ago
      While the app switcher is highlighting the app with minimized windows, press cmd+1 to switch to those windows.
    • s__s 5y ago
      On Mac you generally just don’t minimize windows unless you explicitly want that behaviour (sort of hidden and available manually through the dock). It’s just a different workflow.
      • MereInterest 5y ago
        The few times I've used a Mac, trying to use this workflow just leads to a lot of visual clutter. Everything sits on top of everything else, and every window is sitting somewhere on the screen, a constant reminder that nags at the back of your mind.
      • cycomanic 5y ago
        This seems like a weird comment, what did people do before macs got virtual desktops (which was relatively recent compared to unix)? As a side note I remember discussion with apple users arguing that virtual desktops are not how one "should work" and are useless, now it's "you should use virtual desktops, obviously".
        • jeltz 5y ago
          As someone who used Mac back then: mostly just complain about it and accept that OSX did not have any good way of stashing away windows. I am still not impressed but is less painful now that we have virtual desktops.
• urbandw311er 5y ago
  Ok, so you can actually do this but the keyboard sequence is a bit bonkers. * Hold down Command and press Tab until the application icon representing the minimised window is highlighted. * Release Tab but DONT let go of Command. * Now press Option too so you are holding down Command + Option * Now release Command so you are just holding down Option * Finally release Option Amazingly this will then maximise the window whose application icon you selected in the first place. Sounds crazy but it works. Try it!
  • djkoolaide 5y ago
    You've literally improved my life with this comment. Thank you.
    • josephd79 5y ago
      Holy crap. Same here, I never knew this keyboard shortcut existed.
  • fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago
    You can also tab to the application, hit the up arrow and use the arrow keys to select the minimized window then hit enter. In fact, my command-tab workflow is: command-tab to open the Switcher and then arrows to switch application/window
    • FabHK 5y ago
      Exactly. Cmd-Tab to open the switcher, arrow-left/right to select the desired app, arrow-up/down to show all windows, then arrows or mouse to select the desired window.
    • samatman 5y ago
      I did not know you could do this, and have been following command-tab with control-down for years now. Thanks!
    • fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago
      Also, when it comes to maximizing, the green button changes modes when you hover over it with Option held and switches to tiling the window left/right or maximizing it. In general, holding Option on Mac toggles alternate behaviors for menus and buttons. (Special callout to Option+dragging a window edge)
• darkteflon 5y ago
  This will help: https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/
• colinmhayes 5y ago
  The solution is simple. Don't minimize windows. Everything fullscreen on virtual desktops. Three fingers up and choose the window you want if it's one you don't use normally. Three finger swipe between frequently used windows.
  • Asraelite 5y ago
    I do this. It's absolutely insane that it's the easiest way to do window management in MacOS. We have regressed to the point of not having windows anymore.
    • ddingus 5y ago
      I do too. A while back I had the Raspberry Pi 400 computer on my desk and a newish M1 Mac. It was interesting how much better the window management was on the Pi. Frankly, for things like file management, that little computer was Snappy as hell. And it does dual monitors like a champ! And don't get me wrong here, I've used a lot of systems, and I'm fine with my Mac. I know how to use it, I get things done and the M1 chip is really sweet. I generally go with the flow figure out what the flow is and I just don't worry about it past that. I just had to comment on this particular topic because I thought it was kind of humorous.
  • ihateolives 5y ago
    Amazing that in the era of N+1K external monitors suggestion is still to use fullscreen windows.
    • colinmhayes 5y ago
      This is where snapping comes in. You can make a fullscreen window that is made up of two applications. Really it just comes down to never fusing with your windows once you have them set up to your liking. Once everything is either fullscreen or in its corner of a virtual desktop you should never be changing how your windows work. Nothing should ever be hidden behind anything else, if it is it's time to make a new virtual desktop for it.
  • 5y ago
• tzs 5y ago
  Open the "Mission Control" settings in System Preferences to see what key sequence you have assigned to "Application Windows". While you are there you might also click "Hot Corners..." and check if "Application Windows" is assigned to a hot corner. Invoke "Application Windows" and it will show you all the visible windows of the current application tiled so you can see them all, and it will show you all the minimized windows of the current application across the bottom of the screen. (Some applications, such as TextEdit and BBEdit also show recent documents there). While in the "Application Windows" ctrl-tab cycles between all open apps while remaining in "Applications Windows" view.
• drewda 5y ago
  I also prefer Windows default behavior to macOS in this respect. I find macOS alt-tab'ing works better for me with the addition of https://contexts.co/ https://contexts.co/
  • CincinnatiMan 5y ago
    Same here. I would be so slow on my work Mac if I didn't have Contexts.
• FabHK 5y ago
  FWIW, I never minimise windows, just hide them (Cmd-H). Works fine (and you can Cmd-Tab to them).
  • nileshk 5y ago
    Same. I use hide (Cmd-H) most of the time because I want to hide the whole application, not a single window of the application. I also use Hide Others (Cmd-Option-H) to focus on a single app. And I use Cmd-` to switch between windows of the app I'm in. There is a rare case that I minimize a window, but it's generally because I don't want to work with that window any time soon, but I don't want to close it either, and I have multiple windows open in the app. Since I'm not frequently switching to the window in this situation, its fine if the easiest way to get back to it is to use my mouse.
• foobarian 5y ago
  The most annoying behavior for me is Alt-Tabbing an application whose windows are spread across multiple desktops. Alt-tab will not go back to the actual previous window, it will go back to the window of the previous application closest to the current desktop. Sigh. Luckily I don't have to put up with MacOS for very much.
  • FabHK 5y ago
    Switching across multiple desktops (ie spaces) is really annoying. In particular, you switch (Cmd-Tab) to the app you want, realise the window is on another desktop, then Ctrl-arrow-left/right to the desired desktop, but there the windows are ordered as they were when you left, and you have to Cmd-Tab to the desired app again. Alternative: Cmd-Tab to desired app, arrow up (while holding Cmd) to see all windows of that app, then pick the desired one (with arrows or mouse).
• smaddox 5y ago
  Instead of minimizing windows, put them on a separate virtual desktop. Or close them. I never minimize windows on purpose. I think the only reason the concept exists is because it predates virtual desktop switching. Also, instead of Alt-Tab, flick four fingers up or down and select the window of interest.
  • kitsunesoba 5y ago
    Yes, under macOS minimizing windows is conceptually more like putting them away in the cabinet for later retrieval whereas under Windows it’s closer to setting them aside momentarily. The level of friction is accordingly different.
  • loginatnine 5y ago
    Keyboard shortcuts are IMO superior to gestures and are objectively faster. The whole virtual desktop can get quite clunky fast when you have multiple windows opened or ephemeral programs that you temporarily need.
    • twobitshifter 5y ago
      In the case of alt+tab window switching I suspect it’s only faster if you are going to the last used window. If you’re hunting for an app through multiple alt tabs, you’re almost certainly going to take more time than using the mouse gestures to switch.
      • loginatnine 5y ago
        Unless I have dozens of app no because the beauty of alt-tab is the fire-hold-release which is always quicker than getting the mouse and clicking.
    • smaddox 5y ago
      Not the way I lay out my windows. Most of the time every window is partially visible, and so I switch by clicking on the one of interest. Or I overlay them and scroll the partially obscured one without focusing on it. The only time I actually switch with mission control is when I'm searching for a particular desktop and window, or am reorganizing windows. In those cases mission control is far superior.
• zmmmmm 5y ago
  The one thing I'll say I like about the weird minimize behaviour is that I do a lot of screen sharing and it's pretty nice that once I minimize a window that it's pretty hard for it to suddenly pop back into view. On Windows I have to pretty much just religiously quit applications before I share screen but on OSX it's usually sufficient just to minimize them.
• nneonneo 5y ago
  I minimize windows on purpose if I want to completely ignore their existence but not close the window. For example, Terminal windows that are running background processes that I don't need to attend to, VMWare windows for headless VMs that I only SSH into, and the like. It's nice because they don't show up when I open the app, and basically cannot unminimize without explicit action. Most of the time, though, I don't bother minimizing windows on macOS, whereas I minimize windows often on Windows. Although they're similar actions, they wind up serving different functions, and trying to treat minimized windows on macOS like minimized windows on Windows is just a recipe for frustration.
• sooheon 5y ago
  1. CMD-tab to application with minimized window. 2. Ctrl-down for "Mission Control > Application windows" 3. Down arrow to select minimized 4. Enter This even works when all windows of application are minimized. It's a tradeoff: takes more keypresses to access the minimized window, but prevents the minimized window from getting in the way most of the time. Which is what you want if you've minimized it.