You ’ve probably got the rudiments of the app Switcher down pat by now : press Command - Tab to see a bar full of running - app icons and keep Command down as you beg the Tab cay to cursorily throw to the app program of your choice . But , as with everything on the Mac , the program Switcher can do more than you might guess — and it provides while - you - switch option you ca n’t regain in Mission Control .
One general wind : Unless you ’re simply moving back and away between two programs , press Command - Tab and then let go of Tab immediately to keep the software Switcher on the filmdom . This lets you see where you ’re go , and go about more complex tasks , without the direction racing from one practical software ikon to the next on the saloon .
1. Quit all open applications
Say you desire to instal newfangled software that necessitate you to quit all your computer program . There ’s no penury to move to every course of study and quit each individually . Press Command - Tab for the software Switcher and then , observe Command down , campaign and defy Q. Each program program quits in turn ; you ’ll be notified if there are any unredeemed changes in written document . Encountering the Finder icon in the program Switcher end this quitting process ( tab to get around it and get to the next icon ) , and if you have an installer program running as in this scenario , you ’ll need to skip over that , too .
2. Open a new window
Just as nature allegedly abhors a vacuum , substance abuser loathe a windowpane - less program — after all , what can you do if there ’s nothing to work in ? If you ’ve pass on an lotion ( Microsoft Word , for instance ) with all its windows closed or minimized , you’re able to use the program Switcher to render to it with a windowpane ready for you to play in .
Command - Tab to the program in question and , before you let go of the Command keystone , press Option . loose the Command paint first , and then the Option key fruit . It ’s easier if you use the Option key on the polar side of the spacebar or else of the one next to the Command Francis Scott Key you ’re pressing — unless you want to perfect my trick of angling the thumb from the Command key so it also presses pick , then slip off Command , and finally publish Option ( really ! ) . If the target curriculum ’s window are all minimized , the most lately minimized one yield to duty . If no windows at all are available , a new one is created . ( In programs such as Apple ’s Pages or Numbers , if you ’ve arrange a preference for the New command to start the Template Chooser instead of a windowpane , this trick unfold the Template Chooser . )
3. Open a document in a different program
When you want to open a document in something other than its default applications programme — a Word data file in Pages , say — you’re able to apply variations of the Finder ’s loose With command . But if the target app is already clear ( and can handle the text file ) , you could also just tangle the file from the Finder onto the app Switcher legal profession . The trick is to embark on the drag operation , and hesitate it with the shiner release hold down , before you press Command - Tab ; keep Command down so the bar stays on the filmdom , and drag the papers onto an program ’s ikon .
4. Bypass the Clipboard
You choose a swath of text from a Word document to transfer to a written document in InDesign , and realize you ca n’t copy and paste because you ’ll lose what ’s already on the Clipboard . you may shift the selection using the software Switcher or else .
Drag and drop a patch of take textbook from one program to another using the program Switcher . get going drag the selection in the Word written document — move it a little bit and then block . With the mouse button still down , press Command - Tab . Holding Command down to keep the Switcher candid , trail the selection into the InDesign image . You ’ll be flip to InDesign , where you ’ll see the usual “ ghost ” of a drag pick , just as if you were drag it within the InDesign document itself . Drag it into lieu and let go of the mouse button .
Your objective window is n’t foremost in the destination ? advert on to the dragged survival of the fittest by save the black eye button down , and press Command-~ ( tilde ) to cycle to the right window . Or , use Command - N to make a new windowpane as a drop target .
Drag and drop a piece of selected text from one application to another using the Application Switcher.
you could do this between any app that permit you drag and unload text or graphic . So , for instance , you could come out in the Finder with an image file and drop off it in Pages .
5. Hide and show background applications
You ’re in Pages . you’re able to see only Finder window in the background , and you want to refer to a Stickies note . You do n’t have move to background program program to rearrange windows or to veil them as you leave . Instead , press Command - Tab to launch the software Switcher , tab to highlight the Finder , and , with Command still down , press H to enshroud the Finder ’s windows . When you free the Command tonality , you ’ll still be in Pages .
As of Lion , you’re able to no longer unhide a background program ’s windows without being moved to that program program : Pressing dictation - Tab to select an icon in the program Switcher and then H makes the hide windows reappear , but when you release the Command tonality , you ’ll be in that program . Command-~ ( tilde ) always moves you back to the previously used software ( although in this slip you’re able to press the ~ key before you let go of the Command cay , saving a fraction of secondly ) .
6. Trigger “application windows” for any running app
Lion ’s Mission Control dethrone Exposé , but a vestige of this older OS X tool stay . While Mission Control shows you all windows for all running software , you may also choose to see thumbnails of all the window for a unmarried app . This is diversely refer to as “ software Windows ” ( in Keyboard Shortcuts predilection ) or the queerly diagnose “ App Exposé ” ( in Trackpad preferences ) . The triggers you set up in those orientation panes figure out for the current practical software , but the software Switcher lets you see — and move to — the windows for any running broadcast .
choose the target applications programme in opened Switcher by using Tab , the Left or Right arrow samara , or a two - finger trackpad swipe . Then , press the Up or Down arrow to see the windows for the highlighted software . At this point , you could expend the old Exposé trick for arranging its windows alphabetically : compress Command-1 . But you’re able to also jump right to the alphabetical arrangement from the software Switcher . alternatively of using the Up or Down arrow key to open up Exposé , highlight the program you need and press the 1 key ( the Command key fruit is already down ) , for a twosome of minute .
Bonus tip for trackpad users
Are you a Magic Trackpad or laptop user ? Once the app Switcher is on your silver screen ( you must keep the Command key down ) , you’re able to apply your trackpad to navigate and take something from it .
The most obvious way is to use your finger to move the cursor to choose an app and get through it . A less obvious , but quicker manner to sail a prospicient program Switcher bar is to use a two - finger swipe when it ’s open : program are quick spotlight in turn , and the selection wraps when you reach either end of the Browning automatic rifle . constrict Return moves you to the selected software , while your cursor remains in the placement where it initiate , instead of , perhaps , at the far sharpness of your screen .
You ’ll find other utilitarian crest from Mac generator Sharon Zardetto in her ebook , Take Control of Safari 5 .