dima-iholkin / switchapps

A new way to Alt+Tab and Alt+Shift+Tab on Windows 10/11.

SwitchApps utility for Windows 10/11

If you use Alt + Tab shortcut on Windows, this may be interesting to you.

A new behavior for Alt + Tab and Alt + Shift + Tab keyboard shortcuts for Windows 10/11. It uses the current Taskbar order to switch between apps.

Install instructions

• Recommended to unpin every app from the Taskbar, because it interferes with the intended user experience of switching between open apps through the Taskbar. Better to use a diffenent approach to open common apps, for example pin to the Start Menu or create shortcuts on the Desktop.

1. Download and install the latest SwitchApps release, choose the installer that best suits you.

2. For Windows 10 use 7+ Taskbar Tweaker to disable the Taskbar app grouping.
   Choose the Run at startup option during the installation.
   
   Choose the Don't group apps option in the app.
   

• For Windows 11 you can try this Windhawk mod or another solution, if they exist, to disable the Taskbar app grouping.

3. Restart the computer for all changes to apply.

4. Open some apps and try pressing Alt + Tab and Alt + Shift + Tab.

Limitations

• Rarely the SwitchApps may send an Enter keypress to the active app, which may result in some horrible consequences, so be mindful.

• SwitchApps may not work well during an extreme CPU load or the utility's cold memory state. It will resolve by itself.

• Some games and especially the full-screen mode games may conflict with the utility. You can stop the utility during the gameplay from the Start Menu.
  

• Windows 11's Microsoft Edge seems to ignore the utility, so an Alt + Tab keypress there triggers the default Windows 11 behavior.

Features

• Using AutoHotKey project to implement the actual Alt + Tab behavior override.
• Using Visual Studio Installer Projects to provide the complete Installer/Uninstaller experience.
• Registry changes during the Install process for the best Alt + Tab user experience, and the change reversal during the Uninstall process.
• Task Scheduler task for autostart with highest privileges.
• Start Menu shortcuts for easy access to common actions.

Get Support and Contribute

Please create an issue or discussion, if you noticed a bug or have questions.

License

• MIT License
• Copyright 2021 © Dima Iholkin.

switchapps's Issues

go fix the installer

Close the started SwitchApps.exe processes on uninstall. after the User confirms the uninstall.

It will need to subscribe to some WIX event, before the deletion of files.

Recommend the 7+ Taskbar Tweaker after the install.

And provide a url to the 7+ Taskbar Tweaker website in the guide on GitHub with the recommended settings for the 7TT specified.
The recommendation: to not group the app instances.

To create some .NET Installer.

fix the edge case on uninstall.

Check that /ms-officeapp/... dir in registry doesn't contain other values(keys). before removing it.

Or maybe set the value to "" (empty string). Check that this works before committing.

Make the Taskbar appear instantly on single-display PCs.

The solution was found here:

https://superuser.com/questions/1049020/windows-10-task-bar-hide-immediately

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/6377-change-visual-effects-settings-windows-10-a-5.html

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20050309-00/?p=36243

Uncheck "Fade or slide menus into view".

Need to package it into the Installer somehow, either a registry change or a SystemParametersInfo call from C#.

Add some Start Menu shortcut to start the app.

For now the User can go into the Task Scheduler and make it work from there.

To rewrite the README.md.

Start the process after the install had finished.

Should be implemented in WIX, after the installer closed event. Or can be implemented in the current PowerShell install script.

Add some way to turn on/off the autostart.

For now the User can go to the Task Scheduler and edit it there. Or install/uninstall the app.