Welcome2Mac: Navigating Windows and Applications

Welcome2Mac is The MacTipper Blog's weekly tip where all the people new to Apple's latest operating system can get Mac tips to help them better use Mac OS X.

There are lots of options for navigating Mac OS X. I wrote about the Dock last week, so that's probably a good place to start.


Obviously, you can click on applications to open them up or jump to them if they're already open. In addition, you can right click on an application, then you can select which one of it's windows you want to open.




Another way you can navigate between applications is to use the application switcher. The application switcher is a floating window you activate with Cmd-Tab. You then hold the Cmd key and keep pressing Tab until the selector is over the application you want.



If you go too far in the application switcher, you can use Shift-Tab (while still holding the Cmd key) to go backwards. In addition, you can manipulate applications from the application switcher. While holding down the Cmd key, press Q to quit the selected application or H to hide the selected application. If the application you're switching to has windows that are minimized, you can unminimize them by holding the option key, then letting go of the Cmd key.


Another way you can navigate your computer is using Exposé. Exposé allows you to switch to different windows in different applications. You're probably already familiar with Exposé, so I'll just brush over it's features.

One of the lesser known features of Exposé is that you can switch between applications when you're in the application window view. To do this, just hit the Tab key.

Fun Tip: If you hold down the shift key when you hit your Exposé key, it will go into Exposé in slow motion.

Finally, you can assign modifier keys to your hot corners in Exposé This will allow you to have more features in one corner.



There's a keyboard shortcut to switch between windows in an application. To do this, hit Cmd-` (Grave accent) which is the key to the left of the number 1 key.



Finally, there is a keyboard shortcut to switch between every window you have open. The default is Ctrl-F4, but I find it most convenient to set it to Cmd-Option-`. To do this, go to the Keyboard & Mouse System Preferences. Then, select the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. Finally, set the "Move focus to the active window or next window" item under "Keyboard Navigation" to the shortcut you desire.


Using these tips, you can quickly and easily get to the windows and applications you need to access.