Shortcut: Change window - how it works

With the right keyboard shortcuts, you can work effectively and quickly under Windows. This practical tip shows you how to change windows using a shortcut.

Change windows with a key combination - how it works

There are essentially four different keyboard shortcuts that you can use to switch between your open windows:

• [ALT] + [TAB]: With this shortcut, a small overlay appears in the middle of the screen in which you can see all active windows. With the [Alt] key held down, press [TAB] repeatedly until the desired window is activated. When you release the buttons, the marked window opens.
• [ALT] + [Shift]: This key combination has the same effects as the previous one, but lets the selection marker move the other way round (i.e. from right to left).
• [Windows] + [TAB]: This shows a 3D view of all windows. Here, too, you can switch back and forth between the individual programs using the [TAB] key.
• [Ctrl] + [TAB]: If you have multiple instances of a single program open, you can use this shortcut to switch between them. This works, for example, when several tabs or windows are open in Google Chrome.

We will show you on the next page how you can close individual windows with a key combination.