The “Heads-Up” Program Switcher

Only one program can be in front, or active, at a time.

To switch to a different program, you could click or double-click its icon (in the Dock, the Applications folder, Launchpad, or wherever). But the fastest method is often to use the -Tab keystroke (Figure 6-7).

You can use this feature in three different ways, which are well worth learning:

• If you keep the key pressed, then each press of the Tab key highlights the Dock icon of another program, in left-to-right Dock order. Release both keys when you reach the one you want. MacOS brings the corresponding program to the front. (To move backward through the open programs, press Shift--Tab.)

• If you leave the key pressed, you can choose a program by clicking its icon with your mouse or by pressing the or keys.

• A single press of -Tab takes you to the program you used most recently, and another, separate -Tab bounces back to the program you started in.

  Imagine, for example, that you’re doing a lot of switching between two programs, like your web browser and your email program. If you have five other programs open, you don’t want to waste your time -tabbing your way through all the open programs just to get back to your web browser.

Tip

Here’s a related keystroke, equally awesome. If you press -~ (the tilde key next to the number 1), you switch to the next window in the same program.

Figure 6-7. Apple calls this row of open program icons a “heads-up display,” named after the projected data screen on a Navy jet windshield that lets pilots avoid having to look down at their instruments.