Task Switcher/Window Switcher - Edge vs Chrome behavior

[Steerpike]

Not sure if the correct name is 'task switcher' or 'window switcher' (I've seen both) but basically, it's what you get when you hit 'Alt-Tab'.  I've been using it as long as I can remember to switch between active tasks (windows) and love it.  

 

Recently, Microsoft Edge 'tabs' have started showing up as separate entries in the 'switcher' view, so you can use 'alt-tab' to toggle between different tabs in Edge.  This is available in windows 10 and 11.  I find this amazingly useful, to the point where I'm actually considering using Edge over Chrome as my default browser.  By default, only the most recent 5 tabs show up, but this can be changed in windows 11 'settings' - System / Multitasking. 

 

I presume there is no way to add Chrome tabs to this behavior ... I'm constantly using Alt-Tab now to switch between tabs in Chrome, of course without any success! 

[Aaron44126]

3 hours ago, Steerpike said:

Not sure if the correct name is 'task switcher' or 'window switcher' (I've seen both) but basically, it's what you get when you hit 'Alt-Tab'.  I've been using it as long as I can remember to switch between active tasks (windows) and love it.

 

This feature is only available in Edge.

However, you can switch tabs in any browser with Ctrl+Tab/Ctrl+Shift+Tab, or Ctrl+PgUp/PgDn.

[Steerpike]

15 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

This feature is only available in Edge.

However, you can switch tabs in any browser with Ctrl+Tab/Ctrl+Shift+Tab, or Ctrl+PgUp/PgDn.

Thanks for that; I was aware of Ctrl-Tab/Ctrl-shift-tab, but - as trivial as it may sound, the thing that makes 'alt-tab' so appealing is that it toggles back and forth between last two active windows, whereas ctrl-tab only ever 'steps forward' through the tab list (and ctrl-shift-tab only ever 'steps backwards') - so to do the equivalent of 'alt-tab' (twice), you have to do 'ctrl-tab' and 'ctrl-shift-tab', which is just not something I can build into my workflow. I use alt-tab a lot when composing messages, if I'm referring to a web page or whatever. 

 

My remedy, FWIW, is to 'detach' the second tab from Chrome, so it's a separate window.  That is - by default, I have one instance of Chrome, with many tabs open. But you can click-and-drag on a tab, and 'pull it off' the tab row, and when you let go, it becomes its own window.  Now, you can alt-tab between it and the 'current' tab.  When I'm done with my editing, I can 'put back' the tab into the main instance of Chrome. 

 

[Aaron44126]

40 minutes ago, Steerpike said:

I use alt-tab a lot when composing messages, if I'm referring to a web page or whatever. .... My remedy, FWIW, is to 'detach' the second tab from Chrome, so it's a separate window.

 

Makes sense.  I have a similar workflow... but I just move the two tabs next to each other and use Ctrl+PgUp/PgDn to switch back and forth.  (PgUp and PgDn are actually aligned horizontally on my keyboard so maybe that helps it make sense.)

[Steerpike]

3 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

 

Makes sense.  I have a similar workflow... but I just move the two tabs next to each other and use Ctrl+PgUp/PgDn to switch back and forth.  (PgUp and PgDn are actually aligned horizontally on my keyboard so maybe that helps it make sense.)

That's certainly better than the three-finger ctrl-shift-tab!  But for me, 'alt-tab' simply means, go to the last window', and remembering that a browser tab is not a 'window' in this context just wouldn't register, plus, you have to keep track of 'direction' - are you going 'backwards' or 'forwards'; alt-tab always toggles between the most recent two, so you don't have to think. The great thing about your approach is, it also works in excel to switch between tabs, and I do find myself occasionally switching back and forth between excel tabs.