blogginess

Oftentimes, while deep in the throes of working at the computer, you may look up at your screen to find you have 12 emails open, 3 Word documents, an Excel spreadsheet or two, 4 web browser windows, 88 stickies all plastered willy-nilly and goodness knows what else! This can make it all very difficult to find the one window you need when you need it. Luckily the OS X operating system (OS) has, built into it, several very elegant solutions to this most vexing of problems. The one i prefer is a handy little keyboard utility called Application Switcher (or App Switcher if you guys are tight).

Invoking the App Switcher

Simply hold down the Apple key, now hit Tab once. Voilà. You should see a semi-transparent floating window kinda like the one pictured above, this displays an icon for each of the applications currently running on your computer. While still holding the Apple key tap Tab repeatedly, you will see a box cycle through the active apps, select the one you want and the releases the Apple Key. You are magically whisked off to your desired application.  Once open, you can also control the Switcher using the mouse, be aware that the App Switcher will respond to movements of the mouse.

The first app selected when you invoke the Switcher is always the one you are working in currently, then they progress starting with the most recently used program moving to the ones you haven’t used in a while. This is really a useful tool for alternating quickly between to applications that you may be working on. You can hit Apple + Tab really quickly to switch to the next app witout even brining up the floating window.

Believe it or not but this is just the tip of the iceberg for this little OS X gem, read on for more advanced and insanely useful tips on using the App Switcher. Continue reading Basics: The Application Switcher is your friend.