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I've seen online many people asking how to make Command+Tab work more like in Windows, such as this post. I guess I don't understand the rationale of why Apple would implement the functionality the way it did in the following use case:

I have many windows open: some minimized, some not. I can Command+Tab cycle through the open applications. When I stop on a window that is un-minimized, it brings it to the foreground. I'm on-board with that functionality. When I stop at a window that is minimized, nothing happens.

It seems like I have issued a command to my machine but there is no effect after I'm done. People just take this to be 'how Apple did it', but it sounds more like a bug to me. Whats the rationale for this being the expected behavior?

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Carlos Bribiescas
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  • It brings the app to the front, as expected. If you had one window minimised but another visible, what would you expect to happen? – Tetsujin Sep 15 '14 at 16:32
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    Id expect the minimized window to show up. What do you mean it brings it to the front? like if i were to manually maximize it after it would show up in the front? Because that what normally happens when you manually maximize. – Carlos Bribiescas Sep 15 '14 at 16:44
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    Look at the menu bar as you do it - it brings the selected app to the front, in its current state. – Tetsujin Sep 15 '14 at 16:54
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    I'm not following. I have a window minimized. I can see it next to my trash can in the dock. I cmd+tab to it, but nothing happens. It stays minimized, it doesn't visually change at all. Honestly, I'm not sure what you mean by it being in the front in the dock? – Carlos Bribiescas Sep 16 '14 at 13:08
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    @CarlosBribiescas The window belongs to the app. The app is brought to the foreground, but it has its window minimized. It's the same idea as clicking on the desktop when no Finder windows are open; Finder is now in the foreground even though it has no windows. – Louis Waweru Sep 24 '14 at 16:58

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Tetsuyin tried to explain it already but you are not “getting” it.

Let me try :-)

First coming from Windows you must learn (when working with OSX) that OSX makes a difference between the application and the “user” windows spawn from this application (usually by choosing “new” in the application menu bar) The application menu bar is the bar on TOP of your screen. When hitting command tab you will see (when having multiple applications open) the menu bar changing. Now this is the crucial one: the application menu bar does NOT reside inside the windows spawn by the app but OUTSIDE these windows. Hence command tab only switches the menu bar when no (not minimized windows) are available. However by hitting command tab you DID switch the application (look at the top of your screen). If you want to loop over your windows (minimized or not) I suggest you take a look at witch.app (http://manytricks.com/witch/)

hth

Bart

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  • Unnecessary sass aside, that does explain why it happens. Essentially the application/window are considered separate. – Carlos Bribiescas Sep 24 '14 at 17:34
  • Please clean up your answer. I first thought it was spam. – gparyani Sep 24 '14 at 23:43
  • The answer is perfectly fine. I use Witch as well, and you can use it if you are more window than application focused. For example using iTerm with multiple windows, in combination with Chrome + JavaScript console is going to be a pain otherwise. – Coroos Sep 12 '16 at 09:49