lwouis/alt-tab-macos

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 15,617SwiftAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((alt-tab-macos))
    Inputs
      Keyboard shortcut
      Open macOS windows
    Outputs
      Visual window thumbnails
      Selected window focus
    Use Cases
      Switch between windows of the same app
      Replace macOS default switcher
      Browse all open windows at a glance
    Tech Stack
      Swift
      macOS
      AppKit

mindmap root((alt-tab-macos)) Inputs Keyboard shortcut Open macOS windows Outputs Visual window thumbnails Selected window focus Use Cases Switch between windows of the same app Replace macOS default switcher Browse all open windows at a glance Tech Stack Swift macOS AppKit

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Switch between two Chrome windows without going through Mission Control

USE CASE 2

Get a Windows-style Alt-Tab grid on a Mac

USE CASE 3

Cycle through every open window across apps with one shortcut

What is it built with?

SwiftmacOSAppKit

How does it compare?

	lwouis/alt-tab-macos	moya/moya	ochococo/design-patterns-in-swift
Stars	15,617	15,360	15,253
Language	Swift	Swift	Swift
Setup difficulty	easy	easy	easy
Complexity	2/5	2/5	1/5
Audience	general	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

macOS will prompt for Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions before thumbnails appear.

In plain English

AltTab is a macOS utility written in Swift that brings the window-switching experience familiar to Windows users over to macOS. On Windows, pressing Alt+Tab shows a visual grid of all open windows, letting you click the one you want. macOS has its own switcher, but it groups windows by app rather than showing each window individually. AltTab replaces that default behavior with a Windows-style visual window picker. Based on the description and topics, it acts as a window manager and task switcher, offering an alternative to macOS Mission Control and Expose. The README does not provide further detail beyond the download link.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Show me how to install alt-tab-macos and rebind it to Cmd-Tab without breaking the default switcher

Prompt 2

Configure alt-tab-macos to only show windows from the current monitor

Prompt 3

Write an AppleScript that toggles alt-tab-macos on and off when I start a Zoom call

Prompt 4

Compare alt-tab-macos against Contexts and Witch for power users

Frequently asked questions

What is alt-tab-macos?

macOS utility that replaces the default Cmd-Tab app switcher with a Windows-style visual window picker so you can pick individual windows instead of apps.

What language is alt-tab-macos written in?

Mainly Swift. The stack also includes Swift, macOS, AppKit.

How hard is alt-tab-macos to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is alt-tab-macos for?

Mainly general.

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