System Change what Alt+Tab Shows in Windows 11

So it looks like, with build 25330, they've taken away the ability to NOT include Edge tabs in the 'rotation'? I'm OK with that (I LOVE the feature!) but many others don't agree. Also - I'll be MOST annoyed if they eliminate the 'all' tabs option - I use Alt-Tab all day, every day, to switch between apps and don't want to lost the ability to see all my open apps. Hopefully there will be a hack to allow you to continue to view all tabs with alt-tab.

Steerpike said:

So it looks like, with build 25330, they've taken away the ability to NOT include Edge tabs in the 'rotation'? I'm OK with that (I LOVE the feature!) but many others don't agree. Also - I'll be MOST annoyed if they eliminate the 'all' tabs option - I use Alt-Tab all day, every day, to switch between apps and don't want to lost the ability to see all my open apps. Hopefully there will be a hack to allow you to continue to view all tabs with alt-tab.

Click to expand...

Hello,

Microsoft basically just included Snap in this setting.

You can still select "Don't show tabs" to only see the currently open tab for an Edge window.

Looking at the two screenshots above,

1) the option on the left says 'Show Microsoft Edge tabs when snapping or pressing Alt+tab', then offers "all tabs", (some), "don't show tabs"

- I interpret that to mean, show / don't show Edge tabs when using Alt-Tab (and leave non-edge tabs as before - unlimited)

2) The option on the right says 'Show tabs from apps when snapping or pressing Alt+Tab', and offers "20 most recent tabs", (some), "don't show tabs".

- I interpret that to mean, show / don't show "any/all" tabs when using Alt-Tab.

That is - the original option suggests it is entirely affecting Edge tabs; regular (other app) tabs will continue to be unlimited and your setting just controls the Edge tab behavior. The new option suggests 'all tabs' are now controlled by the setting; if you select, for example, '20 tabs', then you get a total of 20 tabs, of which some will be Edge, some not.

I sure hope you are right, in that 'non-edge' tabs remain unaffected, but the wording surely doesn't suggest that!

I searched this site diligently for the answer to my question. That is, how do you make the icons on the [Ctrl+]Alt+Tab ribbon smaller? With the default behavior in W11 as it is delivered from Microsoft, the icons are monstrous & the ribbon quickly gets so big that it has a scroll bar. But I didn't find my answer on this site. This was actually the only thread on this site that seemed even close to my topic. But it does not address my issue, especially since I don't use Edge & I don't care about snapping.

A broader web search outside this site turned up a handful (there are probably more but I looked at only a handful) of descriptions of how to revert Alt+Tab behavior to the old W7 style, which shows the tasks in the ribbon using icons of a rational size. The advice I found was this:


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In regedit, navigate to this:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value named AltTabSettings.

Give it a value of 1.

Sign out or reboot.

___________________________________________________

This does work a treat. My task switcher now looks like it used to in W7. But I don't want to leave the impression that I am trying to make my W11 look like my W7. It's true that I used W7 for over a decade. But that is the ancient past now, even though it's barely a week ago. I am quite prepared to use W11 as it is, without trying to make every last aspect of it look like W7. I did not set out to change the task switcher to look like it did in W7. I just wanted smaller icons. I discovered this trick that accomplished what I wanted, the smaller icons. It is merely incidental that it reverted a behavior to the W7 version. I also have no taste for adding such things as Aero Tweaker or Customization God or whatever they're called or any other sweeping system changer. I want fundamentally untweaked W11 with just some adjustments to make it work better. This change to the size of the icons displayed by Alt+Tab ought to be in the GUI, somewhere in the Settings dialog. It should most assuredly not be necessary to revert to registry changes to get simple features like this. There are several of your tutorials I have come across in here in which your answer is a registry change. True, you package these up neatly in .reg files. But these things should be part of the user-friendly desktop, not the geek-friendly registry editor. And I say this as a committed geek myself.

But there is one aspect of this feature that has not been carried forward. Ctrl+Alt+Tab does not work. That keyboard sequence is supposed to make the task switcher ribbon remain displayed even when you take your hands off the keyboard. You can then arrow around in it all you like before you hit Enter on a task you want to switch to. It's a functionality I have used some, not frequently, but enough that I do miss it now. I suppose there is another DWORD that needs to be added that would bring back the Ctrl key part of this function. But I have no idea what name that registry key might have, nor of course what value it should take (probably 1 again, but that would be a guess).

So I come here as a humble supplicant to the Master of the .REG File to come up with yet another opus in your awe inspiring oeuvre. How do I restore the Ctrl key to this resurrected Alt+Tab behavior?

not so sure that you can. you can test this by reverting the alt+tab to the original windows 11 and:

Hold down Left Alt + Press and Release Right Alt + Pressing Tab to cycle through. This will temporarily produce the win 7 alt+tab function. You cannot add the Ctrl key there to keep it on-screen. Try this:

enable the win 7 alt+tab via reg mod, create a vbscript with the following code and then launch the script. if the ctrl+alt+tab works, this script will launch it. if it does not work, the script will just flash the alt+tab screen...

Thanks for you insterest @dacrone. I will try the temporary W7 trick another time. I created a file called Test.vbs containing the 2 lines you provided & tried to execute it using Windows Based Script Host. It didn't seem to do anything. Ctrl+Alt+Tab just acts the same as Alt+Tab. But I have to say I have 0 experience with VBScript. Unless this isn't VBScript. I expect I'm doing things all wrong. I then changed the name of the file to Test.bat & tried to execute it in both the command prompt & PowerShell. Neither one liked it. You'll have to take me by the hand & guide me on this one.

Meanwhile, I have also discovered that this resurrected W7 task switcher also doesn't accept arrow keys. Oh well. I'll just use Tab & be happy with that.

if you have named it correctly (to include removing the .txt extension - it sounds like you know what to do), try to set the reg back to the win 11 alt+tab and then run that .vbs. it should run ctrl+alt+tab. if that works, then i believe you cannot do it when you have the classic alt+tab enabled...

I think I've done things right. First I hold down Ctrl. Then in File Manager I hit Enter on the .vbs file (with no .txt in it, I'm not quite that much of a noob). That pops up the durable task switcher in the standard W11 format. When I say durable, it comes up with the W11 task switcher which remains displayed when I take my hands off the keyboard. I haven't found a combination involving Alt keys + plus your script that actually makes anything appear. Alt+Enter (either Alt key) of course opens the Properties dialog. Other combinations that include Ctrl & either Alt key also just open Properties. But I think my first result is what you were most interested in. If I understand you correctly, my experiment proves any hope of Ctrl+Alt+Tab working correctly with the W7 task switcher, enabled temporarily with RightAlt or permanently in the registry, are forlorn. Plus the W7 task switcher does not & probably will never respond properly to the arrow keys either. I also tried your little easter egg of interpolating a quick RightAlt into things. It does pop up the W7 task switcher. But adding Ctrl to the key sequence does not make it durable, & the arrow keys don't work as they did on actual W7.

Oh well. Like so much in life, this is a tradeoff. I think I so much prefer the smaller icons that I will live with the deficits in the W7 task switcher. Thank you so much for your efforts here.

That vbs invokes “ctrl+alt+tab”. You do not need to press any keys in conjunction with it. Simply double click the file. If the win 11 task switcher stays active and the win 7 does not, then I believe that the win 7 cannot

WildWilly said:

I searched this site diligently for the answer to my question. That is, how do you make the icons on the [Ctrl+]Alt+Tab ribbon smaller? With the default behavior in W11 as it is delivered from Microsoft, the icons are monstrous & the ribbon quickly gets so big that it has a scroll bar.

Click to expand...

I don't understand your reference to the ribbon and a scroll bar. I agree the icons are large, much larger than they used to be, but when I hit alt-tab (with many many active apps) I don't see any scroll bar; I just see a screen full of icons, and as I reach the bottom of the 'set of icons on display', it just shows more and more - but no scroll bar. UPDATE - actually, I DO see a very narrow scroll bar to indicate 'more stuff that will fit', but it's not a usable scroll bar in the sense that I can't slide it. I guess I never noticed before.

WildWilly said:

...

But there is one aspect of this feature that has not been carried forward. Ctrl+Alt+Tab does not work. That keyboard sequence is supposed to make the task switcher ribbon remain displayed even when you take your hands off the keyboard. You can then arrow around in it all you like before you hit Enter on a task you want to switch to. ...

Click to expand...

I had no idea that functionality existed, but I just tried it and it worked for me! Ctrl+Alt+tab causes the task switcher window to remain on screen and I can use arrow keys+enter to roam around. I don't find it particularly useful but regardless - it's working for me with 'stock' W11 and no special registry hacks to do anything. Maybe something you've done to change alt-tab behavior has inadvertently broken this aspect.

The left+right alt and tab as described by the other poster also worked for me, displaying the old, small icons (without scroll bar, even though there are too many icons to fit). I just press/hold (left) alt, quick press of right alt, then press / hold tab, and the small icon task switcher box appears. But it's super small, and offers no advantage; the icons are smaller but the containing box is also smaller, so you actually see fewer tasks in the window.

First, I see that somebody has inserted into my post above a link to a tutorial that I never found with my searches. I guess I never used the right search key. But I didn't put that there. It seems somebody else has inserted that link into my post. I am no longer able to edit the post myself. So I have to assume that somebody, probably somebody whose name begins with B & ends with k, has the superpower to do something like that. Interesting.

But that tutorial begins with a warning that it does not work past W11 build 22000.856. My system says it's on build 22631.2792. Unless things don't work the way I think they work, I believe I am on a later build than what's cited in that tutorial. That tutorial still works for me.

There is one part of that tutorial that does not work for me. It is not enough to close File Explorer to make the registry change go into effect. I have to sign out & back in to make that happen. I've experimented with it. That's how it works here. Just closing File Explorer is not enough. I have to sign out.

@dacrone Indeed yes, when I execute it without first holding down Ctrl, it does do the equivalent of Ctrl+Alt+Tab. So adding Ctrl to the small-icon task switcher, no matter which one is enabled in the registry, is not going to work. Nor are the arrow keys. Let me be clear. With the standard task-switcher selected in the registry, if I add the extra Alt to Ctrl+Alt+Tab to get the small-icon task switcher, I do not get the durable task switcher & the arrow keys don't work. With the small-icon task switcher selected in the registry, the same is true, but I already reported that. With the small-icon task switcher selected in the registry, adding the extra Alt to the key sequence does NOT bring up the standard task switcher. So I am quite resigned to losing Ctrl & arrows in the small-icon task switcher. The small icons make it worth it for me. At least adding a Shift once the task switcher is open does still reverse direction in the ribbon.

@Steerpike In the first part of your post you said you didn't understand what I meant by ribbon & scroll bar. But you figured out how that works when you realized you could add Ctrl to the key sequence. Once you have the standard durable task-switcher displayed, you can use your mouse on the scroll bar. You can also use your mouse to pick any icon being displayed.

There is no damage to my standard task switcher. It works for me the same as it works for you. But you are mistaken about the size of the small-icon task switcher. The more tasks you have open, the more rows of icons it shows. It has a size that dynamically changes to accommodate however many tasks you have active. For me, I'd rather have the smaller icons so I can see the full picture of what's running in one display. To each his own.

Probably my only beef is that you have to make a registry change to select the default task switcher. This should be a check box or radio button or drop-down list somewhere in Settings. In general, no system behaviors should be forced to be changed only by editing the registry. Every system behavior should be controlled by something in Settings.

I would still welcome a short explanation of what terminology applies in the Registry Editor. I know "keys." What are the other terms?

WildWilly said:

First, I see that somebody has inserted into my post above a link to a tutorial that I never found with my searches. I guess I never used the right search key. But I didn't put that there. It seems somebody else has inserted that link into my post. I am no longer able to edit the post myself. So I have to assume that somebody, probably somebody whose name begins with B & ends with k, has the superpower to do something like that. Interesting.

But that tutorial begins with a warning that it does not work past W11 build 22000.856. My system says it's on build 22631.2792. Unless things don't work the way I think they work, I believe I am on a later build than what's cited in that tutorial. That tutorial still works for me.

There is one part of that tutorial that does not work for me. It is not enough to close File Explorer to make the registry change go into effect. I have to sign out & back in to make that happen. I've experimented with it. That's how it works here. Just closing File Explorer is not enough. I have to sign out.

Click to expand...

Alt+Tab with classic icons just won't work for me even with sign out/in or restart. Alt+Tab stops working until set back to default.

Brink said:

Alt+Tab with classic icons just won't work for me even with sign out/in or restart. Alt+Tab stops working until set back to default.

Click to expand...

does the temp access work to display it? alt+tap the other alt+ use tab to scroll through?

dacrone said:

does the temp access work to display it? alt+tap the other alt+ use tab to scroll through?

Click to expand...

Nope. Only while using the default thumbnails with Alt+Tab.

Reg: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Create new STRING (REG_SZ) value "CoolSwitchRows" with value 3.
Create new STRING (REG_SZ) value "CoolSwitchColumns" with value 7

Restart Explorer or sign out and sign back in.

These are the default values for the old alt+tab display. Maybe one got messed up somehow?

dacrone said:

Reg: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Create new STRING (REG_SZ) value "CoolSwitchRows" with value 3.
Create new STRING (REG_SZ) value "CoolSwitchColumns" with value 7

Restart Explorer or sign out and sign back in.

These are the default values for the old alt+tab display. Maybe one got messed up somehow?

Click to expand...

That's what they're set at. It just doesn't like the old classic icon Alt+Tab version.

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

do you have dword AltTabSettings with value 1?

dacrone said:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

do you have dword AltTabSettings with value 1?

Click to expand...

When set to that for classic icons Alt+Tab, it stops working.

yeah, was wondering if maybe it just glitched up and got stuck at 1 even when you try to enable the classic