[toxik]

No, Cmd+Tab switches to the next application. This is what people get surprised and annoyed by. I've been using Mac for 15 years now and I find it super awkward to switch between windows within an app. On my machine it's Cmd ` or something strange like that. This is also doubly bound sometimes, such that I can only cycle forwards OR backwards. Complete mess.

[wobfan]

But IIRC this is the same on Windows and other OSes, no? Like, I'd argue that it's the default behavior then. Also, I think it should be like that.

And yes to switch between windows of the same application it's Cmd+Shift+´. Not the most intuitive, but I feel it should not be combined, because that would mess up the sequence massively. If I want to switch Terminal windows, I don't want to do Cmd+Tab and then manually look through all 15 window icons to select.

Like, IMO the status quo is perfect. Sure, you gotta get used to Cmd+Shift+´, but try to do it for a week, and then it's perfectly natural.

[kstenerud]

It's absolutely terrible. Want to get one of your terminals and one of your vs code windows next to each other to check something visually? Can't do it. CMD-tab brings ALL of your terminal windows to the front, or ALL of your vs code windows :/

I still can't understand who ever thought this was a good idea...

[egypturnash]

I dug in the docs a little and:

1. command-tab to desired app, keep command held down

2. hit down-arrow to enter an app's windows, you can let go of command now

3. arrow keys + return, or mouse-click, to pick window; some apps may do weird things here - preview starts with no highlights and has a list of recent documents at the bottom, for instance

This is kind of poorly documented and not very discoverable, I couldn't find it in Help>MacOS Help or Help>Tips for Your Mac, I ended up learning it from the online version of the manual.

Alternatively, and what I mostly do:

1. hit the Mission Control key (three little rectangles, usually f3), or 3-fingered swipe up on the trackpad

2. click on the desired window, keyboard is ignored here

(command-Mission Control shows the desktop, control-Mission Control shows only the current app's windows)

Even more alternatively:

1. right/command-click on an app's Dock icon

2. there may be a text list of open windows and/or recent documents, there will always be a Show All Windows entry at the bottom, keyboard nav works here

[CharlesW]

> CMD-tab brings ALL of your terminal windows to the front, or ALL of your vs code windows

Cmd+Tab to the app, then press ↓ to choose a window from the app. Arrange using the basic OS window manager or your favorite 3rd-party window manager.

[thiht]

Why are you saying it like it doesn’t suck?

[kstenerud]

It's a classic case of optimizing the UX for the 20% use case rather than the 80% use case.

Most of the time, people have 2-3 work windows that they just want to swap between quickly, regardless of what "app" they happen belong to. The Windows alt-tab behavior captures that beautifully.