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Accepted
Mazhar
Asked: 2018-05-15 11:44:13 +0800 CST

How to separate opened windows in alt+tab switcher in Ubuntu 18.04?

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When I have multiple windows of an application opened e.g. Chrome main window and Incognito window, and I press Alt+Tab to switch between them, I see only one Chrome icon. I have to then press down key and then right (or left) to switch to the window I want.

How can I separate all opened windows and just press Tab again while pressing Alt key, like we used to in earlier versions of Ubuntu?

unity application-switcher 18.04

4 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Go to Settings > Devices > Keyboard and scroll down the list of shortcuts. Alt+Tab will be the shortcut for Switch Applications.

    What you want is to set Alt+Tab on Switch Windows instead, so click Switch Applications and press backspace to clear the shortcut for it. Click set. Then click Switch Windows and set Alt+Tab there instead. This will give you the desired function.

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  2. It's very simple to solve your problem without change the native keybindings.

    All you need to do is type Alt+` (backtick, the key above Tab) if you want switch between the same apps.

    To switch different apps, Alt+Tab.

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  3. Graphically using dconf-editor

    From : https://superuser.com/a/860001/718726 (pasted here because there is no equivalent answer in here)

    • Open dconf-editor
    • Go to org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings
    • Move the value '<Alt>Tab' from switch-applications to switch-windows
    • Optionally move '<Shift><Alt>Tab' from switch-applications-backward to switch-windows-backward
    • If you want switch-windows to work across desktops, not just in the current desktop, you can also uncheck org/gnome/shell/window-switcher/current-workspace-only (Courtesy of @CharlBotha)
    • Close dconf-editor
    • Press Alt+F2, then type r to restart Gnome.

    The last step does not always appear to be necessary, but it should not hurt (especially since it does not close any of your running applications).

    Equivalent using command-line (no need to install dconf-editor)

    Run the following lines in your terminal:

    gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-windows "['<Alt>Tab']"
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-windows-backward "['<Shift><Alt>Tab']"
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-applications "['<Super>Tab']"
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-applications-backward "['<Shift><Super>Tab']"

    If you want switch-windows to work across desktops, not just in the current desktop, you can also execute:

    gsettings set org.gnome.shell.window-switcher current-workspace-only false

    If you don't notice any change you can press Alt+F2, then type r to restart Gnome.

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  4. Install the gnome shell extension AlternateTab

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