Alt-tab

noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active.; An equivalent keyboard shortcut that switches between windows or applications, such as Windows-Tab, or Command-Tab on macOS. countable, informal, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To switch between windows or applications by pressing Alt-Tab (or equivalent). intransitive

    "If I Alt-Tabbed through all other open programs, eventually returning to the screen from which the cursor disappeared, it would reappear and everything seemed fine."

  2. 2
    To switch windows in Microsoft Windows.

Example

More examples

"One shortcut I use all the time is Alt-Tab to switch between windows."

Etymology

From the Microsoft Windows keyboard sequence Alt + Tab used to switch windows.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.