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Navigating Between Apps

I use a lot of apps on my Mac, usually many at the same time. For example, when I am creating web sites I use a text editor (BBEdit) to create the HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL code, I use Safari to view the site as it is created, I use PixelMator Pro to prepare the graphics, I use Terminal to enter MySQL commands, and I use the Finder to move files to the correct folders, and onto the servers.

In most cases (apart from working with the graphics) I use the keyboard in preference to the mouse or trackpad, so I don't want to move to the trackpad (or mouse) to activate a new program. Luckily there is a better way.

Here's how to move simply from one program to another...

Hold down the command key and press tab to go to the next program. Keep pressing tab (while still holding down command) until you reach the program you want in the list which appears in the middle of the screen, then release the command key to bring that program to the front.

Use command and the tilde (~) key instead of tab to go backwards through the running programs. Note that this only works with running programs. Icons for programs which aren't running aren't shown, even if they are in the Dock.

When you do that, the program you started with, which was originally first in the list, will be moved to second, and the one which has just been selected will now become first.

This means that a simple command tab will always switch between the last two programs used, even without the list being displayed. Try it: press command tab and immediately release them and you move to the next program, then back when you press that combination it again.

As an example, let's say I want to copy all the text from a Safari web page into an empty BBEdit text document, and I am currently in BBEdit, and I know Safari is the last program I used. I type command tab, command A, command C, command tab, command V. Done. It took just over a second!

To explain that: command tab, switch to next program (Safari); command A, select all (of the content on the Safari page); command C, copy the content; command tab, switch to the next program (now BBEdit, since it swapped places with Safari); command V, paste the text into BBEdit. Try it slowly and watch each step, then do it at full speed so that what takes some people up to a minute in just a second or two!