Alt-Tab is one of the most used shortcuts people use to make the job done faster. But once in a blue moon, it might happen that the user is not being able to use Alt-Tab. And that is a very big problem. In this article, we will look on various fixes that we can deploy to get the error fixed:
Make sure you have enabled the App Switching feature
To make sure that you have enabled the App Switching feature, follow the steps as given below:
- Open Settings, and click on System.
- From the right-hand panel, choose Multitasking.
- At the bottom of the screen, you will get Pressing Alt+Tab shows windows that are open on and select your preferred option.
Modifying Registry Values
To modify the Registry values follow these steps:
- Press Windows + R buttons simultaneously to open the Run dialog.
- Enter Regedit in the input field and click OK.
- A new window will be displayed on your device, and you need to navigate to path HKEY
_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
by expanding each path.
- In the left pane, search and find AltTabSettings DWORD. It might also happen that this DWORD isn’t available on your PC. In that case, you need to create it by simply right-clicking the right pane and choosing New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Enter AltTabSettings as the name of the new DWORD
- After that, double click the AltTabSettings DWORD and change its Value Data to 1.
- Finally, click OK.
Restart Windows Explorer
To restart Windows Explorer, follow these steps:
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc simultaneously that will open the Task Manager.
- Locate the Windows Explorer process, right-click it and choose Restart.
- Now, your Windows Explorer should restart, and the Alt-Tab shortcut will start working again.
Make sure that the Peek option is enabled
Enabling the Peek option has been the breakthrough for many PC users who had the error of the Alt-Tab command not working. To enable this option, use the following steps:
- In the Search bar, enter advanced and select View advanced system settings.
- Click the Settings button in the Performance section.
- Now make sure that the Enable Peek option is checked and then click on Apply.
- Click on OK to save changes and check if the Alt-Tab command is working or not.
Disconnect your peripherals
The Alt-Tab might not be working on their PC due to various devices such as headsets or USB mice that can cause this problem. To solve this problem, try disconnecting your headset or USB mouse from the PC to check if the problem has been resolved. However, this might be just a temporary solution and may return when you are again connecting them.
Disable/enable your hotkeys
Follow the steps as given below:
- First of all, press Windows Key + R and enter gpedit.msc and click OK.
- Group Policy Editor will now start, and you need to navigate to User Configuration. Go to Administrative Templates, click on Windows Components and visit File Explorer.
- Now, double click on Turn off Windows Key hotkeys and select Enabled.
- Click on Apply and OK to save changes.
If that doesn’t work, repeat the same steps, with a slight change. This time, select Disabled and check if your hotkeys work. In the end, if nothing works, select Not Configured and save changes.
Conclusion:
With this, here comes the end of the article. We hope that you have found it very useful and have been able to solve the alt + tab not working issue in Windows. These fixes are all tried and tested to work before they are included in the article and will help you out too.
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