Stardock just announced AltTabby, an alternative to the Alt+Tab experience on Windows 11. The app switcher supports customizable layouts, smart grouping, application pinning, and keyboard shortcuts. The app plays nicely with other utilities from Stardock, such as allowing you to customize how Groupy groups behave.
Stardock reached out to me ahead of the release of the app and sent over a code to let me try AltTabby. I’ve never thought much about the Alt+Tab experience, so I lacked any ideas on how to improve it. I’ve always just pressed Alt+Tab to switch between apps without thinking.
AltTabby lets you do that, of course, but it has some nice options for customization that are worth a look.
Of the five views in AltTabby, I prefer the carousel. That view feels natural, and switching between apps flows smoothly. I like that I can customize things like window color as well.
I’m not a fan of the icons view or the classic icons view. I find both too crowded and compact. But I can see why people would like the minimal designs. The Icons view has a search box along the top that’s handy.
If you want to use the search box in any of the views that support it, I suggest enabling the option to “Keep AltTabby interface open when hotkeys are released.” This keeps the AltTabby view on your screen until you click elsewhere.
If you use multiple monitors, you’ll want to take advantage of options like having apps from all displays appear or limiting the view to just your current monitor.
AltTabby can learn your most frequently used windows to show those prominently or be set to just show all of your windows sorted by which has been used most recently.
I’ve never given the Alt+Tab experience on Windows 11 much thought, but it’s nice that Stardock did. AltTabby refreshes a classic Windows interface with new looks, expanded functionality, and several customization options.
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