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hopsayer
hopsayer

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Fix GNOME's Alt+Tab: Always Switch to the Last Used Window (Not All Windows of the App)

If you’re using GNOME (e.g. on Arch Linux) and notice that pressing Alt+Tab switches between applications—not individual windows—you’ve probably experienced this frustrating behavior:

You press Alt+Tab, trying to return to the last window you were using, but instead, GNOME shows all open windows of the application (e.g. all browser windows). This clutters the interface and breaks your flow — even though GNOME’s whole mission seems to be the exact opposite. Let's fix this.

The Problem

By default, GNOME groups windows by application. So if you have multiple windows of the same app, pressing Alt+Tab shows a grouped stack instead of just going to the last active window.

You can install gnome extensions like Coverflow Alt-Tab, but they often overcomplicate things with animations or heavy UI changes.

The Clean Solution

You can fix this behavior with built-in GNOME settings—no extensions required.

Here’s how:

I. Open Settings → Keyboard → View and Customize Shortcuts

II. Find these two entries:
• Switch Applications — this is the default Alt+Tab behavior that groups apps
• Switch Windows — this switches between all windows, regardless of app

III. Do the following:
• Disable “Switch Applications” or unbind its shortcut with the Backspace key.
• Set “Switch Windows” to Alt+Tab

Now, when you press Alt+Tab, it cycles through each window linearly, just like in older desktop environments (Xfce, Mate, etc.). No more app-grouped stacks. The last active window always comes up first.

A little side note:

If only two windows are fully visible (covering everything else), pressing Alt+Tab won’t show the switcher popup—it’ll just toggle focus between those two windows.

Why This Works

GNOME treats app switching and window switching as two separate concepts. The default is designed around grouping, which can be helpful in some workflows, but it often gets in the way when multitasking between many windows.

Rebinding Alt+Tab to “Switch Windows” brings back the classic, no-nonsense window switcher—exactly what most power users expect.

Bonus Tip

Still want to switch between windows within one app (e.g. different VS Code windows)? GNOME has a default shortcut for that:

• Alt+` (tilda key) = switch between windows of the same application

TL;DR

To stop GNOME from grouping windows when pressing Alt+Tab:

• Go to Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts
• Disable “Switch Applications”
• Set Alt+Tab to “Switch Windows”

Done. Clean, minimal, and works exactly as expected.

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