Windows 10: Set ALT+TAB to Use Classic Icons or Thumbnails in Windows

How to: Set ALT+TAB to Use Classic Icons or Thumbnails in Windows

How to Set ALT+TAB to Use Classic Icons or Thumbnails by Default in Windows


You can press the Alt+Tab or Ctrl+Alt+Tab keys to switch between open windows in Windows.

Pressing Alt+Tab will show open windows as thumbnails by default.

You can also press and hold the right Alt key, press and release the left Alt key, and press Tab to have Alt+Tab show open windows as classic icons instead.

This tutorial will show you how to set Alt+Tab to always show classic icons or thumbnails by default for your account in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.


EXAMPLE: ALT+TAB showing classic icons and thumbnails (default)









Here's How:

*note The downloadable .bat files below will modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

AltTabSettings DWORD

0 = Thumbnails
1 = Classic icons


1. Do step 2 (thumbnails) or step 3 (classic icons) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Use Alt+Tab with Thumbnail Previews
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Use_Alt+Tab_thumbnail_previews.bat

Download

3. To Use Alt+Tab with Classic Icons
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Use_Alt+Tab_classic_icons.bat

Download
4. Save the .bat file to your desktop.

5. Unblock the .bat file.

6. Run the .bat file.

7. You will now notice your screen flicker as a command prompt quickly opens and closes, and explorer restarts to apply the registry changes.

8. You could now delete the downloaded .bat file if you like.


That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Switch Between Open Apps in Windows 10
• How to Select Desktops to Show Open Windows in ALT+TAB in Windows 10
• How to Hide or Show ALT+TAB Background Windows in Windows 10
• How to Adjust ALT+TAB Grid Background Transparency Percent in Windows 10
• How to Adjust ALT+TAB Desktop Background Dimming Percent in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Showing Tabs for Sets in Alt+Tab in Windows 10

:)

 

Is there a classic icon for Microsoft Edge when using Alt-Tab without thumbnail?

I've disable the thumbnail preview in Alt-Tab to use classic icons. Somehow Microsoft Edge does not display its icon and uses a generic application icon instead. Is there a way around that?

 

Win 10 Alt-Tab Order - Dword Addition - Will it work?


Hello Voyager,

Yep, having classic ALT+TAB still works in Windows 10.

ALT+TAB - Use Classic Icons or Default Thumbnails - Windows 7 Help Forums

 

Alt + Tab in Windows 10 does not Toggle to Previous Screen


This tutorial at the Win 7 Forum from Shawn ("Brink") should provide your answer. It's a Registry edit (actually, adding a dword) that reverts the <alt> <tab> order to earlier Win versions.

ALT+TAB - Use Classic Icons or Default Thumbnails

I added the dword to my Win 7 PC's in 2010 and it's been working great since then.

 

Restore Classic ALT+TAB A-B B-A switching with mouse, not random


The very three critical combinations to understand before even participating in this thread:

1. Windows 10 with classic ALT+Tab registry key restoration (all over the web, look it up).
2. Use any program that customizes the key bindings to the fourth and fifth mouse buttons (the thumb buttons); I have been using X-Mouse Button Control.
3. Set the forward-thumb button to ALT+Tab (if using X-Mouse Button Control set to "Simulated Keys (pressed)" and paste {ALT}{TAB}.

This is not about using the physical keyboard to ALT+Tab, this thread is about assigning the Classic Alt+Tab function to a mouse and having it switch between the two active windows only instead of randomly wandering around different unrelated windows.

Here is list of open Windows for both Windows 7 and 10:

Window A [code/work browser]
Window B [IDE/code editor]
Window C [notepad]
Window ♣ [funny cat pictures]
Window Beta [separate browser for developer chat]
Window Waldo [browser used to find an answer drowning in responses by people who just don't get it]

Typically when I work I switch between my code editor and my test browser however this is just an example as I use the Classic non-borked Alt+Tab all the time between any two windows and when I'm done with a pair I will manually switch to another pair typically.

To trigger the correct behavior press and hold ALT, press Tab once and then let go of both keys.

Windows 7 Classic Alt+Tab (correct mouse-ALT+Tab behavior):

Window A

Code:

 Window B [browser / reload / worked? No? Back to code!]
 Window A [code]
 Window B [browser / reload / worked? No? Back to code!]
 Window A [code]
 Window B [browser / reload / worked? No? Back to code!]
 Window A [code]
 Window B [browser / reload / worked? No? Back to code!]
 
 Windows 10 Classic Alt+Tab restored via registry (incorrect mouse-ALT+Tab behavior):
 
 Window A [code]
 Window X [WTH?!]
 Window ♣ [huge vein on forehead appears]
 Window Beta [violence likely]
 Window Waldo [divided by zero]
 
 Even when you get rid of the crappy GUI garbage they dumped on users in Windows 10 the behavior of Alt+Tabbing once (pressing Tab [i]once[/i] and letting go of the Alt key) is now absolute and utter chaos. I'm a GUI designer (UI/UX etc) and the goal is to always achieve maximum results with minimum input.
 
 No:
 
 [list][*]I'm not going to use ALT+Esc
[*]I'm not going to use Windows+Tab
[*]I'm not going to add twenty seconds staring at window explosions in place of 20ms action.
[*]I'm not going to post on Microsoft Answers because the last thing you ever get there is a frigin answer.
[*]My work won't allow me to dump Windows 10 like the released-two-years-too-early-mess it is and just go back to Windows 7.
[/list]
 
 Please, fellow beings of competence, hear my plea! I've probably had [i]hours[/i] of my time wasted by [i]just[/i] this Windows 10 "feature" alone.

 

Alt + Tab in Windows 10 does not Toggle to Previous Screen


Are these windows of the same program or windows of different programs?

On my Preview Eval 10547 build running in a VM I have the exact same behavior as I've had in all previous versions of Windows.

I have a Word doc, my email program, Chrome and CCleaner open. Hitting Alt + Tab auto switches from the current in focus program to the next on the list and also holding Alt after the first press of the Tab key shows a thumbnail of all open programs. So I see Word, Chrome, Thunderbird and CCleaner windows as thumbnails. Hitting the Tab key again cycles through those open windows. Once I let go of the Alt key the one I have chosen become the current In Focus window. Hitting Alt + Tab again take me back to the last In Focus window.

I do have Classic Shell installed so that might of changed something from the default of Windows 10.