Unable to switch between programs with alt+tab, or manually by mouse and GUI; first program open seems to take visual priority.

Question

I have noticed that when I try to switch between several open programs, I cannot do this without first minimising to the desktop.

Otherwise, I find that the first program I have open, or usually, the internet explorer (in this case chrome) will stay in the way of the opened program; if I minimise the internet explorer, I can then see the opened program behind this now minimised rpgoram, but I keep havign to do this; I can;t even alt+tab between programs.

Also if I have two word programs opened, then unless I minimise document 1, then I will never be able to view document 2, even when trying to alt+tab, or manually switch between the two files; document 1 will always be in the way until I minimise this.

This has not been a problem in the past and I am unsure how to fix this, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi Philip,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I can imagine the inconvenience you are experiencing and will certainly help you in the right direction to fix the issue. However, I would appreciate if you could answer a few questions to narrow down the issue in order to provide you with better assistance.

1. Did you make any significant hardware or software changes to the computer prior to this issue?
2. Does the shortcut Alt+Esc work to switch between the windows?
3. Do other desktop shortcuts work (e.g. Alt+D for opening Desktop)?

The issue might arise if some software service is conflicting with the system service responsible for switching between the apps or if the settings for switching programs is turned off. To troubleshoot the issue, I would suggest you to try the following steps and check if the issue persists.

Method 1:

 a) Swipe from the bottom-right corner of the screen and click on Settings.

 b) Click on Change PC settings.

 c) Click PC and Devices.

 d) Open Corners and Edges.

 e) Turn ON the option to Allow switching between recent apps.

Check for the issue. If the issue still persists, try the next method.

Method 2:

Try to boot the system in safe mode and check if the issue is reproduced. If not, then clean boot the computer and check if it helps.

Step 1:

Safe mode is a diagnostic mode in which you are logged in with only necessary minimal services and drivers enabled. Check if the issue is reproduced.

Refer to the following steps:

1. Click on the Power button on the login screen.
2. Press and hold the SHIFT key on keyboard and simultaneously click on Restart option.
3. Once your PC restarts, on the Choose an option screen, tap or click Troubleshoot.

If you don't see the Startup Settings option, tap or click Advanced options. 4. Tap or click Startup Settings. 5. Tap or click Restart. 6. On the Startup Settings screen, choose the startup setting for Safe Mode with Networking (Generally F5 key is pressed to select this setting). 7. Sign in to your PC with a user account that has administrator rights.

Check if the issue persists in Safe Mode.

If the issue does not reproduce in Safe Mode, then try to clean boot the system and check if the issue persists.

Step 2:

Putting your system in Clean Boot state helps in identifying if any third party applications or startup items are causing the issue. You need to follow the steps from the article mentioned below to perform a Clean Boot.

***How to perform a clean boot in Windows***

If the issue does not occur in clean boot, then you may determine which application/service on the computer is causing this issue. This can be done by following the instructions for “Windows 8.1 and Windows 8” given in the section “How to determine what is causing the problem by performing a clean boot” from the same given link.

Note: Refer "How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting" to reset the computer to start as normal after troubleshooting.

Hope this information is helpful. Do let us know if you need any further assistance, we'll be glad to assist you.

Answer 2

Thank you for your reply.

I now appear to have made some progress since my initial post; I do now appear to be able to alt+tab successfully in most instances.

As a reply to your questions, I can alt+esc to switch between some windows,

Prior to this issue I do not believe any changes had been made, though I can't exclude automatic software updates from other programs.

Alt+D does not appear to work, however [windows key]+D does.

I think I have isolated to problem to chrome internet explorer, since this seems to get in the way of other applications that use a smaller window, so I shall explore this with chrome itself. 

I do now appear to be able to switch between two open microsoft word documents, which I couldn't do before...not quite sure what changed to allow this, since I hadn't actually changed any settings anywhere when I had trilled this.

I also looked at the settings you recommended I look at and these do appear to be in the correct modes, but definitely was worth a look.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 3

Hi Phil,

Thank you for your update on the issue.

Glad to know that the steps helped you in the right direction. Please feel free to reply, in case you face any other issues with Windows in future. We'll be more than happy to assist you.

Thanks again for sharing with us!