Please get back Classic Alt+Tab menu with small icons instead of big previews

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Please get back Classic Alt+Tab menu with small icons instead of big previews

Skirmantas Tumelis 0

The regedit AltTabSetting=1 tweak stopped to work with the recent W11 update. I hate it. Please get it back. I hate these big preview windows. First of all it takes time to display all of them, when there are quite a few, and secondly - It takes time to analyze where I am and what I need to switch to.

There were no such problems with small icons. I've been always using this regEdit tweak in all my W11 computers and now you have disabled it. Why? Please get it back.

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Martmcd 19,965 Independent Advisor

Hi,
Unfortunately, workarounds for removed features are not a permanent fix, this feature was removed in 2024, I think, and ultimately the code has changed so even the registry entries no longer work.

There are some 3rd party UI tweakers that claim to be able to do it, but in my experience these programs cause other issues or strange behaviour.

What you can do, if you haven't already, is reduce the number of previews.
open windows settings (Winkey+I)
System -> multi-tasking
From the drop down next to "show tabs from apps when snapping or pressing Alt-Tab" select don't show tabs.
this will reduce it to one preview for each app you have open.

You can, of course still let your opinion known by using the Feedback Hub (winkey+F), feedback sent this way is read by the development team.

Skirmantas Tumelis 0 Reputation points

2026-03-31T11:48:23.09+00:00

Thanks. I guess I'm the only one who hates that change.

I do understand, that it is reasonable to limit features, that needs attention and support, but I hate this tendency of reducing customization from Windows OS since 8th version.
Martmcd 19,965 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-31T12:25:02.8433333+00:00

I am sorry that I don't have a resolution for you.
I very much doubt you are the only one that hates it, which is why I suggest sending feedback, if everyone that dislikes the current format were to let their view known, Microsoft might reconsider for a future update.

I confess I very rarely use Alt+Tab, I tend to use the icons on the task bar and the pop-up previews to navigate amongst the open windows.

Much as I would warn against using UI tweakers as they can cause other anomalies or issues, research suggests that, at the moment, AltAppSwitcher still works to achieve what you want.
It is free and available from Github, have a careful look before installing.

I would also suggest, that if you notice anything strange after installing any UI tweaker, you first uninstall it and see if things go back to normal.

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Please get back Classic Alt+Tab menu with small icons instead of big previews

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