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In Mac OS X, how can cycle through minimized windows and/or maximize them using a shortcut?

I noticed that I cannot cycle through minimized windows with ⌘-``.

Troggy
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notnoop
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7 Answers7

12

If you want to maximize a minimized application, cmd-tab to it, then keep holding cmd down and press the option key. Then release both option and command and the window will maximize.

Witch is great for shareware, but for free, this shortcut is your best option.

Also, my workflow changed quite a bit from windows (where I minimized all kinds of things) to the mac, where I hide stuff (cmd-H) instead. I find hiding to be superior to minimizing.

I also love the shortcut of holding opt-cmd down and clicking on an icon in the toolbar to hide everything besides the clicked on application. Tidies things up and makes it easy to access the desktop.

Snow Leopard Update:

If you cmd-tab to an application and then keep holding cmd and hit the up or down arrows, you'll enter an expose-like mode where all of the windows for that app (including the minimized ones) are selectable. Then you can just use your arrow keys to select the right window and hit enter to select it.

Ted Naleid
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6

If full keyboard access is turned on in the system preferences, you can also use Ctrl + F3 to give the dock the keyboard focus. With the cursor keys you can then navigate to the the minimized window and use Return to unminimize the window.

Jasper
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ashcatch
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5

In addition to the built-in ways of cycling through windows, there is a nice shareware utility called Witch that is like Command + Tab on steroids. (You can easily remap keyboard shortcuts so that Witch uses Command + Tab, too.)

The website for the software is here (complete with a very nice screenshot).

The program costs 10 euros to register, but appears to work for a very long time without registration -- I finally did so after several months of use.

Highly recommended, especially for someone like me who came over from the Windows world recently and for whom the native Mac way of window-switching didn't quite mesh with my habits.

Jasper
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technorav
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4

Ctrl - F4 will cycle through open windows.

Command + Tab should work for all open applications.

2

I do not believe there is. However, leaked Snow Leopard images show minimised windows in Exposé. Not helpful at the moment, but worth bearing in mind.

Benjamin Dobson
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This behavior is actually the default on macOS.

Why does this happen?

Minimized windows: macOS treats minimized windows as “out of circulation” for ⌘+Tab switching. The app is focused, but its windows stay minimized unless you manually restore them. Hidden apps: Similarly, hidden apps (using ⌘+H) are not brought to the foreground with ⌘+Tab unless you also use the Option key.

Workarounds:

  1. Option Key Trick

If you hold down the ⌥ Option key while releasing ⌘+Tab on the desired app, macOS will restore a minimized window (if available). But this only works for minimized (not hidden) windows, and it’s easy to forget.

2. Third-Party Utilities - TabLift(My own App)

If you want ⌘+Tab to always restore minimized or hidden windows without holding extra keys, you can use a small utility app called TabLift:

TabLift is a lightweight, open-source macOS app that automatically restores minimized windows whenever you switch apps with ⌘+Tab—no need to hold Option or do anything extra. It runs in the background and uses only the Accessibility API (no hacks or private frameworks). You just need to grant it Accessibility permissions on first launch. Download: https://github.com/turtle-key/TabLift

turtle-key
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Here is a previous discussion with all kinds of useful os x shortcuts including the Ctrl-F4 mentioned by John T.

https://superuser.com/questions/3927/windows-to-mac-os-migration-tips-cheat-sheet

Community
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Troggy
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