How to change Alt+Tab settings in Windows 11/10

This post will help you change Alt+Tab settings in Windows 11/10. When we press Alt+Tab hotkey, it shows the thumbnails of opened windows and Microsoft Edge tabs and helps switch from one application to another. If you want, you can customize this default Alt+Tab behavior you can do so.

• One option lets you use the old or classic Alt+Tab menu (also known as Task Switcher) that shows only icons of opened programs and not thumbnails.
• The second option helps to set whether you want to hide or show Microsoft Edge tabs in the Alt+Tab menu, show only opened windows, opened windows, and 3 most recent tabs of Microsoft Edge, etc.

Change Alt+Tab settings in Windows 11/0

Before you do so, make sure that the Alt+Tab hotkey is working fine. If Alt+Tab keys are not working properly, then you should fix it first. After that, try the following methods to customize Alt+Tab settings:

1. Using Registry Editor
2. Using the Settings app.

1] Switch to old Alt+Tab menu using Registry Editor

This method helps to switch from the modern or default Alt+Tab menu to the old Alt+Tab menu and vice-versa.

1. Open Registry Editor
2. Access Explorer key
3. Create AltTabSettings DWORD value
4. Change value data of AltTabSettings DWORD value.

At first, launch Registry Editor.

Go to Explorer key. Its path is-

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Under Explorer key, create AltTabSettings DWORD value. For this, right-click on that key, go to the New menu, and click on DWORD (32-bit) Value.

When the value is created, rename it to AltTabSettings.

Double-click that AltTabSettings value and a small box will open. There, in the Value data field, add 1, and press OK.

Now restart File Explorer. Use Alt+Tab hotkey. You will see that the classic Alt+Tab menu is visible.

To revert the changes, follow the above steps, add 0 in the Value data field, and again restart File Explorer to use the default Alt+Tab menu.

2] Show or hide Microsoft Edge Tabs in Alt+Tab menu using Settings app

This option helps to set if you want to show only opened windows, opened windows as well as Microsoft Edge tabs, etc. Let’s see how to do it.

1. Launch the Windows 11 Settings app using Win+I hotkey
2. Click on System
3. Access Multitasking on the right-hand section
4. Open the Alt+Tab section drop-down on the right-hand side
5. Use that menu and take the necessary action.

In Windows 10, the setting is here:

Using these two native ways, you are able to customize Alt+Tab settings.

In case you want to customize Alt+Tab in a different way like changing its background dimming, make the grid background transparent, opaque, etc., then you can try our free tool AltPlusTab.

Related: Alt Tab not working in Games on Windows 11.