Switch fast between open windows (for Windows 10 / 11)
Download the latest release and start the .exe
Use caps-lock to show the window.
When the window is open, just type a few letters matching the desired window's title.
Rename settings_example.ini to settings.ini. Then you have adjust the following settings within that file.
autoactivateifonlyone=1
If you type and there is only one matching window then that window will be automatically be activated. No need to press enter.
spacingHorizontal=10
The spacing of the iSwitch window from the left your screen in percent.
10 means the window will start 10% from the left the active screen and will also keep the same distance from the right side.
spacingVertical=10
The spacing of the iSwitch window from the top your screen in percent.
10 means the window will start 10% from the top the active screen and will also keep the same distance from the bottom side.
fontColor=33C4FF
Text color in hex values or string names like "blue", "yellow", "green"...
Default is 33C4FF.
fontSize=20
Font size.
Default is 20.
transparency=180
Window transparency.
Default is 180.
Values between 0 and 255 to indicate the degree of transparency. 0 makes the window invisible while 255 makes it opaque.
I found the original script here:
https://www.autohotkey.com/board/topic/30487-iswitchw-cosmetically-enhanced-edition/
It's a window switcher which shows the matching window titles as you type in your search string incrementally. If only one window is left it is activated immediately (configurable). Otherwise, you can type in more characters (or delete some with backspace) or select between the matching windows using cursor up/down/enter or you can cancel the window with esc.
You can use any substring of any window. For example, if you want to switch to word then you can type rd and there is a good chance word is selected immediately. Or type "notepad" and select quickly between the notepad windows with the cursor.
The idea comes from Emacs where it is used to switch between opened files. After a while it gets addictive, it's so efficient. At least it is my experience with emacs.
disable / enable to automatically activate the window if only one window is left in the search result. The default can be set in the settings.ini.
reload the window list
Holding down shift while the gui is open will show the selected window in the background.
Example:
-
type chrome to filter the list and only show all open chrome windows.
-
hold down shift
-
use the up and down arrow keys to navigate through the list
the selected chrome task will be shown but it will not be the activate window. As long as you hold down shift you can continue to use the up and down arrow keys to cycle through the list. When you release shift the currently previewed window will be activate.
Mouse will be moved to the center of the selected window
If you want to ignore some windows (and not show up in the window list)
- copy filterlist_example.txt to filterlist.txt
- add the window title to the list
- each window title should be on a new line
- partial matches are possible.
Example:
Chrome
Firefox
List of shortcuts for window titles. So if you type "wa" it will search for winamp.
Rename shortcuts_example.txt to shortcutslist.txt and add the windows you do not want to show up to that list. One shortcut per line Example: wa|winamp
e
settings.ini settings - searchminlength
Default value = 1
[trayicons]
Press F1 while the main window is open to switch between listing open windows and tray icons. Selecting and item and pressing enter will open the right-click menu of that tray icon. Holding down ctrl before pressing enter will open the left-click menu of that tray icon. Holding down ctrl and alt before pressing enter will double left-click the tray icon.
tabComplete=1
This feature was broken for a while. Now it works again.
If enabled possible completions are offered when the same unique substring is found in the title of more than one window.
For example, the user typed the string "co" and the list is narrowed to two windows: "Windows Commander" and "Command Prompt". In this case the "command" substring can be completed automatically, so the script offers this completion in square brackets which the user can accept with the TAB key: co[mmand]
[mouse]
movemouse=1
this will move the mouse to the active window center
saveposperwindow=1
this will store the mouse position before moving it to the active window center the next time you activate that window it will restore the mouse position
Pressing F2 on any entry of the list will pin the entry. This means the entry will show up in the list even if its not running. It will show at the bottom of the list in grey color. Activating on of those grey entries while the task is not running will launch the task. If the task is already running it will show in the regular list and will not be shown in grey at the bottom. All pinned tasks have a "P" in the column on the left end of the list.
Reload the window list with
ctrl+r
In settings.ini activate the following setting:
searchInProcessName=1
If you then search for example for "explorer" you will find all file explorer windows. Even though those windows do not have "explorer" in their title.
Additionally you can add the process name to the window title in the list view:
addProcessNameToWindowTitle=1
Alternatively you can add the process name to its own column:
showProcessName=1
which is enabled by default.
There might be windows you do not want the hotkey to be triggered for. For example you have the tool running on your local computer and you are also using it via remote desktop. Pressing the hotkey then triggers the tool on your local computer and also on the remote computer.
To prevent this you can add the window title to the following list:
- copy list_do_not_trigger_example.txt to list_do_not_trigger.txt
- add the window title to the list
- each window title should be on a new line
- partial matches are possible.
Example:
remote
AnyDesk
Type ":" or "." as the first character to show a list of availble commands / options.
"reload" and "quit" are available for now.
Configure desired hotkey in settings.ini. Default is hotkey=CapsLock but you can also use TAB or any other key.
[trayicons]
alwaystartwithtasks=1
when the iswitch window opens it goes back to showing the tasks instead of the tray icons
If the window first opens and you starting typing, the window list will not be updated until this min length is reached. This improves the performance. Otherwise the input lags and it might miss the first character you type.
- add your class to classes\
- run update_autoloader.ahk to update includes\inc_autoload.ahk
iswitchw - Incrementally switch between windows using substrings ; [MODIFIED by ezuk, 3 July 2008, changes noted below. Cosmetics only.]
Required AutoHotkey version: 1.0.25+
When this script is triggered via its hotkey the list of titles of all visible windows appears. The list can be narrowed quickly to a particular window by typing a substring of a window title.
When the list is narrowed the desired window can be selected using the cursor keys and Enter. If the substring matches exactly one window that window is activated immediately (configurable, see the "autoactivateifonlyone" variable).
The window selection can be cancelled with Esc.
The switcher window can be moved horizontally with the left/right arrow keys if it blocks the view of windows under it.
The switcher can also be operated with the mouse, although it is meant to be used from the keyboard. A mouse click activates the currently selected window. Mouse users may want to change the activation key to one of the mouse keys.
For the idea of this script the credit goes to the creators of the iswitchb package for the Emacs editor