Hold down the Alt key and tap the Tab key (don’t hold down the Tab key, just tap it once) then let go all the keys.
· Alt-Tab switches you to a different task.
Why not open up several applications at once – choose whatever you want – perhaps your web browser, your email program, NotePad, your word-processor and your spreadsheet program.
They are all open? Good.
Hold down the Alt key and tap the Tab key repeatedly, perhaps once a second (Alt, then Tab-Tab-Tab-Tab-Tab-Tab).
Notice how the little box pops up and each tap of the Tab key (still holding down the Alt key) takes you to a different application.
When you are at the application that you want – perhaps NotePad – let go both keys. There you are in NotePad.
Try it again: Alt-Tab onto the carousel until you get to the spreadsheet, then jump off. Just like a carousel (merry-go-round) if you sail past the place where you should be, just keep on Alt-Tabbing until you come round again, then jump off.
· Alt-Tab remembers!
There’s an extra-specially powerful aspect of Alt-Tab where Alt-Tab seems to have a useful memory.
To set yourself up for this, select two applications in particular – I’m going to assume your email program and your word-processor. Carousel to your email program and then let go. Here you are in your email program. Now carousel yourself to your word processor and then let go. Here you are in your word processor.
Here’s the trick: Alt-Tab just once, quickly, and let go. Here you are in your email program.
Here’s the trick: Alt-Tab just once, quickly, and let go. Here you are in your word-processor program.
Here’s the trick: Alt-Tab just once, quickly, and let go. Here you are in your email program.
A single Alt-Tab switches you back to your previous program. That makes it easy to copy and paste material repeatedly from one program (email) to another (word processor).
Once you are comfortable with this, try it with three programs, adding NotePad to the list.
Alt-Tab with three applications
To start off, carousel to Notepad. Then carousel to email. Then carousel to Word processor. You can think of Word processor as your “latest” endeavor, number 1. You can think of email as your second-latest – number 2. You can think of Notepad as your third-latest – number 3.
As before, a single Alt-Tab merely switches you between number 1 and number 2.
Now try holding down the Alt-key and tapping the Tab key TWICE! You’ll be taken to Notepad, the old number 3.
Of course, Notepad is now number 1.
As before, a single Alt-Tab merely switches you between number 1 and number 2. That will be between NotePad and your previous application. The other application will have been “pushed down the list” to occupy number 3.
This is how I quickly build up an email message with a series of fragments of a word processing document, then with a series of fragments of a spreadsheet, then with a series of fragments of a word processing document, and so on.
Conclusion
It makes no sense at all to spend part of the business day closing and re-opening programs. No matter how sluggish your computer, the bottom line is that if you want to do something in NotePad, that program ahs to be in memory, whether it is swapped in and out by Windows or whether it is closed and re-opened by you.
· Keep everything open, Alt-Tab to what you want, and let Windows worry about how it uses RAM memory and the swap file.
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