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I often see my parents working on their computer. They will open a task, then close it. Open another… then close it. Many people don’t realize that you can have several tasks open at once, and easily switch between them. If you’re like me, you have your email open, maybe a browser window, a word processing program, and who knows what else. Well, I’m going to tell you about a keyboard shortcut you can use in OS X or Windows to make your life much easier.

For Windows, you see that little Alt key? It’s down there to the left of your space bar. Hold that down, and then hold down your Tab key. This will open the task switcher. Simply tap the Tab key again until the program or application you want to switch to is highlighted, and release the buttons. That app is automatically moved to the front of all the others! How easy is that?

For OS X, it’s very similar. Hold down the Command key (the little key to the left of the space bar, with the open Apple on it), and the Tab key. This will open the Task Switcher for the Mac. Use it exactly the same way as you would the one above for Windows.

This is so much faster and easier than sifting through collapsed tabs down on your taskbar. It’s also nicer than closing an app, opening a new one… and finding out you needed that first one open still.

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Task Switching