Finding a window
Open the switcher and start typing. You do not have to click the search box first, and you do not have to let go of Alt. The list narrows to matching windows and the letters that matched are highlighted, in both the title and the process name, so you can see why a row is there.
A match is looked for in the window's title and in its executable name, so chrome finds every Chrome window and invoice finds the document.
Several words
The filter is split on spaces and every part has to match — not necessarily next to each other, and not necessarily in the same column. paint unt matches Untitled - Paint. It is the quickest way to narrow two similar titles apart.
How close a match has to be
[SearchString] FuzzyMatchPercent, on the Searching page, decides how approximate a match may be:
| Value | Effect |
|---|---|
| 100 | Exact matching only: the letters you typed have to appear, in that order, as they are. |
| 80 | files matches filas; a typo or a transposition still finds the window. |
| 60 | The default. Forgiving enough that half-remembered names work. |
| Lower still | Progressively more rows that are not what you meant. |
Below 100 AltTab uses approximate string matching, which costs more than a plain search — it is measured against every window's title on every keystroke. On a normal number of windows this is not noticeable; with a hundred windows open and a very low percentage, it can be.
Keeping the switcher open while you type
[General] KeepOpenWhileTyping, on the Searching page. Off by default.
Left off, the gesture never changes shape: hold, tap, release, and letting go activates the selected window whether or not you have typed. That is what most people expect from something that replaces Alt+Tab, which is why it is the default.
Turned on, the switcher becomes sticky the moment there is search text. Hold-and-tap-and-release suits picking a window two rows down; it does not suit typing a name, where you would have to hold Alt steady throughout and let go at exactly the right moment. So with this on, as soon as a keystroke becomes search text, releasing the modifiers stops committing and the switcher waits for a deliberate choice instead:
| Enter | Activate the selected row. |
| A click | The same. |
| Escape | Give up; nothing is switched. |
| Activating another window | Closes the switcher, as it always does. |
Releasing the modifiers without having typed still commits, even with the setting on. Only typing changes it, and only while it is on.
AltTab.NET has the same setting, under the same name and section and with the same default, so one AltTabSettings.ini means the same thing to both.
Backspace deletes the last character, and the × button in the search box clears the whole filter. Clearing it brings the full list back — though the window will not shrink again while it is open, so you may be left with an empty strip under the last row. See The switcher.