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I'm looking to quickly switch between to windows of an application in Unity. I looked at Unable to switch between different windows of the same application but I didn't get any answer.

The only option I've got is to long-click on the icon on the dash and click on the window when they're all shown. That's definitely too long ! I'm sure there is a shortcut, like an Alt+Tab but I don't find it.

So, how can I quickly switch between windows of an application ?

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2 Answers

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In "System Settings.." --> "Keyboard" go to 'Shortcuts' tab. At the left choose "Navigation". Scroll down to "Switch windows of an app directly", and assign the keyboard shortcut you'd like (I'm using Alt+'). Hope that works for you.

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I tried a lot of combinations but each time the shortcut isn't reconized. Do you need a reboot or something ? – NorTicUs Oct 18 '12 at 9:00
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I also found this "feature" of unity incredibly annoying. I tried following the advice of Gil, but to no avail. Here's what finally worked for me: set the shortcut for "switch applications" to something like Alt+tab, then set the shortcut for "switch windows of an application" to something else like Alt+q. (Note that these settings have the opposite effect of what you might expect -- i.e., Alt+tab toggles the windows of a single application, while Alt+q toggles multiple applications.) – William DeMeo Oct 25 '12 at 3:20
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Setting "Switch windows of an app directly" to Alt+` worked for me without a reboot. – Lenna Feb 1 at 20:57
@WilliamDeMeco, notice there are 2 separate options listed:"switch windows of an application" and "Switch windows of an app directly". The second one does the trick. – nvk Apr 13 at 6:11
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I discovered two ways of doing so.

  1. Use alt+tab until the desired app gets marked. Then wait a little while until the seperate windows of the application show up.
  2. When you have one window of the application active, click on the applications icon on the quick launch bar. You should now see all of the applications windows.
  3. To switch to the previously selected application hold alt und press shift+tab

Another suggestion is switching between workspaces.
Just put a window of your application on several workspaces. You can switch between these workspaces really fast using alt+ctrl+arrow-key(up, down, left, right).

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Thank you, but that's already what I'm doing. I need a faster method, like one click or one shortcut, because I do that all the time and I can't spend 2s switching windows. – NorTicUs Oct 17 '12 at 11:43
Ok how about switching between 2 workspaces then? I'll add that to my answer. – cauon Oct 17 '12 at 11:58
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Yes, that could do it, but when I open a lot of windows and don't want to assign them to a different workspace just so I can switch between them. I know, I'm very picky :) – NorTicUs Oct 17 '12 at 12:01
Ok last suggestion before I run out of steam :-) What about shwitching to the previous application? I've added this to my answer. Though I find it hard to utilize it may work for you. – cauon Oct 17 '12 at 12:13

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