Switching to open folders on a Mac

Question

How do I easily switch to an open folder on a Mac?

In Windows, which I'm used to using, I can see all my opened folders in my vertical taskbar, all I need to do to switch to another window is click on the folder in the task bar.

There's no taskbar on a Mac, and when I have a lot of folders opened, ie. lots of Finder windows, how can I switch between them?

The way I'm doing it is, I put expose on an active corner and switch that way. However that's still damn hard, because first I have to bring up expose, and then find my window. The folders are placed in a random position between opened apps, the folders are not in a list, and on a big screen I have to scan the whole screen in order to find the one I want... etc.

Is it really this hard just to switch to a different folder on a Mac?

Is there a taskbar solution on a Mac?

Answer 1

Using Finder:

Finder's built-in keyboard shortcut is Command-` (backtick). This will cycle through your open windows. Alternatively there is the Window menu (Thanks @David Rouse)

Using Exposé:

Depending on the keyboard you have you have a couple options. These are also modified in the Exposé preference pane in System Preferences. You can see a picture of the newer style keyboard layout at Gizmodo.

• "Normal"/Older style Apple keyboards without the Exposé and Dashboard symbols on F3 and F4:
  • F9 will show all windows available from any application.
  • F10 will show all the windows available from the frontmost application only.
  • F11 will show your Desktop.
• Newer style Apple keyboards with the Exposé and Dashboard symbols on F3 and F4
  • F3 will show all windows available from any application
  • Control-F3 will show all windows available from the frontmost application only.
  • Command-F3 will show your Desktop
  • Option-F3 will bring up the Exposé preference pane.
• Or just set your hot corner action to "Application Windows" instead of "All Windows" if you prefer to mouse.

Using Witch:

If you're looking for something like the Command-Tab switcher but for windows instead of applications check out Witch. Version 3.0 was just released.

Answer 2

If you're running Snow Leopard, click-and-hold on the finder icon in the taskbar. It will Expose all of, and only, your finder windows. This works for any task, BTW.

Answer 3

Not exactly what you are asking for, but:

1) The Finder has a "Window" menu and a list by name of all of your open Finder windows will appear at the bottom of the menu. Unfortunately, two clicks instead of one -- but the names of the folders are less likely to be truncated.

2) If you have several folders that you normally switch between -- drag the folders to the Finder's sidebar under "Places." Then you can click to switch between folders (while only keeping one window open), drag items between folders, etc. A nice side benefit is that these folders will also appear in open and save dialog boxes.

Answer 4

You can hit Apple+` (backtick/accent and tilde key) to switch between that applications windows.

To switch between applications you can hit Apple+Tab which will cycle through applications.

In response to your edit, there isn't a reason I can think of to ever want a task bar like Windows. Learn to use your keyboard and you'll never even need to click on applications in the dock.