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Just for some context - although it won't affect the question or answer - I'm trying to see if I can get the Surface Dial to take advantage of the Windows 10 Task Switcher (Alt+Tab) feature.

I've setup a custom tool so that I can launch the Task Switcher by pressing down on the Surface Dial, which ultimately just triggers the Ctrl+Alt+Tab command which leaves the Task Switcher open (whereas, pressing Alt+Tab only remains open while you continue to hold the Alt key).

Then, I've setup other functions in the tool set to navigate the Task Switcher menu - navigating left or right and then selecting the chosen app.

Unfortunately, once the Task Switcher is open it drops my custom tools - so I'm hoping to create custom tools for the process or program that runs the Task Switcher so that they are available to me while it has focus.

So far I've tried setting up custom tools for Windows Explorer, Desktop Window Manager, and Windows Shell Experience Host but I've not had any luck.

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  • alt+tab is handled by the Desktop (window manager) explorer.exe.
    – Frank Thomas
    Jul 31, 2018 at 15:13
  • @FrankThomas, thanks! That's a shame though. I tried adding a tool set to the Surface Dial for explorer.exe already and that hasn't worked. I guess it's focusing on another application for some reason and I probably have little hope figuring out which one.
    – Del
    Jul 31, 2018 at 15:14
  • @FrankThomas it's not correct. In WinPE Alt+Tab still works even though explorer.exe is not running
    – phuclv
    Jul 31, 2018 at 15:21

1 Answer 1

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It's handled by CSRSS which is csrss.exe

Alt+Tab ↹ works even if Windows Explorer is no longer running. On Windows NT-based systems, Alt+Tab ↹ is managed by CSRSS (Client/Server Runtime Subsystem). It works even when Ctrl+Alt+Del and Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Esc (Task Manager) (which are managed by Winlogon) do not.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt-Tab#Windows-specific_issues_and_hacks

Note that you just need to send Ctrl+Alt+Tab ↹ instead of Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Alt+Tab ↹

Using Windows 7 the additional key combination Ctrl+Alt+Tab ↹ brings up the switcher dialog and it remains on screen after all the keys have been released. A user can move through the dialog in any direction using the arrow keys, or Tab ↹ through in a linear manner, wrapping at the end of the list back to the begnining. In this mode, the ↵ Enter key or a mouse click selects the desired window which gains the focus and the dialog is dismissed; Esc dismisses with no change of focus.

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  • I've just tried setting up the customer tool set for csrss.exe and the Surface Dial still doesn't bring up the custom tools so it either thinks it's something else or the focus is somehow on something else - although I'm able to use my keyboard to navigate the Task Switcher so I'm sure it's not the latter. And, thanks for the Ctrl + Alt + Tab pointer. Not sure how I missed that combination when I was first trying to get it to work. I'll update the original post too.
    – Del
    Jul 31, 2018 at 15:25
  • I don't know how the dial works but how did you set it to navigate the list? Do you assign the rotating functions to send arrow keys?
    – phuclv
    Jul 31, 2018 at 15:39
  • That's exactly what I tried to do. When press down on the dial and hold it, a dial context menu appears on the screen (or around the device if it's pressed on the screen), and provides you with 'tools' or options that you can use with the in-focus app. The standard/basic tools I've setup - that are not linked to a program - allow me to launch the Task Switcher. However, once I'm there, if I then open the context menu, the standard/basic tools are missing - except for volume and brightness - which is why I'm trying to setup tools for the app that runs Task Switcher.
    – Del
    Aug 1, 2018 at 7:50

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