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In Window 10, I have two windows snapped on the right and left side of a screen. When I Alt + Tab from a full size window to the snapped windows, I need to Alt + Tab once and I will see one of the snapped windows and half of the full screen windows. The second Alt + Tab will allow me to bring back the other snapped window.

Is there a way (or tool) with Alt + Tab (or something else tab) to bring back both of the snapped windows with one shortcut?

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    Alt-tab sets the focus to the particular window and makes it active, in the sense that input will go to it. You can't have two windows active at the same time. The closest you'll come to that is Tetsujin's suggestion of using multiple desktops. Jun 21, 2021 at 15:53
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    @JeffZeitlin: Yes, but there is nothing that would stop it from bringing several windows to top of the Z-order, instead of only the focussed one. (Some other desktop environments had implemented this in the past, either bringing forth both "tiled" windows, or all windows of the same app, or something similar.) Jun 21, 2021 at 15:56
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    Windows know that the tho snapped windows are some kind of "group" it even allow to resize them at the same time. It would make sense to bring them back on top, and give the focus to the last one in focus of the two.
    – Sylario
    Jun 21, 2021 at 16:01
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    @JeffZeitlin: Such shortcuts are implemented by the window manager; knowing the layout and defining the Z-order is literally its job. (For example, Windows does know that two side-tiled windows form a pair -- it already lets you resize them simultaneously by showing a middle divider.) Jun 21, 2021 at 16:01
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    Have you look at Microsoft's PowerToy's? It has a program called Fancy Zones, which might have a function to Alt-Tab to a specific set of Windows. docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/install
    – user1209365
    Jun 24, 2021 at 0:11

3 Answers 3

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You can hit AltEsc to drop the full-size window to the bottom of the stack, revealing both of your tiled windows at once.

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    that's a nifty trick, thanks!
    – FreeMan
    Jun 22, 2021 at 17:49
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    Oh my. How have I gone this long without knowing this keyboard shortcut? Thank you so much!!!!! :-)
    – kmort
    Jun 23, 2021 at 16:01
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    @kmort The Forgotten Hotkey
    – phuclv
    Jun 24, 2021 at 10:32
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I'd investigate multiple desktops - then you could just switch to the desktop containing both your apps.

From Microsoft Support - Multiple desktops in Windows 10

Multiple desktops are great for keeping unrelated, ongoing projects organized, or for quickly switching desktops before a meeting. To create multiple desktops:

On the taskbar, select Task view > New desktop .

Open the apps you want to use on that desktop.

To switch between desktops, select Task view again.

You can then switch between desktops using CtrlWin and CtrlWin.

Virtual Desktops in many forms are a great way of dividing up your workflow. I've been using them since the late 90s on Mac [as a 3rd party add-on at that time] & couldn't live without them. It was eventually bought from that developer & added to OS X in 2007. Windows has had it natively since Win10 [2015]. It was first used on the Amiga in 1987 and unix X Windows, in 1989.

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    Nice. I've been using workspaces on Linux for more than two decades, I didn't know they've been available on windows for more than 5 years. Thanks. Jun 22, 2021 at 13:26
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    @EricDuminil Third party tools have brought workspaces to Windows as far back as Windows 98 at least. Probably Windows 95. Jun 22, 2021 at 13:27
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    Note that Windows 10’s implementation of multiple desktops can be a bit lacking—particularly when paired with Windows 10’s implementation of restarts for updates, which can be difficult to prevent and which never restore windows to multiple desktops after the restart (not that it accurately restores windows on a single desktop very often either). Also, I don’t know if this is the norm on other systems, but e.g. clicking a link outside of a browser opens a new tab in whichever browser window was last active—even if that browser window was on another desktop, which I find very annoying.
    – KRyan
    Jun 22, 2021 at 18:45
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    @EricDuminil it first appeared in Vista, but without UI support and no PR at all so only wierdos that check out whats new in WinAPI discovered it was added. And thats how I made my "own" Virtual Desktop app in 2008 (if you can call executing two built-ins an app). Sysinternals made Desktops app to showcase that cool piece of new API, so you can unlock this feature on anything Vista/2008 or newer.
    – PTwr
    Jun 23, 2021 at 11:49
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    @PTwr: 'Desktop objects' existed even before Vista -- I actually remember the Sysinternals tool working on Windows XP. It did have downsides, as each 'desktop' was completely isolated from the rest -- from what I remember, each desktop had to run its own explorer.exe (which then ran your "autorun" apps 4 times), you couldn't move windows between them, etc. (I think even the clipboard was separate per-desktop?) It did not really offer the same flexibility as third-party hacks. Jun 23, 2021 at 14:24
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A focused, visible, and non-maximized window can be minimized quickly via Win + (Windows + Down Arrow).

Your most recently minimized window can be restored to its original state using Win + (Windows + Up Arrow).

A focused, visible, and non-maximized window can be maximized using Win + . An already maximized window will experience no change.

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