Manage the selected Mac window without switching into it first

CmdTab can dispatch item-appropriate actions from the current switcher selection. Window actions operate on an exact window target; app actions operate on the selected running application.

Last reviewed: July 21, 2026

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Definition

CmdTab Quick Actions are contextual operations attached to the current switcher target: hide the selected app, minimize the selected window, close the selected window, or quit the selected app.

Quick Actions

Quick Actions selected-item mutation

A deterministic product composite shows a selected fixture target leaving the grid after a capture-only Command-W annotation.

Deterministic product composite

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A controlled fixture window is selected in the grid. A capture-only Command-W badge explains the close action. The selected target leaves and the remaining fixture cards reflow.

Quick Actions operate on the current selected target and refresh the visible switcher state only after an action is dispatched successfully. Source: Deterministic product composite. Controlled fixture windows protect private desktop content; the Evidence page records the separate signed-app acceptance boundary.

Current behavior

What this feature does today

These statements describe the current implementation and are intentionally narrower than an unmeasured performance claim.

Behavior	Current CmdTab contract
Hide	Hides the selected running application
Minimize	Sets the selected exact window’s minimized state through Accessibility
Close	Presses the selected exact window’s Accessibility close control when available
Quit	Requests termination of the selected running application
Failure handling	Returns without claiming success when the required app, window, or control is unavailable
List refresh	Refreshes the switcher after a successfully dispatched action

Decision guide

Where it fits, and where another mode is better

A useful feature page should state the tradeoff instead of treating every workflow as proof of superiority.

Best fit

You want to clean up a busy desktop while remaining inside the switcher.
You need to distinguish an app-wide action such as hide or quit from an exact-window action such as minimize or close.
You want the visible target list to update after a successful state-changing action.

Tradeoffs and limits

Availability depends on the selected item type and the Accessibility controls exposed by the target application.
Close and quit can discard unsaved work; CmdTab cannot replace the target app’s own confirmation or recovery behavior.
Cross-app consistency requires live desktop validation because individual applications expose Accessibility controls differently.

Continue

Manage the selected Mac window without switching into it first

What this feature does today

Where it fits, and where another mode is better

Best fit

Tradeoffs and limits

Choose the next source by the problem you need to solve

Window-switcher behavior

Permissions

Testing and evidence