How To Fix Alt Tab In Windows 10

A hand presses alt+tab on a Windows keyboard — Photo : Clearly ( Shutterstock )

Alt+Tab is one of the best shortcuts in Windows 10. It not only lets you switch between apps, but also previews all your open windows so you can choose exactly which one to switch to. It's so good there's even one third-party plugin for macOS to replicate it. Unfortunately, it is now also broken. But here's how to fix it.

Why is the Alt+Tab hotkey broken?

For some reason, the August 2021 update KB5005033 (as well as the July 2021 preview KB5004296) for Windows 10 has retired Alt+Tab. There is no explanation as to why, but something in the update is interfering with Alt+Tab functioning.

That doesn't mean Windows will ignore you outright when you press Alt+Tab. The system still tries to run the shortcut, but it fails in several ways. Normally, when you press Alt+Tab, it moves through your various app windows and then opens the selected one when you release the keys. With this bug, Alt+Tab will often just send you back to your desktop. If the app in question is in full screen mode, you'll get a black screen when you try to switch back to that app, without actually being able to return to that app.

It even has its own take: One user reports that when launching a full-screen game from Steam, Windows Alt-Tabs out of the game and back to the desktop.

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How to fix Windows 10's Alt+Tab problem

Fortunately, we have a solution for this glitch, albeit a strange one. To make Alt+Tab work again, you just need to delete the . to turn off News and interest feed. To do this, right click on your taskbar, scroll to "News and interests," then choose "Switch off."

Alternatively, you can uninstall the update causing the bug. We do not recommend this method, however, as you will miss out on the critical security patches provided by the August 2021 update. If you revert to an earlier version of Windows, you will remain open to these vulnerabilities.

If you still want to remove the update, do the following: Go to "Update and security" Click "View update history,"then click"Uninstall updates." Now, from the Control panel, choose the update KB5004296 (July 2021 preview) or KB5005033 (August 2021) and click the Uninstall button.