Getting the most out of Tabber
Help
Setup, keyboard shortcuts, troubleshooting, and answers to common questions.
Getting Started
Tabber replaces the standard Alt-Tab experience with a visual, app-grouped interface that helps you understand what is open at a glance. Instead of showing a flat strip of windows, Tabber organizes your open windows by application, displays live previews, and makes it easier to move around with either the keyboard or mouse.
Tabber includes a free trial with a fixed number of activations. As the trial limit approaches, a notice appears at the bottom of the interface. When the trial expires, Tabber prompts you to enter a product key or purchase a license. Entering a valid license key unlocks unlimited use.
Window Switching
Tabber groups open windows into columns by application. For example, all Chrome windows appear in one column, all VS Code windows in another, and so on. This makes it much easier to see which applications are running and how many windows each one has open.
Most-recently-used order
Columns are arranged from left to right in most-recently-used order. The app you were using just before opening Tabber appears in the second column, which means a quick Alt-Tab and release takes you straight back to the previous app.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Alt + Tab | Open Tabber and Cycle forward through the most-recently-used windows. |
Alt + Shift + Tab | Cycle backward through most-recently-used order |
→ or W | Move right to the next app group |
← or Q | Move left to the previous app group |
↓ or S | Move down to the next window in a group |
↑ or A | Move up to the previous window in a group |
Release Alt | Activate the selected app |
Enter | Activate the selected app |
Escape | Close Tabber without changing focus |
? or / | Open Help |
+ or = | Open Settings |
X pressed 3 times quickly | Exit Tabber completely |
Mouse Controls
Click any window preview to activate it. Moving the mouse over a column selects it, and clicking activates the selected window.
Settings
Add paragraph text. Click “Edit Text” to update the font, size and more. To change and reuse text themes, go to Site Styles.
Show date and time | Turns the clock display on or off |
Show usage stats | Shows Alt-Tab usage counts above the clock |
Highlight Color | Adjusts the highlight box when navigating in Tabber and the blinking animation when activating an app |
Show activation animation when switching apps | When activating an app, Tabber will highlight that app on screen and show a blinking border
You can adjust the duration of the animation and the border color |
Show Incognito Previews | When Controls presentation of Incognito or InPrivate windows in Tabber. See Incognito Browsing for more info. |
Privacy & Analytics | Controls sharing of usage and reports about Tabber crashing. Refer to the Privay Policy for more information. |
Run on startup | Starts Tabber automatically when Windows starts |
Restore Defaults | Resets all settings back to their defaults |
Replay tutorial | Runs the interactive onboarding tutorial again |
Interface Elements
Clock and date
A large clock and date appear in the bottom-right corner of each screen. The display follows your Windows regional settings, so it respects your preferred language, date order, and 12-hour or 24-hour time format.
Usage statistics
If enabled, usage statistics appear above the clock and show how often you have used Tabber today, yesterday, this week, and over all time.
Toolbar Buttons
The top-right corner includes quick-access buttons:
Feedback | Opens the feedback form |
Help | Opens this online help page |
Settings | Opens the Settings panel |
Exit | Closes Tabber |
Interactive Tutorial
The first time you open Tabber, a five-step guided tutorial introduces the layout and keyboard controls. You can replay the tutorial at any time from the Settings panel.
Startup Screen
On first launch, and optionally on later launches, Tabber can display a startup screen with beta information, terms and conditions, and a link to continue into the application.
Trial and Licensing
The free download includes 1,000 activations. That is pressing Alt-Tab and seeing the Tabber UI. With 100 activations to go, you will be prompted to purchase the product. This message appears on the bottom left corner of the view.
Analytics and Crash Reporting
Tabber can use Google Analytics 4 to track aggregate usage information such as the number of activations, whether navigation was done by keyboard or mouse, and a snapshot of settings. It can also use Sentry to collect crash reports and stack traces for troubleshooting.
Both analytics and crash reporting can be disabled in Settings.
Need More Help?
Open the Help button from within Tabber for the latest online documentation, or use the Feedback button to report bugs, request features, or share suggestions.