Here is how you can enable the windowed Alt+Tab experience in Windows 11. On January 6, Microsoft released Windows 11 build 22526 with several fixes and minor feature improvements. One of the changes is a slightly redesigned Alt + Tab experience. The operating system no longer blurs the entire background when you press Alt + Tab to switch between apps or tabs in Microsoft Edge. The UI now resembles the one Microsoft uses in Windows 10.
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Microsoft is currently testing the new experience on a limited set of computers enrolled in the Dev channel. If your device did not get a lucky ticket, here is how to force-enable the updated Alt + Tab UI using ViveTool or Registry Editor.
Important: The new Alt + Tab experience is available only in Windows 11 22526 and higher. It does not work in Windows 11 22000.
Enable Windowed Alt+Tab Experience in Windows 11
To enable Windowed Alt+Tab experience in Windows 11, do the following.
- Download ViveTool from its repository on GitHub.
- Extract ViveTool anywhere you like.
- Open the folder with the files you have previously extracted and right-click anywhere; select Open in Windows Terminal.
- If you use Windows Terminal with the PowerShell tab, execute the following command:
.\vivetool.exe addconfig 36226836 2. - If you open Windows Terminal to the Command Prompt profile, use the following command:
vivetool addconfig 36226836 2. - Restart your computer to apply the changes.
- After restarting the PC, open a few windows and press Alt + Tab to check out the new experience.
If you want to restore the original full-screen Alt + Tab appearance with the blurred background, repeat the steps above, only replace "addconfig" with "delconfig" in the commands. I.e. vivetool delconfig 36226836 2.
Another way to enable the new Alt + Tab experience in the preview versions of Windows 11 is a registry tweak. To make things easier, we have prepared ready-to-use files that allow turning on or off the new Alt + Tab UI with a couple of clicks.
Enable the new Alt + Tab experience in the Registry
- Download files in the following ZIP archive.
- Unpack the files anywhere on your computer.
- Open the "Enable the new Alt + Tab experience.reg" file and confirm the UAC prompt.
- Restart your computer.
Done!
You can undo the changes and revert to the original UI by using the "Restore the original Alt + Tab experience.reg" file. Again, restart your computer after applying the file.
How it works
The REG files modify the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\FeatureManagement\Overrides\4\702590604 branch. Specifally, the EnabledState and EnabledStateOptions are the key 32-bit DWORD values that should exist under that key to enable the new Alt+Tab UI. Check out the contents of the REG files for the full value reference.
That is it.
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Not interested in “experiencing” the new ALT-Tab of Windows 11 any more than I already have. It’s hideous and we need a tweak to revert it to Windows 10’s.
Just found the tweak! Go on and revert to Windows 10!
I have too much fun with 11, it’s so great to see MS doing interesting stuff.