Witch allows you to switch directly between not only applications

Witch for Mac

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Download Witch 4.6.2

Witch for Mac

  -  5.8 MB  -  Trial
Witch for Mac makes switching between windows easy. Have you ever wanted to switch to a certain window, not just the application it belongs to? While you can use Exposé to switch windows, doing so can be very clumsy if you're the keyboard-only type of user. And don't all of these windows look just the same when they are scaled down?

Witch lets you access all of your windows (in all Spaces using Mac OS X 10.6 and Witch 3.2 or newer) by pressing a shortcut and choosing from a clearly arranged list of window titles. You can also see an optional window preview before switching windows. Moreover, you can use Witch to...
  • Directly access minimized windows without using your mouse
  • Close minimized windows without bringing them to front first
  • Zoom, de-/minimize, and close windows on the fly
Have you ever wanted to switch to a certain window, not just the application it belongs to? While you can use Expose to switch windows, doing so can be very clumsy if you're the keyboard-only type of user. And don't all of these windows look just the same when they are scaled down? Witch for macOS lets you access all of your windows (in all Spaces, if you're using Mac OS X 10.6 and Witch 3.2 or newer) by pressing a shortcut and choosing from a clearly arranged list of window titles. Moreover, you can use the app. Directly access minimized windows without using your mouse. Close minimized windows without bringing them to front first. Zoom, de-/minimize, and close windows on the fly.

Note: 250 "switches" trial version. Requires 64-bit processor.

  • Witch 4.6.2 Screenshots

    The images below have been resized. Click on them to view the screenshots in full size.

What's new in this version:

Witch 4.6.2
- Fixed a bug where vertical lists were drawn incorrectly


Witch 4.6.1
Improved:
- responsiveness on macOS 14 Sonoma
- hot key support for those who use Apple keyboards alongside other keyboard types


Witch 4.6.0
Fixes and Improvements:
- Improved reliability of switching between windows on different Spaces
- Worked around a macOS quirk that resulted in web apps failing to acknowledge they had been switched away from, thus considering themselves in focus even when they weren't


Witch 4.5.4
Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Switching back and forth between windows on different Spaces now works more reliably, especially when at least one of the apps involved has windows on multiple Spaces
- Fixed a bug where Witch could get confused about Finder windows when there were multiple Spaces
- Fixed a bug where opening Witch's settings via keyboard shortcut didn't work
- Horizontal switchers now show the app name instead of a placeholder window title when the actual window title cannot be determined


Witch 4.5.3
- Fixed a bug where a mix of using Witch and switching windows or tabs manually (e.g., via mouse click) could confuse Witch's activity-based sorting
- Improved robustness in a scenario where an app providing nonsensical tabs info could crash Witch
- Improved Spaces support


Witch 4.5.2
Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Worked around Microsoft Edge's ever-changing non-standard tabs implementation yet again
- Improved VoiceOver support


Witch 4.5.1
New Features:
- Tabs in the Opera browser are now visible to Witch

Fixes and Improvements:
- Resolved an issue that broke tab support in Chromium-based browsers
- Worked around a Finder bug when using a frontmost-windows-only switcher


Witch 4.5.0
Fixes and Improvements:
- Corrected the displayed date for the expiration of free updates. As a reminder, our apps don't have expiration dates, only our free updates do. Only the displayed date was incorrect; the internally-stored date was correct. Now both are right.

- Suppressed "Item-0" entries related to menu bar items on new 14" and 16" MacBook Pros


Witch 4.4.4
Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Restored tabs support for Safari 15.1, currently available with the latest macOS 12 Monterey beta
- Restored tabs support for Safari 15.4, currently available as Safari Technology Preview


Witch 4.4.3
Fixes and Improvements:
- Witch no longer ignores background Safari tabs that have never been active before


Witch 4.4.2
Fixes and Improvements:
- Improved compatibility with future Safari versions' tabs
- Witch 4.4.2 also fixes a regression in the very short-lived Witch 4.4.1, which most of you hopefully didn't encounter


Witch 4.4.0
New:
- Added support for Microsoft Edge tabs

Fixes and Improvements:
- Improved support for Google Chrome
- Worked around an app activation bug in macOS 11.4


Witch 4.3.8
Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Fixed a regression that caused the Witch panel to remain onscreen for a half-second or so after use, in some configurations


Witch 4.3.7
Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Modified packaging to hopefully eliminate macOS Big Sur quarantine issues
- Witch now runs natively on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs


Witch 4.3.6
New Features:
- When menu bar mode is enabled for non-cycling Actions (e.g., Deminimize All Minimized Windows), that Action's shortcut key is shown in the menu bar item. (Hat tip to Matt T. for the suggestion.)

Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Removed spurious entries for non-windows in the menu bar and Control Center in Big Sur
- Improved compatibility with iTerm
- An app named Max didn't respond properly to Witch's accessibility requests, so Witch no longer tries to work with Max
- The minimized window marker in the Witch switcher now works in real time as long as your Dock's minimize action is set to Scale and not Genie. (Hat tip to Manfred W. for the suggestion.)


Witch 4.3.5
Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Restored support for Dark Mode in macOS Catalina. Note: A reboot may be required to see Witch in Dark Mode after installing this update


Witch 4.3.4

Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- The Witch System Preferences panel now works properly in macOS Catalina—no more jumping tabs
- Witch should now be re-enabled after an update that's done when the System Preferences panel isn't in the foreground
- Springloading is temporarily disabled after you back out of a hierarchical menu, so that you don't immediately spring back into it


Witch 4.3.3

Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Worked around an accessibility issue in Safari 12.1 that rendered Witch incapable of accessing Safari's tabs
- Improved compatibility with Chrome Canary


Witch 4.3.2

New Features:
- Witch's menu bar item will now display the process that activated Secure Input mode—useful info if you use Command-Tab to invoke Witch

Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Fixed an issue that prevented 'w' from closing some Chrome tabs. (Hat tip to Xinyang L. for reporting this one)
- Added yEd to Witch's list of apps to ignore due to Accessibility API issues


Witch 4.3.1

New Features:
- Added support for Mojave's Dark Mode
- Oooooh look at that shiny new icon! (You really won't be able to see it in System Preferences, so check it out in a Finder icon view window)
- Added explanatory text for missing preview images on hidden and minimized windows. (Hat tip to Rick O. for the suggestion)

Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Worked around an issue switching between Chrome tabs across multiple Spaces, and/or involving full screen windows
- Fixed a memory leak
- Witch's switcher panel should no longer appear in front of Mojave's AppleScript permissions dialog
- Fixed a problem where left-mouse dragging wasn't recognized


Witch 4.3.0

New Features:
- Witch now supports the Touch Bar—you'll see a basic app-only switcher there when the Witch panel is onscreen
- The 'e' key will now open the selected item in the switcher, for easier one-handed switching
- Added a checkbox to the "Outline minimized windows with color" option on the Appearance tab
- Added a checkbox to disable AppleScript-based cross-Space switching, which will trigger a dialog in Mojave each time it's used to access a not-yet-seen-before app from Witch's switcher
- Added a checkbox to disable showing Mail's unread badge count in the switcher
- Hierarchical apps > windows switchers now let you close, minimize, or zoom windows via the parent app's icon in the switcher

Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Restored support for listing tabs from Chrome 69
- Improved Chrome switching in certain multi-full-screen window situations
- Tabs from iTerm's preferences window no longer appear in the switcher
- Sped up the closing of windows/quitting of apps from the switcher
- Search is now always active; a checkbox in Advanced controls whether or not the search field is selected while cycling through the switcher. (You can always get to search by pressing 's')
- Fixed resizing of the System Preferences window as you switch tabs in Witch's preferences on macOS Mojave
- Fixed an incorrect link in Witch's help


Witch 4.2.0

New Features:
- An Action's tab handling options can now be different for frontmost windows and all windows
- Optionally activate the menu bar switcher via a keyboard shortcut
- Optionally display the frontmost app's icon—instead of the standard Witch switcher icon—in the menu bar switcher
- Added a built-in log message viewer to make it easier for us to help you
- Witch's help now includes information on how to use three new Witch features…just try to guess which three

Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Greatly improved mini window previews. (Hat tip to Weijia S. for reporting this issue)
- Sorting of search matches when searching a single app's windows should now be more logical
- Hidden apps' icons are now translucent in the switcher
- iBooks can be switched to, though only to one window (due to Accessibility API issues with iBooks)
- Improved spacing for vertical switchers
- Login window should no longer show in the switcher
- Worked around an issue with JetBrains' apps when they are located on inactive Spaces
- Fixed a rare but painful crashing bug that affected some users
- Improved the Mail badge checking script
- Solved an issue that caused multiple LaunchBar windows to appear in the switcher
- Fixed an issue with accessory windows and "Hide Others." (Hat tip to Rick O. for reporting this one)
- Ignore Hidden Windows now works for hidden apps when switching apps only in activity order. (Hat tip to Ben A. for reporting this one


Witch 4.1.0

New Features:
- Mail's unread messages badge now shows in Witch. (We cannot get Messages unread message count, sorry)
- The period key can be used to dismiss the Witch panel, regardless of what it's currently displaying
- A soon-to-be-public Badge API helps other developers send their app's badge icon data to other programs, like Witch

Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Improved speed of switcher's appearance when working with slow-to-respond apps
- Cross-Space switching should be more reliable
- Relocated the help button to a more-visible location
- Improved fuzzy search logic
- Vertical panels no longer resize their width when closing/quitting entries on the list
- Fixed a memory leak associated with using pop-up window previews and mini window previews
- Lots of little changes to improve Witch's appearance and performance


Witch 4.0.0

New Features:
- Switch between open tabs in many apps. This even works in Safari (and maybe some other apps) in pre-Sierra versions of the OS
- Switch only apps, ignoring windows and tabs
- Set up multiple switchers—one for apps, one for apps and windows and tabs, etc.—on different hot keys
- New horizontal layout, like the built-in ⌘-Tab
- Blacklist apps (such as virtual machine app) where you don't want Witch's hot keys active
- A checkbox in Advanced tells Witch to bring all windows of the selected app forward (instead of just the chosen window) on switch
- Two new keys in the switcher: R brings all windows forward, instead of just the chosen window (if you haven't enabled the above-listed feature), and G takes a screenshot (saved to your desktop) of the switcher
- Make the switcher list sort from bottom-to-top (or right-to-left) instead of the default top-to-bottom (left-to-right)
- New menu bar mode—any switcher can be used on screen, via the menu bar, or both
- Search for apps, windows, and tabs by typing—search uses fuzzy logic to show all potential matches
- See windows from menu-bar only apps
- Sort the switcher by the order of your apps in the Dock
- Spring-load apps and windows, so Witch automatically drills down after a specified delay
- Fast switching (i.e. releasing your modifier keys before the switcher panel appears) now always takes you to the last active app/window/tab, regardless of the action's sort order

Bug Fixes and Improvements:
- Witch no longer relaunches its background process whenever you open its preference pane after launching System Preferences. So now you can change settings without losing your frontmost window history, or your references to windows on other Spaces. (The background process still relaunches when you update Witch, obviously.)
- Window activity sorting is now less likely to get confused by switching across spaces
- Witch no longer auto-skips the first window in a list when there are no app placeholders and the frontmost app has no windows
- Reopen placeholders (known as Activate in older versions of Witch) now bring all of the selected app's windows to the front, like clicking an app icon in the Dock does
- Switching (back) to Acorn should now work more reliably


Witch 3.9.9
- Fixes a bug where email addresses with dot characters in their user name part weren't accepted for license crossgrades.
- The switcher panel now comes with a blurred background by default. (If you have a custom background color set, uncheck it to see the effect.)

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