Window Switcher & Dock Preview

Tangrid’s window-finding workflow is centered around two features:

• Window Switcher
• Dock Preview

The first is ideal for keyboard-heavy workflows. The second is ideal for visual, mouse-first selection.

Window Switcher

The two entry points

Tangrid provides two default switchers:

• Switch All Windows: default shortcut ⌘Tab
• Switch Active App Windows: default shortcut ⌘ + `

The two styles

Horizontal

Horizontal is better when:

• you want to scan thumbnails quickly
• visual preview matters more than text search
• you want to use Sticky window switching (horizontal style)

If Sticky window switching (horizontal style) is enabled, releasing the switching keys does not commit immediately, so you can keep browsing before confirming.

Vertical (with Search)

Vertical (with Search) is better when:

• you have many windows open
• you want to narrow down results quickly with text
• you want to use Auto focus search (vertical style)

It supports matching by:

• window title
• app name
• pinyin for Chinese titles and app names in the current implementation

Common Window Switcher interactions

• Tab: next window
• Shift+Tab: previous window
• arrow keys: directional navigation
• Enter or Space: confirm
• Esc: cancel
• /: move into search in Vertical (with Search) mode

Key display and behavior options

You can configure:

• Window Preview Height
• Window controls position
• Highlight window border
• where the switcher appears: Primary Screen, Active Screen, or Screen with Mouse
• Only show windows on active desktop

Auto-move cursor to window center

If Auto-move cursor to window center is enabled, Tangrid warps the cursor to the center of the chosen window after commit.

If Auto-move cursor hint is also enabled, Tangrid shows a visual hint so you can see where the cursor moved.

Window Switcher Preview Actions

Tangrid lets you bind actions to preview cards through:

• Middle Click
• Right Click
• Scroll Up
• Scroll Down
• Swipe trackpad with

Available actions include:

• focus the window
• close the window
• minimize the window
• maximize the window
• fullscreen the window
• center the window
• close the application
• move selection left, right, up, or down

Dock Preview

Basic workflow

When Dock Preview is enabled, hover an app icon in the Dock and Tangrid shows previews for that app’s windows.

This is especially helpful when:

• one app has many similar windows
• you want to inspect thumbnails before switching
• you want a fast mouse-driven selection workflow

Core options in Dock Preview

You can configure:

• Enable
• Window Preview Height
• Overlay Dock tooltip
• Dock icon click behavior
• Window controls position
• Background Glass Effect

Dock icon click behavior

The current options are:

• None
• Minimize current window
• Minimize only if app has one window

This is useful if you already use the Dock as part of your minimize-and-return workflow.

Dock Preview Actions

Just like Window Switcher Preview Actions, Dock Preview Actions can be assigned to:

• Middle Click
• Right Click
• Scroll Up
• Scroll Down
• Swipe Left
• Swipe Right
• Swipe Up
• Swipe Down

Typical uses include:

• moving selection between previews
• closing or minimizing the highlighted window directly from the preview layer
• narrowing down the target visually before committing to a switch

Exclusion Rules and visibility scope

Window Switcher has its own Exclusion Rules, separate from Window Manager rules.

They are useful when you do not want certain apps or windows to appear in switching results at all.

Typical candidates include:

• helper windows
• technical utility windows
• temporary popups that add noise to Switch All Windows

When to prefer Window Switcher vs Dock Preview

Prefer Window Switcher when

• your hands are already on the keyboard
• you move across many apps frequently
• you want to search by title or app name

Prefer Dock Preview when

• you already know the app, but not the exact window
• you want to decide based on thumbnails
• you prefer mouse-first visual selection