Windows and applications

macOS separates two ideas that Windows blends together: switching between applications and switching between windows of one application. Each has its own shortcut.

Command-Tab switches applications. Hold Command, tap Tab to move through the list of running apps, and release on the one you want. Command-` (the backtick key) cycles through the windows belonging to the current application.

Together they cover most movement: pick the app first, then the window.

The three window controls

The red control closes a window. The yellow control minimizes it into the right side of the Dock. The green control enters full screen — hover over it (or hold it) to see tiling options that place the window on half of the screen instead.

Closing a window does not quit the app, as you saw in the previous lesson.

Hiding versus minimizing

Use Command-H to hide an app and Command-M to minimize a window. Both preserve your work, but they behave differently when you come back:

Command-H   hides every window of the app; they all return
            the moment you switch back to it
Command-M   sends one window to the Dock; it stays there
            even when you Command-Tab back to the app

That second behavior causes the classic “where did my window go” moment. You minimize a window, later switch back to the app with Command-Tab, and nothing appears. The window is not gone — it is waiting as a thumbnail in the Dock. Click the thumbnail to restore it.

My advice: prefer Command-H. Hiding gets windows out of the way and brings all of them back with a normal app switch. Minimizing is better when you want to park one specific window while keeping others visible.

Try the difference now. Open TextEdit with two windows, minimize one, hide the app, then Command-Tab back. The hidden window returns on its own; the minimized one stays in the Dock until you click it.