There’s a new feature for Windows 11 (and Windows 10) if you use PowerToys, and it’s called “Window Hopper.” Windows already has one of the best multitasking shortcuts in the industry, Alt+Tab, which lets you switch between multiple apps. But PowerToys’ Window Hopper takes that idea to the next level by letting you Alt-Window within a single app.

Whether you use Windows Terminal, File Explorer, or any browser, it’s normal to have multiple windows of the same app open. I personally have several Edge windows and more than a dozen Windows Terminal windows for different use cases. Your number might be zero, or it could be even higher.

Alt+Tab already detects all open windows across your apps, but the catch is that it doesn’t let you focus only on windows from the app you’re currently using. For example, if you’re actively working in Windows Terminal and have multiple Terminal windows open, Alt+Tab can switch between them, but you’ll still have to cycle through other open apps as well.

PowerToys’ Alt Window Cycle solves this by letting you cycle through windows belonging to a single app, and the feature is now called Window Hopper.

As much as I dislike Microsoft’s naming choices sometimes, the PowerToys team seems to have nailed this one, and the company argues it’s a useful feature for most of you.

“It is especially useful when you’re juggling multiple browser windows, terminals, File Explorer windows, or editor instances,” Microsoft noted in the release notes.

How to use Window Hopper on Windows 11 via PowerToys

To use it, download and install PowerToys from the Microsoft Store. Then, go to the Windowing & Layout section and enable Window Hopper. Once enabled, you can press Alt + Backtick to cycle through windows from the same app.

Of course, the shortcut can be changed to anything you prefer, including something like Alt + Caps.

How does Window Hopper work on Windows 11?

Window Hopper is not just a keyboard shortcut that modifies the existing Alt+Tab behaviour and blindly cycles through windows from a specific app. Instead, it opens an Alt+Tab-style overlay showing all available windows from the same app, making it easier to find the exact window you need.

The feature was originally developed as “AltWindowCycle” before Microsoft renamed it to Window Hopper.

Some of you might argue that apps already have shortcuts like Ctrl+Tab, which lets you switch between tabs inside an app, such as a browser. But Hopper is called Window Hopper for a reason: it works with separate windows, not tabs.

For example, it can help when you have multiple Chrome windows open with different profiles, several Terminal sessions, or multiple File Explorer windows.

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