MacOS – Keyboard shortcut to switch between Application tabs

keyboardmacostabs

Applications typically have tabs like so:
enter image description here

Is there a way to make a keyboard shortcut that switches between them? I'm hoping for a shortcut that spans all apps, not just a specific one (like iTerm below)

Best Answer

That might sound a bit funny now: you spelled out you answer all the time.

Use Tab to switch between all those controls and "Tabs".

In System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts you might want to enable Full Keyboard Access: All Controls.

Some applications might be too 'dumb' to respect that. For Safari or iTerm: they are not.

Note that while cycling through the Tabs with:

  • Tab = forward
  • Shift + Tab = backward

the highlighting halo that indicates your position might be a bit smallish or dim, depending on your settings

  • Space = select/toggle what is highlighted

Also note the varying options if you talk about browser-like tabs. The first 10 can be usually switched to directly by using Command+1 etc.

If cycling through browser-like tabs is your goal, the Tab key also works, but really cycles through all elements.

To only rotate through the tabs as such use Ctrl+Tab