In Windows, if you hold down Alt, you can repeatedly press Tab to choose a different application to switch to. If you change your mind, while still holding Alt, you can press Esc and cancel the switch.
Similarly, you can use Ctrl + Tab to switch between tabs in most tabbed applications. However, if you try to cancel the action with Esc, it triggers the start menu instead. Is there a way to cancel the tab navigation?
Best Answer
Alt-Tabis handled by the operating system, which implements the behavior you're describing for the escape key. The application that currently has focus will never see it.However,
Ctrl-Tabis handled by the application, and that behavior is determined by the decisions made by the application's developers. That will do anything, but typically will select between multiple sub-windows or tabs because this is the behavior a user expects.Pressing the escape key while holding down control is also handled by the operating system, not the application, and the application will not see that keypress, therefore cannot react to it.