3 Ways to Switch Between Tabs with the Keyboard on a PC or Mac

2025 Author: Samantha Chapman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-24 13:28

This article explains how to switch between tabs in a browser using keyboard commands only.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Switch Tabs on Windows (All Browsers)

Step 1. Open several tabs in the browser

To open a new tab with the keyboard, press Ctrl + t.

Step 2. Press Ctrl + Tab ↹ to go to the next open tab

Step 3. Press Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + Tab ↹ to switch to the previous open tab

Step 4. Press Ctrl + 1 to Ctrl + 9 to switch to a specific tab based on the order in which they are located.

For example, pressing Ctrl + 3 will show the third open tab.

Step 5. Press Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + t to reopen the last tab you closed

Method 2 of 3: Switch between tabs on macOS (Safari)

Step 1. Open several tabs in the browser

To open a new tab with the keyboard, press Command + t.

Step 2. Press Control + Tab ↹ to go to the next open tab

Step 3. Press Control + ⇧ Shift + Tab ↹ to switch to the previous open tab

Step 4. Press on Command + 1 to Command + 9 to jump to a specific tab based on the order they are in.

For example, pressing Command + 3 will see the third tab open.

Step 5. Press Command + ⇧ Shift + t to reopen the last tab you closed

Method 3 of 3: Switch between tabs on macOS (Chrome and Firefox)

Step 1. Open several tabs in the browser

To open a new tab with the keyboard, press Command + t.

Step 2. Press Command + Option + → to move to the next open tab

Step 3. Press Command + Option + ← to switch to the previous open tab

Step 4. Press on Command + 1 to Command + 9 to jump to a specific tab based on the order they are in.

For example, pressing Command + 3 will show you the third tab you have opened.