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Cycle Windows

Cycle Windows allows you to switch windows by visually cycling through thumbnails of windows. Illuminate will start you with the windows of the current application, but all the windows are available. Additionally, Illuminate will cycle through all the tabs it knows about. Using the shift key, you can cycle through forwards or backwards.

Basic Use:

  • To cycle forwards through the windows, press Option-Tab or select Cycle Windows from the Actions submenu in the global application menu. Illuminate will cycle through any tabs it knows about as well. Press the Shift key at the same time as the keyboard shortcut in order to cycle through in reverse.

    The keyboard shortcuts for Cycle Windows can be configured in the Shortcuts pane of the Preferences window. Additionally, you can choose to include or exclude minimized windows by a checkbox in the General preference pane in the Preferences window.

  • Once Cycle Windows is invoked, there are a few ways to navigate the window list and select your window. First, you can simply keep pressing the shortcut key that invoked Cycle Windows to continue forward through the list. Add the Shift key to the keyboard shortcut to move in reverse. Alternatively you can use the left and right arrow keys to move through the windows. Finally, you can use the mouse to hover over the window thumbnails to highlight them, or hover over the left and right arrows in order to scroll.

  • Selecting a window while in Cycle Windows can be done via the keyboard or mouse. You can press the Return key while the desired window or tab is highlighted to switch to that window. Alternatively, use the mouse to click on that window thumbnail to select it.

    If you are in Safari or Google Chrome and a given window has tabs, they will show up beneath the window thumbnail.

  • If you turn on "sticky mode", you can modify how the keyboard in Cycle Windows work. You can find "sticky mode" in the General preference pane, there is a checkbox labeled “Enable sticky mode from keyboard shortcut.”

    The keyboard in Cycle Windows behaves differently depending on if you hold down the modifier keys used to invoke the keyboard shortcut. If you hold down the modifier keys for more than a second, whatever window is highlighted when you release the modifier keys is brought to the front. If you just tap the keyboard shortcut to bring up Cycle Windows, a window will not be selected until the Return key or the mouse button is pressed. This is called sticky mode.