Often, this problem is a hardware issue, but software problems can also cause this to occur. If you also experience the same problem, here are some fixes you can try.
1. Rule Out Hardware Issues
It is important to rule out hardware issues at the beginning of the troubleshooting process. Ensure that your keyboard is connected correctly to your PC, then check if all the other keys are working.
In cases where an issue comes from the keyboard itself, try connecting it into another port, check for any cable damage, or get the keyboard inspected by a technician.
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Having ensured that all other keys are working correctly, it is time to confirm that Alt and Tab are registering. To do that, visit the keyboard tester website and press both Alt and Tab keys individually on the keyboard to ensure they are working correctly.
If one of the Alt keys isn’t working, try using another working Alt key. If the other Alt key does not help, continue with the rest of the fixes.
2. Reinstall Your Keyboard’s Driver
It’s possible that even when keys are registering correctly, the input might not be adequately fed into the system if the keyboard driver is outdated. In most cases, driver issues contribute significantly to not supporting specific keyboard shortcuts, and Alt-Tab may be one of them. Thus, it’s imperative to reinstall the keyboard driver on the system.
Follow the below steps to reinstall the keyboard driver:
Right-click on This PC and go to Manage. Navigate to Device Manager in the left sidebar in the Computer Management window. Locate and expand the Keyboards category in the right-pane. Right-click on the keyboard device and hit Uninstall Device.
Check whether reinstalling the keyboard driver had any effect? Continue applying the other fixes if not.
3. Restart Windows Explorer
Providing a GUI, Windows Explorer controls all of your navigation across files and folders on your computer. Therefore, non-responsiveness on the Windows Explorer side can also be to blame for the shortcut not registering. Restart Windows Explorer to rule this possibility out.
Follow the below steps to do that:
Right-click on the Windows Start button and go to Task Manager. Locate Windows Explorer from the list of programs. Right-click on it and hit Restart.
After restarting Windows Explorer, you can give your PC a fresh start to check if the shortcut is now working. If not, continue with the remaining fixes.
4. Enable Peek Option
Occasionally, Alt-Tab fails to register when the Peek option has been disabled in Windows settings. The peek option allows you to navigate to your desktop by hovering your mouse over the little rectangle on the lower-left corner while viewing any other window.
Hence, make sure that isn’t the case here by enabling Peek in Windows settings. To do so, follow these steps:
Go to Windows Settings app Navigate to Personalization. Click on the Taskbar in the left-sidebar. To enable Peek preview, turn the toggle for Use Peek to preview the desktop when you move your mouse to the Show desktop button at the end of taskbar to the left side.
When Peek doesn’t work after turning it on from the Settings app, ensure you have enabled it in Performance options. Follow the steps below to verify this:
Open Windows Settings app. Go to System. Navigate to About on the left-sidebar. Click on Advanced system settings in the right pane. Click on Settings in the Advanced tab in the System Properties window. Check the box for Enable Peek, click Apply, and hit OK.
By following the above steps, you will enable the Peek option, resulting in Alt-Tab registering correctly. If you’re still having trouble, move on to the next fix.
5. Install/Uninstall Alt-Tab Terminator
Do you use the Alt-Tab terminator to simplify the process of previewing different opened windows and navigating between them? If yes, you should uninstall the software. Even though it allows you to navigate different windows more efficiently, it can also prevent the default Alt-Tab from working correctly.
Follow the below steps to do so:
Open Control Panel. Navigate to Programs and Features. Search for the Alt-Tab terminator in the top-right corner. Right-click on the program and hit Uninstall.
You can also use this fix the other way around. If the default Alt-Tab isn’t working, you can install the Alt-Tab terminator and try to navigate through opened windows with it. Alt-Tab may function properly with the Alt-Tab terminator installed, making it the best solution.
If not, you can enable Alt-Tab in the Windows registry, which is the least-favorable solution.
6. Modify Registry
If all else fails, modifying the Registry should be your last resort. Changing registry file settings or creating new ones helps resolve many problems, but if you don’t know what you are doing, you can also get in trouble. Therefore, if you are not familiar with tweaking registry settings, skip this step.
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Those who wish to try this fix can open the Run command by pressing Win + R. Type “Regedit” and hit Ok.
Then, paste the following path into the Registry Editor:
Here, you’ll be greeted with one of the two possibilities, i.e., either you’ll find the AltTabSettings option already available, or it won’t be there by default. You can proceed in either case as follows:
Once you have located the AltTabSettings, double-click on it and set the Value data to 1. If it’s not already there, you can create it. To do this, right-click anywhere in File Explorer and select New > DWORD (32-Bit) Value. Then, rename the newly created file to AltTabSettings. Afterward, follow step 1 mentioned above to set its Value data to 1.
Hopefully, after changing the data value or creating a registry file yourself, you’ll be able to access Alt-Tab. However, avoid changing any other registry settings to prevent causing more trouble.
Alt-Tab Still Isn’t Working?
Hopefully, applying the fixes in the list will get the Alt-Tab shortcut working again. If it still does not work, try applying some other general fixes. You can go for another keyboard, update or reset OS, enable hotkeys from the local group policy editor, run malware and SFC scan, uninstall other keyboard apps you’re using, and remove other peripherals you’re actively using to resolve the issue.
It is also likely that these fixes will solve the problem if major fixes described in the article don’t succeed. Why not give them a shot?
For those looking for ways to be more productive, you can use many keyboard tricks to avoid touching the mouse at all. You can do it all, from rotating the screen to opening specific applications to even shutting down the operating system. Try it out!
