Peek Mode

Peek mode lets you glance at another app and return to your previous window automatically - without ever lifting your hands from the keyboard.

How to Enable

1. Open Settings (double-click the tray icon).
2. Go to the General tab → Behavior section.
3. Toggle Peek mode on.

Peek mode is off by default.

How It Works

With peek mode enabled, every cross-process switch becomes a reversible peek:

1. Hold your modifier key and press an app’s hotkey — the target app comes to the front.
2. Release the modifier key (or the hotkey itself) — AppSwitcher automatically switches you back to the window you were in before.

The return is instantaneous: no extra keypress, no context menu, no delay.

Tip

Peek mode is ideal for quickly checking a chat message, glancing at a reference document, or confirming a build status — then snapping straight back to your editor.

When Peek Does Not Arm

Peek mode only arms under specific conditions. It will not activate when:

• You switch between windows of the same application (e.g. cycling between two browser windows). Peek is a cross-process feature.
• You use a numeric shortcut (Modifier + 1–0) to select a window. Only letter-key hotkeys arm peek mode.

Staying in the Target App

If you want to stay in the app you peeked at, press its hotkey a second time before releasing the modifier. This re-arms peek towards the original window, and releasing the modifier will return you there — effectively making the current window your new starting point.

Alternatively, simply click anywhere in the target app with the mouse. Mouse interaction is not tracked by peek mode, so the automatic return will still fire when you release the modifier, but you will have already interacted with the window you wanted.

Note

Peek mode will not work when switching to an elevated (Administrator) app. AppSwitcher resets its state on those switches for safety — see Elevated Apps for details.