This post shows students and new users steps to disable Microsoft Edge tabs when using Alt + Tab function in Windows 11. In Windows, you can press the Alt + Tab keys on your keyboard while holding down the Alt key, and tapping on the Tab key scrolls through your open windows.
By default, Alt + Tab adds 5 most recent tabs open in Microsoft Edge to app thumbnails when you switch between windows. This behaviour was first implemented in Windows 10, and now in Windows 11.
With Windows 11, these are the Alt + Tab settings one can select from:
- Open windows and all tabs in Microsoft Edge
- Open windows and 5 most recent tabs in Microsoft Edge (default)
- Open windows and 3 most recent tabs in Microsoft Edge
- Open windows only
As you may have noticed above, the default option opens 5 most recent tabs in Microsoft Edge browser when browsing Alt + Tab open windows. If you don’t want to show Edge tabs when browsing Alt + Tab windows, then follow the steps below to disable.
How to turn off Microsoft Edge windows in Alt + Tab
As mentioned above, Windows displays 5 most recent tabs open in Microsoft Edge to app thumbnails when you switch between Alt + Tab windows. If you don’t like this behaviour, you can quickly disable it, and the steps below show you how.
Windows 11 has a centralized location for majority of its settings. From system configurations to creating new users and updating Windows, all can be done from the System Settings pane.
To get to System Settings, you can use the Windows key + i shortcut or click on Start ==> Settings as shown in the image below:
Alternatively, you can use the search box on the taskbar and search for Settings. Then select to open it.
Windows Settings pane should look similar to the image below. In Windows Settings, click System, then on the right pane, and select the Multitasking tile to expand it.
On the Multitasking settings pane, select the tile for Alt + Tab tile, then using the drop-down option, choose what to show when you press the Alt + Tab keys on your keyboard.
You can select Alt+Tab to show:
- Open windows and all tabs in Microsoft Edge
- Open windows and 5 most recent tabs in Microsoft Edge (default)
- Open windows and 3 most recent tabs in Microsoft Edge
- Open windows only
Do disable Microsoft Edge tabs in Alt+Tab windows, choose the highlighted option as shown in the image:
Open windows only
You can now exit the Settings app.
That should do it!
Conclusion:
This post showed you how to disable Microsoft Edge tabs when you press the Alt + Tab keys on your keyboard in Windows 11. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.
