Microsoft Restricts Alt-Tab Functionality In Windows 11 Update

Microsoft is currently working on significant changes to the Alt-Tab functionality in Windows 11. Apps that work with tabs are particularly affected, such as the Edge browser, Explorer, and Editor. In the future, the display of the latest tabs will be limited to 20 pieces.

The corresponding changes have already been introduced within the recently published Windows 11 Insider Previews in the Canary, Dev, and Beta channels. Among other things, the way it works in the settings (System -> Multitasking) has been redefined for this purpose. Microsoft isn’t just talking about showing the most up-to-date “edge tabs when docking or pressing Alt+Tab” anymore, but about apps in general.

Many programs with tabs would cause chaos

This also includes the programs that used to have tabs, such as the Explorer, Editor or Terminal mentioned at the beginning. The Redmond company seems to want to prevent a flood of tabs in overviews, which is why the “All Tabs” option is removed and a limit of 20 tabs is introduced. Exactly when the changes discovered by Windows insider Xeno will become part of a final Windows 11 update (e.g. Moment 3) has not yet been determined.

Neowin colleagues continue to assume that Microsoft will introduce the limitation of the most recent tabs in order to reduce the impact of these on the system memory. Especially in situations where users deactivate the “Sleeping Tabs” introduced in the Edge browser and other programs, the main memory and processors could be exposed to an undesirably high load. However, an official statement from the Redmond company remains to be seen.

Windows Insiders who want to take a closer look at the behavior of the alt-tab limit in advance can use Windows 11 builds 22624.1537 (Beta), 23424 (Dev), or 25330 (Canary).