Window focus and which windows are on top?

dansuffix · 03-11-2010, 05:45 PM

So my issue is this:

Let's say I have 5 Finder windows and 4 Terminal windows. I switch a lot back and forth between these. However, I only want the focused window to come to the front of the screen. What happens now is that all of the windows come to the front, hiding the other windows I'm actually interested in.

Is there a way to circumvent this? I'm using Snow Leopard.

LMGTFY-answers: I can't really figure out how to do a search for this. I've tried but not found anything - probably due to the fact that there aren't any obvious keywords. I figure. :>

hayne · 03-11-2010, 06:53 PM

You are probably switching between apps by clicking on the app's icon in the Dock or by using Command-Tab. Those bring all the windows of the app to the front.
Instead, just click (with the mouse) on the window you are interested in and it will come to the front while leaving all other windows as is.

Appleart · 03-11-2010, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayne


	You are probably switching between apps by clicking on the app's icon in the Dock or by using Command-Tab. Those bring all the windows of the app to the front. Instead, just click (with the mouse) on the window you are interested in and it will come to the front while leaving all other windows as is.

Similarly, use expose (f3) and click on the relevant window. the window you were just using will be right behind it.

dansuffix · 03-12-2010, 03:54 AM

Yes that's actually true. I didn't think about that, but I use Command-Tab a whole lot.

So I guess what I'd really like to know is if there's any way of having focused applications only send the focused window to the top of the screen, and not all its windows - when switching to that application.

That would be a quite useful feature. Thanks for the answers thus far.

03-11-2010, 05:45 PM	#1
dansuffix Prospect Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 3	Window focus and which windows are on top? So my issue is this: Let's say I have 5 Finder windows and 4 Terminal windows. I switch a lot back and forth between these. However, I only want the focused window to come to the front of the screen. What happens now is that all of the windows come to the front, hiding the other windows I'm actually interested in. Is there a way to circumvent this? I'm using Snow Leopard. LMGTFY-answers: I can't really figure out how to do a search for this. I've tried but not found anything - probably due to the fact that there aren't any obvious keywords. I figure. :>

03-11-2010, 06:53 PM	#2
hayne Site Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 31,956	You are probably switching between apps by clicking on the app's icon in the Dock or by using Command-Tab. Those bring all the windows of the app to the front. Instead, just click (with the mouse) on the window you are interested in and it will come to the front while leaving all other windows as is. __________________ hayne.net/macosx.html

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03-12-2010, 03:54 AM	#4
dansuffix Prospect Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 3	Yes that's actually true. I didn't think about that, but I use Command-Tab a whole lot. So I guess what I'd really like to know is if there's any way of having focused applications only send the focused window to the top of the screen, and not all its windows - when switching to that application. That would be a quite useful feature. Thanks for the answers thus far.