How to switch between tabs in IE7 using shortcut key

Posted on March 28, 2007 at 12:01 pm

Here’s a quick post on how to switch between tab in the new Internet Explorer 7! This problem had bothered me for a while because I used the great ALT-TAB all the time to switch between various IE windows, but when I started using IE7 for some reason my mind kept making me press ALT-TAB in the hopes that it would change between the tabs in one Internet Explorer session!

Well if you are having this same problem and are lazy like me and don’t feel like reaching for your mouse that’s only inches away to click on another tab, you can instead press CNTRL-TAB on your keyboard and that will allow you to switch between tabs INSIDE of one Internet Explorer window!

Using ALT-TAB will still switch you between any active windows on the dekstop. I wish I could use the Windows hotkey along with the TAB because I have found pressing CNTRL-TAB is just not as easy as ALT-TAB was! Now I have slide my thumb ALL the way to the left side of the keyboard to get to the CNTRL key, which is a pain in the butt! Anyone else know of a better way to switch between IE tabs, let me know!

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21 Responses to “How to switch between tabs in IE7 using shortcut key”

ben said on : August 7th, 2007 at 8:27 pm

thank you so much i was worried there for a while

santhosh said on : February 8th, 2008 at 6:29 am

Thanks very much for your tip. i was facing the same problem.

liz said on : March 3rd, 2008 at 9:14 am

Thank you! I knew there was a shortcut, I had done it accidentally one time and I’ve been trying to find a way ever since. I am a keyboard shortcut-aholic.

Andy said on : April 14th, 2008 at 5:16 am

Thanks, I had finally lost my patience with clicking the tabs today. Googled a shortcut found yours an now my faith in ie7 is restored

shivank said on : May 6th, 2008 at 9:38 am

thanks a lot mate, it was so helpful, but i think, i should have guesses, as cntl+t opens a new tab

Volker Wegner said on : May 16th, 2008 at 4:32 pm

Another solution that re-enables ALT-TAB is to turn off multiple TABs in the same IE window…

Mike said on : May 22nd, 2008 at 11:27 pm

Freakin’ awesome, man! Thanks a bunch fir sharing that! I’d been doing the same thing as you ever since I changed to IE7.

Thanks a lot/:D

KrushR said on : July 15th, 2008 at 11:58 am

Amazing. I kept saying “oh, I’ll google it one day” but never did. I finally got tired of not being able to switch between tabs, and here we are. Thank goodness for tip page, eh?

jivjot said on : August 1st, 2008 at 12:24 pm

thanks very much it was very difficult to switch b/w tabs earlier. now its very easy thanks ,…

Christine said on : August 19th, 2008 at 5:26 pm

Thank you! I have one more trick to add to this: Ctrl + Tab is great for going one direction. BUT did you know that if you hold down the Shift key you can reverse the direction of the tab?

Ctrl + Tab = go right
Shift + Crtl + Tab = go left

JP said on : August 20th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

Don’t think the following method is any better/quicker but you can also use CTRL + 1 or CTRL + 2, etc to go directly to a tab. Basically, depending on the number of tabs you have opened, press CTRL + the appropriate tab number to go to it.

Krishna said on : October 15th, 2008 at 12:06 am

Thanx.

Dude said on : October 15th, 2008 at 8:11 pm

Thanks alot for the IE tip! Been trying to figure out how to swtich tabs and not shift my hand to touch the mouse:) Good start to the day knowing I can now switch tabs, although shifting my thumb to the left for the CTRL button ain’t that comfortable but it’s still good…

Ratheesh said on : November 6th, 2008 at 6:39 am

Its very helpful…!!!! tnks alot.

Majid M Khan said on : November 23rd, 2008 at 7:51 pm

Thanks very much… Great shortcut… Really saved a lot of time… Thanks for the the great research.. These small things not only saves a lot of time but also free your mind for a fraction of second which is Good in this Hactic world…. Cheers Mate……….

AlexR said on : December 3rd, 2008 at 2:19 pm

Thanks, I was getting frustrated too.

Computer Queen said on : December 9th, 2008 at 1:03 pm

Thanks for this! I’ve been using ALT+TAB & it doesn’t work. You’ve made my life so much easier!

yayu said on : December 20th, 2008 at 8:45 pm

great tip!
you won’t believe it, but i just found another shortcut myself, using that tip!

if you press CTRL + ALT + F4 it will close all the tabs except the one your’e watching right now!
try it!

Narayan said on : March 30th, 2009 at 5:12 pm

Thank you very much………

Cheers,
Narayan

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