Activate a window (bring in front, if minimized) using a shortcut key


Of course you can use Alt+Tab or Win+Tab to have instant view of all open windows and select what to bring in front, but is there any other way, cleaner, even faster, sometimes more convenient?

You can activate one by one all open windows using also the Alt+Esc shortcut, but this can also be time consuming. Besides, if the window you try to bring in front is minimized, its taskbar icon will change color when it is focused, but the window won’t be activated, it stays minimized. In this case sometimes it is activared (restored) if you press Enter, but this usually won’t succeed, especially with explorer windows.

Another way, easy and clean, is the Win+Number shortcut. If you need to activate / restore an explorer window and this window is, let’s say, second from the left in the taskbar, you just press Win+2 and the window is activated and restored right above any other window.

Now, if you have, e.g. Outlook and then three explorer windows open, those three windows are considered a group and they all belong to the second place from the left at the taskbar. To select one of them and bring it to front, press and hold Win+2. This opens the taskbar thumbnails of all the windows of the explorer group. Pressing Win+2 again moves you to the next window / thumbnail. When you are at the window you need to activate, just release the Win+2 keys, and enjoy!