The quickest standard way to switch between open applications in Windows is using the keyboard shortcut Alt + Tab.

Core answer

  • Press and hold Alt , then tap Tab once to jump to the last app you were using.
  • Keep holding Alt and tap Tab repeatedly to cycle through all open apps, then release Alt on the one you want.

Other fast options

  • Alt + Esc : Quickly cycles through open windows in the order they were opened, but without thumbnail previews, so it feels more “blind” and is less commonly used than Alt + Tab.
  • Clicking app icons on the taskbar is also possible, but it is usually slower than the keyboard shortcuts when you want the truly quickest method.

If your question is multiple-choice, the correct option will almost always be the one that mentions Alt + Tab as the quickest way to switch between open applications in Windows.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.