How in the Tech

Quickly access the last instance of a running application in Windows 7

By Adam Myers ⋅ September 22, 2009 ⋅ Tags: Shortcuts, Windows 7

Taskbar button grouping is nothing new in Windows 7 – it’s been in Windows for quite awhile. Grouping is where windows of the same application are condensed into one taskbar item. When the single item is accessed you are presented with all the available windows which you can then further delve into. The idea works in much the same manner under 7, including a nice visual live screenshot preview of each.

In Windows 7, applications are grouped and accessed by their icon in the taskbar. Unfortunately, the process of application selection can become a bit cumbersome if you have many instances of the same application running. For example, if you are in the middle of doing a research paper you likely have many instances of Microsoft Word and browser tabs. If you are switching between one particular instance of each then it becomes quite tedious.

While Windows 7 has introduced one new feature, Aero Snap to split the screen for each application, it has it’s own drawbacks. As does the venerable ALT+TAB for application switching. Instead, I’ve stumbled across an alternative. As you click on the taskbar icon hold down CTRL. With CTRL held down you will be taken to the last instance you accessed of that particular application. You’ve now cut the amount of clicks and time involved in multi-tasking which is always a great thing.