How to switch between Excel workbooks on Mac (and why Ctrl+Tab doesn't)
On Windows, flipping between spreadsheets is muscle memory: Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+F6 and you're in the next workbook. On a Mac those keys do nothing useful, Cmd-Tab gets you as far as "Excel", and the budget, the export and the pivot you were building all hide behind each other. Here's how to switch between Excel workbooks on a Mac from the keyboard — the shortcut that actually works, why the Windows ones don't, the menu that lists every open file, and what to do when you're juggling Excel and everything else.
The short answer
| You want to… | How | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Go to the next Excel workbook | ⌘ + ` | macOS's "next window" shortcut — the key above Tab on US keyboards |
| Go back the other way | ⇧⌘ + ` | Same thing, reversed |
| Pick a workbook by name | Window menu in the menu bar | Lists every open workbook window |
| Go to the next sheet in a workbook | ⌃ + Page Down (or ⌥→) | Sheets, not workbooks |
| Jump between Excel and your browser, mail, Teams | Let's Switch: ⌥⇥ | Most recent window first, free |
Why Cmd-Tab and Ctrl+Tab don't switch workbooks
Two different reasons, and they trip up different people.
Cmd-Tab switches apps, not windows. Every workbook you have open is a window belonging to one app, Excel, so Cmd-Tab treats all of them as a single stop. Press it and you land on whichever Excel window was last in front — not necessarily the one you wanted.
Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+F6 are Windows Excel shortcuts. Microsoft's own shortcut reference lists them for Excel on Windows, where they move between Excel windows. Its Excel for Mac table has no equivalent row: on a Mac, moving between windows of the same app is a job the operating system does, not Excel. If you've switched from a PC, this is the one habit worth retraining — our Windows-to-Mac shortcut table has the rest of the translations.
⌘` — the shortcut that works
⌘ + ` (Command plus the backtick, the key above Tab and left of 1
on a US keyboard) moves to the next window of the app you're in. In
Excel, that means the next open workbook. Add Shift to go backwards.
It's a system shortcut, so it works the same in Word, Finder and Preview. Three things catch people out:
- It's blind. There's no list and no preview — you press, look, and press again if it's the wrong file. Fine with two workbooks; tedious with six.
- It skips minimized and full-screen windows. A workbook sent to
the Dock with
⌘Mdrops out of the cycle, and a full-screen workbook lives in its own Space where⌘+`won't follow. If a file seems to have vanished, check the Dock or swipe between Spaces. - On non-US keyboards the key moves. On many European layouts the key next to the left Shift, or one near Return, plays the backtick's role. If nothing happens, open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Keyboard and check Move focus to next window — it's where you can see the current key, and re-record it if needed.
The Window menu: pick a workbook by name
When you have more than a few files open, cycling stops being faster than choosing. Click Window in the menu bar and the bottom of the menu lists every open workbook window by name; pick one and it comes to the front.
You don't have to reach for the mouse to do it. ⌃F2 (or fn⌃F2 on
a Mac laptop keyboard) moves focus to the menu bar, then arrow across
to Window, down to the file and press Return. Or press ⇧⌘/ to open
Help, type the workbook's name, and menu search finds the matching
Window-menu item (more on menu search). It's slower than one chord, but it's exact.
Two windows on the same workbook
Sometimes the thing you're switching between isn't two files but two
places in one file — the input sheet and the summary, say. View →
New Window opens a second window onto the same workbook; Excel adds a
number to each title so you can tell them apart, and ⌘ + `
moves between them like any other pair of windows.
Better still, put them side by side so you don't have to switch at all. Excel's Arrange All on the View tab can tile its own windows, though Mac users regularly report it greyed out. macOS's built-in tiling (hover the green button) works, and a keyboard tiler like Let's Tile puts two workbooks in halves or thirds in a couple of keystrokes, without leaving the keyboard. Free Let's Tile does thirds, which is exactly the "wide sheet plus narrow reference" layout most spreadsheet work wants.
The faster way: a switcher with previews
⌘ + ` only knows Excel. Real spreadsheet work is Excel → the
email with the numbers → the browser tab with the report → back to the
same workbook. Cmd-Tab can't do that last step, because "back to
Excel" lands on whichever Excel window macOS picks.
Let's Switch is a keyboard window switcher built for this.
Hold ⌥⇥ and you see a live preview of every open window across apps
and monitors, most recently used first — so one tap and release
always takes you back to the window you just left, the right workbook
and not just "Excel". When you only care about Excel, ⌥ + `
cycles that app's windows in the same overlay, with previews instead of
blind presses. Both are in the free version.
Let's Switch Pro adds an ⌥Space search palette: type a few
letters of a workbook's name and jump straight to it; press ⌥Space
again and the same box launches apps. It's $9.99 once — no
subscription, no account, up to 20 devices per key, no telemetry. Two
honest caveats: it works within your current Space, so a workbook in
full screen on its own Space won't show up, and it needs macOS 14
Sonoma or later. If you'd rather have a free, open-source switcher,
AltTab is the established one.
⌘ + ` | Window menu | Let's Switch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel workbooks | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Other apps' windows too | No | No | Yes |
| Shows names or previews | No | Names | Live previews |
| Most recent first | No | No | Yes |
| Price | Built in | Built in | Free; Pro $9.99 once |
Frequently asked questions
What is the shortcut to switch between Excel workbooks on Mac?
⌘ + ` goes to the next open workbook and ⇧⌘ + ` goes
back. It's macOS's own next-window shortcut, so it works in any app.
Does Ctrl+Tab work in Excel for Mac?
Microsoft documents Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+F6 as window-switching shortcuts
for Excel on Windows; its Excel for Mac shortcut table doesn't list
them. Use ⌘ + ` instead.
How do I switch between sheets, not workbooks?
⌃ + Page Down and ⌃ + Page Up move between sheets in the same
workbook. On a MacBook keyboard without Page keys, ⌥→ and ⌥← do
the same job.
**Why does ⌘skip one of my workbooks?** It's probably minimized to the Dock or open in full screen. Click it in the Dock, or exit full screen with⌃⌘F`, and it rejoins the cycle.