Alt-Tab in Windows 7: Aero-Peek Christian Donner, May 13, 2010January 18, 2013 Aero peek is the name for probably the most annoying feature in Windows 7. When you press and hold Alt-Tab, the task switcher pops up with little thumbnails for all your active windows.Unfortunately, after 1000 ms, aero peek kicks in, the task switcher disappears randomly and the currently selected window is shown in its full size, while all other windows are dimmed. This behavior is not consistent between multiple installations, and I am wondering if graphic drivers have something to do with it. I also believe that Windows updates have something to do with it, but I can’t prove it. When this happens, I am usually lost, because the window that is selected at the time aero peek kicks in is rarely the one that I want, and with the task switcher gone, I have no idea where I am in the list of windows, and whether to press Alt-Tab or Shift-Alt-Tab to get to the window that I want. Moreover, the entire screen changing on every press of Alt-Tab makes me dizzy. It takes me a lot longer to recognize what I am looking at, as opposed to just seeing the thumbnails. So at that point I usually let go of Alt-Tab and start over, until aero peek kicks in again. This is really annoying if I have a list of 20 or more windows open, because it can take four or five attempts to find the correct window. Fortunately, this can be turned off entirely in the Advanced System Properties dialog (in Windows 7 Enterprise, click on the Advanced tab in System Properties, then Settings in the Performance section): This change becomes effective right away. Now there is peace and quiet again on my desktop! 1/2013 Windows 8 Update The problem exists to a similar extent in Windows 8. Here the setting to turn it off is just called “Peek”: “Enable Peek” in Windows 8 is on by default Related Posts:Computer Build 2025My USPS Certified Mail Experience ExplainedThe Voip.ms SMS Integration for Home AssistantSUTAB Scam?Amazon threatens customer of 26 years Information Technology aero peekalt-tabtask switcherWindows 7
Use the Windows key + tab to get a fantastic peek that cycles through the windows in a mid-screen roll. Hold the Windows key down, and repeatedly press tab to cycle through with full control, pausing as long as you like. Let up both keys to select the forefront window. This is much better than alt-tab, and a real time save.
Great that Windows Key + Tab works for you. I don’t like it – it takes longer for the screen to compose, and it takes me longer to get oriented. Overall, I find my app much faster the old way.
I did this and now I cannot get rid of it? I don’t know what Windows Enterprise is…I have Windows 7 Home Premium version. All I want is to see my sites listed in my Favorites when I go there. Instead, when I go there and have a bunch of sites filed in one folder…it brings them all up top, I hate it. How can I get back to just viewing my sites within my Favorite folder?
Thanks for this tip. This has been driving me crazy since I got Windows 7, and turning off Aero Peek in the Visual Effects tab did exactly what I wanted.
I agree with your assessment of Aero Peek, it has to be the single most irritating “feature” of Windows 7, and makes Alt-Tab almost useless, with windows appearing and disappearing at random and no tab bar to tell you where you are in the sequence. It was pretty much the first thing I disabled after installing Win7.
Christian – you’re a life saver! (I was about ready to trash my laptop because of that annoying peeking feature). Thanks!! 🙂
Many thanks. I had it turned off on my old laptop but couldn’t remember the steps to do it again when I got this new one. Kudos to you!
there is nothing i can do to get rid of aeropeek. all checkboxes are unchecked. it will not turn off. i want to know how to remove it completely. i use windows 7 home premium
Thank you for saving me from this terrible problem. For me ALT+TAB is synonymous with multitasking. As it would be expected this unfortunate bug caused me horrendous problems. Disabling AeroPeek solved the problem right away. Thanks again.
Thank you SO MUCH for this. I just reinstalled due to some internet issues and I had disabled Aeropeek under Control Panel | Personalization | Taskbar and Start Menu Properties | Taksbar tab but that did nothing. Your advice did the trick and I’m giddy. I’m useless without effective alt-tab.