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      Most items that you open also appear on the taskbar. By default, Windows 10 shows only an icon on the taskbar for open items, with no label. However, you can configure the taskbar to show labels. The name in the taskbar button matches the name of the item.

      When you have multiple program windows open, they stack up on the desktop the way multiple sheets of paper on your real desktop stack up. When you have multiple sheets of paper in a pile, you can't see what's on every page. You can see only what's on the top page because the other pages are covered by that page.

      Program windows work the same way. When you have multiple program windows open, you can see only the one that's on the top of the stack. The program that's on the top of the stack is the active window.

      The active window

      When two or more program windows are open on the desktop, only one of them can be the active window. The active window has some unique characteristics:

      • The active window is usually on the top of the stack. Any other open windows will be under the active window so that they don't cover any of its content. The exception is a window configured for Always on Top, as described in the preceding Note.

      • The taskbar button for the active window is highlighted with a brighter foreground color.

      • The title bar for the active window is a different color from the inactive ones.

      • Anything you do at the keyboard applies to the active window only. You can't type in an inactive window.

      Switching among open programs

      When you have two or more programs open at the same time, you want to be able to switch among them easily. You have several ways to switch among open programs, as discussed in the sections that follow.

      Switching with taskbar buttons

As mentioned, almost every open program has a button on the taskbar. When you have multiple open programs, you have multiple taskbar buttons. To make a particular program active, click its taskbar button. If you're not sure which button is which, point at each button. You see the name and a miniature copy of the program that the button represents, as in Figure 3.9.

FIGURE 3.9 Pointing to a taskbar button.

      Switching with the keyboard

If you prefer the keyboard to the mouse, you can use Alt + Tab to switch among open windows. Hold down the Alt key and then press the Tab key. You see a thumbnail image for each open program window, as in the example shown in Figure 3.10. Keep Alt pressed down and keep pressing Tab until the name of the program you want to switch to appears above the icons. Then release the Alt key.

FIGURE 3.10 Alt + Tab window.

      TIP

      The Tab key is usually just to the left of the letter Q on the keyboard.

      You can also use Windows + Tab to switch between running apps. Pressing this key combination or clicking on the Task View button on the taskbar opens the task view, where you can click or tap the app you want to make active.

      Arranging program windows

You can use options on the taskbar shortcut menu to arrange all currently open program windows. To get to that menu, right-click an empty area of the taskbar, or right-click the clock in the lower-right corner of the screen. Figure 3.11 shows the options on the menu.

FIGURE 3.11 Taskbar shortcut menu.

      The four options that apply to program windows on the desktop are similar to the options you get when you right-click a taskbar button that represents multiple instances of one program:

• Cascade Windows: Stacks all the open windows like sheets of paper, fanned out so that all their title bars are visible, as in Figure 3.12.

      • Show Windows Stacked: Arranges the windows in rows across the screen, or as equal-sized tiles.

      • Show Windows Side by Side: Arranges the windows side by side. As with the preceding option, if you have too many open windows to show that way, they're displayed in equal-sized tiles.

      • Show the Desktop: Minimizes all open windows so that only their taskbar buttons are visible. You can see the entire desktop at that point. To bring any window back onto the screen, click its taskbar button. To bring them all back, right-click the clock or taskbar again and choose Show Open Windows.

FIGURE 3.12 Cascaded program windows.

      The best way to understand these options is to try them out for yourself. Open two or more programs. Then try each of the options described to see the effect on your open program windows.

      Sizing program windows

      As a rule, program windows can be any size you want them to be, but this rule has a few exceptions. For example, the tiny Calculator program can't be sized at all. Some programs shrink down only so far. But in general, most open program windows can appear in three sizes:

      • Maximized, in which the program fills the entire screen above the taskbar, covering the desktop.

      • Minimized, in which only the program's taskbar button is visible, and the program window takes up no space on the desktop.

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