⌃Space
Search switching
⌃Space opens a search over every open window. Fuzzy and acronym-weighted, with a one-typo tolerance you can switch on, and it learns: pick a result that was not on top and next time the same query puts it there.
A window switcher for macOS
Type two characters.
Land on the window.
Panehop finds any open window by app name or title the moment you start typing, and puts a real per-window ⌘Tab back on your Mac. Fast enough that you stop noticing it — which is the point.
14-day trial, no account. macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel.
⌃Space searchFn + two letters⌘Tab per window
Xcode · Panehop — PanelController.swift
Safari · Login — Stripe
Slack · #macapps — ACME LabsSpace 2
Finder · Documents
Terminal · make bench — zsh
Mail · Re: licence key — InboxSpace 2
Figma · Panehop marketing — HeroSpace 2
Notes · Release checklist 1.0
Safari · Swift Testing — Apple DeveloperSpace 3
Music · MusicSpace 3
Fantastical · August 2026
Preview · Onboarding-permissions.pngSpace 3
12 windows · 3 Spaces↑↓ move · ⏎ switch · esc clear
Try it: type into the panel — fi, sl, or the first letters of two words.
What it does
Three ways to the window you mean.
Fnsl
Fast Search
Hold Fn, type one or two characters, release. The window you meant is in front before the panel has finished appearing — no Return, no mouse.
⌘Tab
Per-window ⌘Tab
The system switcher, but for windows: every window is its own item, in most-recently-used order. ⌘` lists just the current app's. Both chords are yours to remap.
Fast Search
Hold Fn. Type. Let go.
Hold a modifier, type one or two characters, release — and you are looking at the window you meant. No panel to open first, no Return to press.
Fn+sl→ Slack
- 01
Hold the trigger
Fn by default. Caps Lock, either ⌘ or either ⌥ if you prefer — left and right are told apart.
- 02
Type the initials
Acronyms win for short queries, so sl finds Slack before Safari · Login. Two characters usually settle it.
- 03
Release to switch
The selected window gets keyboard focus — the window, not just the app — even on another Space or display.
Latency is the product
Budgets, not aspirations.
The window list and the panel are always warm. Pressing the hotkey does no lookups at all — it reorders an in-memory list and shows a panel that already exists. These are the numbers every release is measured against.
- < 50ms
- Hotkey to panel
- < 10ms
- Keystroke to results
- ~0%
- Idle CPU
- < 1s
- Cold launch
Maintained
Built to keep working.
macOS changes every year, and window switchers are the first thing it breaks. Panehop is built by a developer who runs each summer's macOS beta against it, ships fixes as updates you install in place, and answers support email himself. Every 1.x update is included in the price.
See how it comparesPermissions
Accessibility. Never Screen Recording.
Panehop lists windows by icon and title, so switching needs only the Accessibility permission — never Screen Recording. No thumbnails means no monthly re-authorisation nag and no capture of your screen. Fast Search's key capture asks for Input Monitoring, only when you use it. No analytics in the app; the update check is the one request it makes on its own.
Read the privacy policyPricing
One price. Every Mac you own.
A licence is a one-time purchase that covers every 1.x update. No subscription, no account — a key you paste in once.
- All your Macs — a licence is per person
- Every 1.x update, including the sidebar
- Search switching, Fast Search and per-window ⌘Tab
- Notarised universal build for Apple silicon and Intel
Your windows, two keystrokes away.
Download the trial, grant one permission, hold Fn. If it does not replace your ⌘Tab in a week, it costs nothing.