How to Set Key to Switch to Browser

This page shows you how to set a singe key to switch to your favorite app, for {Windows, Mac, Linux}. For example, set F8 to switch to browser, or terminal.

there are 2 or 3 apps we use perhaps 80% of our computing time. So, it's nice to set a single F key to switch to them.

If you set a single F key to switch to a specific app, it becomes muscle memory.

Linux

There are several ways to do it in Linux. Some are simpler, some are most robust.

wmctrl

wmctrl is a command-line util to manipulate windows. ⁖ {switch, close, move, resize, set title, list, … }. To install:

sudo apt-get install wmctrl

For example, to make F9 switch to Firefox, go to your Control Panel, Keyboard app, click to create a new key, give the command:

# switch to Firefox
wmctrl -xa firefox

linux xfce keyboard control panel set key to switch to terminal — keyboard setting panel in linux xfce

xdotool

Here's what you can do with 「xdotool」 to switch/launch app.

This is what I came up with to switch between my editor/browser/terminal using surplus numpad keys. (Tried wmctrl -xa first but it switches to the first terminal on the first desktop it finds.)
"xdotool search --onlyvisible --class  Geany   windowraise windowfocus"
    Print

"xdotool search --onlyvisible --class  Firefox   windowraise windowfocus"
    Scroll_Lock

"xdotool search --onlyvisible --class  Sakura   windowraise windowfocus"
    Pause
That's in 〔~/.xbindkeysrc〕 … I started using xbindkeys so I can switch WMs without redoing all my hotkeys.

P.S. - found a switch-or-launch script for Linux: https://github.com/mkropat/jumpapp Doesn't work well with systray apps but my goal is to banish those.. map them to W-F1 etc.

JumpApp

https://github.com/mkropat/jumpapp → A faster way to launch applications and switch between them

The idea is simple — bind a key for any given application that will:

launch the application, if it's not already running, or
focus the application's window, if it is running
Pressing the key again will cycle to the application's next window, if there's more than one.

Thanks to {Yuri Khan, Vadim Atlygin, Evan Cofsky, Tom Novelli } for help on Linux.

Windows

For Windows, one solution is AutohotKey.

AutoHotkey System Notification Area — AutoHotkey icon in Taskbar

You'll need to intall AutoHotkey. See: AutoHotkey Tutorial ⌨.

Here's a sampe AHK script:

; 2010-04-01, 2011-11-27
; launch or switch to firefox

#NoTrayIcon
SetTitleMatchMode, 2

If WinExist("Mozilla Firefox")
{
  If WinActive("Mozilla Firefox") {
    WinActivateBottom, Mozilla Firefox
      } Else {
    WinActivate
}
}
Else
{
  Run "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
}
Return

ExitApp

Save it as a file and name it launch_or_switch_firefox.ahk, then you can use Microsoft IntelliType (bundled with Microsoft Keyboards) to set F9 to run this script.

Or, in your main AutoHotkey script, add this line:

$F9::Run "C:\Users\mary\ahk_scripts\launch_or_switch_firefox.ahk"