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Y'all're playing a game and you Alt+Tab to use another program, but there'south a problem. The Alt+Tab process may be extremely slow, the game may crash or freeze, or yous may encounter graphical abuse.

If you've played games on Windows, this is probably familiar. Even when Alt+Tab works properly, information technology may take several seconds to movement back and forth — something which can be frustrating if you want to quickly switch between applications.

Why is Alt+Tabbing Out of a Total-Screen Game So Problematic?

It'south not just pressing Alt+Tab that's a problem — pressing the Windows primal may do the same thing, every bit it takes yous out of the game and back to the Windows desktop. This isn't a problem when you play a game in windowed mode, where you tin can Alt+Tab hands. But total-screen mode seems to be unlike — total-screen games can't be Alt+Tabbed out of as hands.

The real question here is why games run in this full-screen way in the first place, if the full-screen fashion itself is a problem.

When a game runs in full-screen way, it tin proceeds exclusive access to your graphics hardware — this is known equally running in "Exclusive Mode." Windows won't render your desktop in the background, which saves on hardware resources. This means you can squeeze the well-nigh gaming performance out of your graphics hardware by running the game in full-screen mode, and that's why games run in full-screen style by default.

Windows doesn't just accept to switch from i window to another when you press Alt+Tab. Information technology has to minimize the game and start rendering the desktop again. When you switch dorsum to the game, the game has to restore itself and take control away from Windows. For a diversity of reasons — particularly problems with the way some games are coded — the game may encounter a problem while doing this.

You tin can come across this in action when you have a game running in full-screen, exclusive way. If you Alt+Tab out of it, y'all can hover over the game's taskbar icon or press Alt+Tab again. You won't come across a preview of the game's display expanse like you would for other windows. The game running in full-screen exclusive mode doesn't redirect its output through the desktop'southward brandish manager, then the desktop display manager can't display a preview.

How to Chop-chop and Safely Alt+Tab Out of a Game

Let's say y'all desire to play a game but you also want to Alt+Tab and use other windows without the risk of crashes or delays while switching. There are several ways you can brand this happen:

  • Play in Windowed Style: Games oft have a windowed mode, where they render themselves in a window on your desktop. Games running in a window won't accept sectional access to your graphics hardware, so they won't perform quite as well as they would in full-screen mode. Nonetheless, you tin can more hands switch between windows. A windowed game probably runs at a lower resolution than a full-screen game, and so you're gaining some more performance there — at the cost of a smaller game screen with less graphical quality, of class.
  • Utilise Full-Screen Windowed Mode: Total-screen windowed mode, also referred to as "Total screen (Windowed)" or "Windowed (Fullscreen)" mode, compromises betwixt the ii. When you select this mode, the game will take up your unabridged screen, making information technology appear as if y'all were using Total-screen mode. However, the game is actually existence rendered equally a window — without title bars and to a higher place your task bar, but a window yet. This ways that Alt+Tabbing out of the game will be very quick — you can fifty-fifty have other desktop windows appear above the game. The game will run a bit slower as it doesn't have exclusive access to your hardware, merely this setting is often platonic if you have enough graphics power and want to hands Alt+Tab.

  • Disable Windows Key and Alt+Tab: Y'all can also disable the Windows key then you lot won't accidentally press it while playing a game. If you find yourself pressing Alt+Tab accidentally while playing a game, you may desire to try changing the game's hotkeys or even consider disabling the Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut.

Recovering From a Crash

RELATED: Beginner Geek: What Every Windows User Needs to Know Near Using the Windows Task Manager

If you lot ever find yourself staring at a frozen game or an empty blackness screen subsequently pressing Alt+Tab or the Windows primal, don't panic! Pressing Alt+Tab or the Windows key again may not help you lot if the game is misbehaving. Instead, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete — this keyboard shortcut is special, and Windows will respond to it even if other keyboard shortcuts aren't working. Click Kickoff Task Manager when the menu screen appears, select the frozen application in the Applications list, and stop it. If this doesn't work, visit the Processes tab, locate the game'due south running .exe file, and end the process.

Full-screen windowed fashion offers a smashing compromise and is often the ideal setting if your hardware is fast plenty and you desire the freedom to Alt+Tab. Not every game offers total-screen windowed mode — it'southward more than common on newer games, so older games peculiarly may not offer it.

Epitome Credit: Dāvis Mosāns on Flickr