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Q: How do you disable OS X (when you focus on a window) from auto-focusing on windows from the same (or similar) program on another screen

Hi,

 

I have what is quickly becoming a major nuisance, I hope someone here knows more than me (hopefully about to change this behaviour..?).

 

Whenever I click on e.g. excel on one screen, the excel windows in the background on my other screen is automatically brough to the front, hiding the window I actually want to be able to see. And if I have no excel windows on that screen, it will automatically bring e.g. MS word to the front instead.

 

Does anyone know of a way to disable this extremely annoying behaviour? It seems silly to have to minimize every single window (yes, I have a lot open at any given time, and need to transfer data between several different programs) just to be able to look at windows from two different programs at the same time.

 

Cheers,

W

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Mar 7, 2014 7:47 AM

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Q: How do you disable OS X (when you focus on a window) from auto-focusing on windows from the same (or similar) program on another s ... more

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  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Mar 7, 2014 8:58 AM in response to 2352
    Level 8 (37,681 points)
    Mar 7, 2014 8:58 AM in response to 2352

    That's the normal behavior of any app under any OS. The foreground (active) app brings all of its palettes and open documents to the front. It's only logical you would want a Word document on top of an Excel document if Word is the foreground app.

     

    The easiest thing to do is to leave all of your documents open and use Command+Tab to switch between apps. For example, have Excel in front. Highlight the data you want to use in Word and press Command+C. Press Command+Tab (hold Command and keep pressing the Tab key if necessary until the Word icon is highlighted) and let go of the Command key. Word will come to the font. Highlight where in the Word document you want the Excel data and press Command+V.

     

    Whatever the last two apps chosen were will automatically be the ones to flip back and forth between when you press Command+Tab once. So do don't really even need to watch the icons to move between last two apps.

  • by 2352,

    2352 2352 Mar 7, 2014 1:33 PM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 7, 2014 1:33 PM in response to Kurt Lang

    Hi Kurt,

     

    Thanks for the reply!

     

    I agree, for the pure copy/paste parts, it is (often) OK to just use cmd+tab My problem is that besides copying data from app to app, I also often need to just look at the different apps (visualizing, for instance looking at raw data in excel or image file, and graphs or other data in another app and so on). And every time I click e.g. the excel sheet (on screen 1) to edit something while looking at my graphs in another app (on screen 2), the graphs will hide behind one of the excel (or word) windows I have open in the background on screen 2 (which I am using to edit/copy back and forth between the excel on screen 1) so I have to press cmd+m to hide, or move the excels from screen 2 out of the way. And then a few seconds later, I ned to re-position the excels back on screen 2, so I can see the excel on screen 2 simultaneous with the one on screen 1. This goes back and forth quite a lot.

     

    I have just tested this again (to be sure before saying anything), and this is NOT how apps behave on a Windows PC. There, the different windows of any app focus independently. I only bring the specific window I'm clicking/highlighting to the foreground (this also applies if I use alt+tab in Windows PC; you cycle through every single excel you have open, not just between different apps, and then have all windows from that app force their way on top of everything else).

     

    Is there no way to 'ungroup' the different sheet/windows of a single app, so each window (each excel sheet, word doc, graph or image app, etc.) can be separately selected (and 'focused') on OS X?

     

    Cheers,

    W

  • by Kurt Lang,Helpful

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Mar 8, 2014 11:47 AM in response to 2352
    Level 8 (37,681 points)
    Mar 8, 2014 11:47 AM in response to 2352

    this is NOT how apps behave on a Windows PC. There, the different windows of any app focus independently.

    Mmm, no, not really. All Windows apps run inside an application frame. Nothing for that app can exist outside the frame. Once you are in the frame of a given app, all of (example) Excel's open documents are also stuck inside the frame. Along with any palettes or other objects for that app. You can take it off full screen display like below, but each app, and everything associated with it is in its own frame.

     

    desktopsmall.png

     

    I mention this to show that you can do the same thing on your Mac. Where you said:

     

    I'm clicking/highlighting to the foreground (this also applies if I use alt+tab in Windows PC; you cycle through every single excel you have open,

     

    The equivalent on the Mac is to press Command+` (same key as the tilde ~, which should be directly above the Tab key). So it's Command+Tab to switch between apps, and Command+` to rotate between open documents within an app.

     

    So anyway, in the same manner you would arrange your Windows apps as shown above so you can see the contents of both apps, you simply arrange your Mac apps' documents the same way. Adjust the size of each open document as necessary so you can see the relevant information.

     

    mac.png

     

    Just like if a person were going from Mac to Windows, it's "different". Folders, files and apps? All the same concept. Saving and deleting files? Pretty much the same. But if you're very used to one, the other seems odd until the need to think about "simple" steps that aren't performed quite the same way as the OS you're used to becomes habit, and it no longer seems odd anymore.

  • by CT,Helpful

    CT CT Mar 8, 2014 12:02 PM in response to 2352
    Level 6 (17,882 points)
    Notebooks
    Mar 8, 2014 12:02 PM in response to 2352

    In my experience, normal behavior of applications in OS X is as follows.

     

    If you click on the Dock icon of an application, it should try to bring the Application to the front - with all of its windows.  If you click on an individual window it should come in front only, not with all of its partners from the same application. By judiciously clicking on various windows (maybe using Mission Control and/or App Expose to help see them) you can usually see the windows you want from different applications at the same time (if there are not too many windows you want to see, if there is room, etc.). 

     

    Are you saying this is not how the applications in question are behaving?  If so, it is the fault of the application, not OS X.

  • by 2352,

    2352 2352 Mar 10, 2014 5:25 AM in response to CT
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 10, 2014 5:25 AM in response to CT

    Hi,

     

    Thanks Kurt, I see your point. ctrl+tab on windows is more like something in between cmd+tab and cmd+` (which I can't make work on my Danish keyboard, though?), cycling through both apps and windows within an app at the same time.

     

    However, the problem is not if I have all the apps/windows on one screen, it's not until they're on different screens; then this weird stuff happens. It doesn't change anything (except the specific window of a specific app) on screen 1, if I click a window on screen 1, but simultaneously, it will rearrange the 'focus' of the windows on screen 2. I've been playing around a bit more, and to me, it just seems kind of random. If I click on an excel window on screen 2, then all the excel on screen 1 come to the front, but an MS word doc that I now have open is layered on top of those...

     

    After reading the second post, I think CT might be right (see below)...

     

    @CT: Thanks for the input. Mission control works fine, but if I select a given window, the same happens.

     

    However, I think you are correct; this is a fault of the MS office, not OS X. The other apps I have now tested (chrome, TextEdit, adobe) do not show this behaviour. I will try asking on the MS office forums instead.

     

    Again, thanks a lot for your help and input!

     

    Cheers,

    W

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Mar 10, 2014 6:25 AM in response to 2352
    Level 8 (37,681 points)
    Mar 10, 2014 6:25 AM in response to 2352

    it's not until they're on different screens; then this weird stuff happens.

    Ah! I'm afraid I'll be little help for that. I've never used a multiple monitor setup, and don't use Mission Control.

     

    Hopefully, someone else will jump in who does work with apps this way and can share some tips.

  • by mikegriff11,

    mikegriff11 mikegriff11 Jan 7, 2015 9:04 AM in response to 2352
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2015 9:04 AM in response to 2352

    Hello there,

     

    Were you ever able to resolve this issue? I am having the same problem.

     

    I am usually running MS Word and/or Excel, a finder window and two browser windows on two screens. Lets say I have Excel and Word open but in the background behind my two browser windows. If I am actively browsing in one browser window and then click over to the other one, then the Word and Excel windows automatically pop to the foreground. Very frustrating, and clearly not what is supposed to happen.

  • by seabrae,

    seabrae seabrae Jan 21, 2016 9:18 AM in response to 2352
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 21, 2016 9:18 AM in response to 2352

    I understand this is an old post... but maybe someone out there is still having challenges with this issue (like me).

    I've had this issue for quite some time, but only recently started to drive me a little crazy. I searched the internet for a solution and couldn't find anything that was of any help.  Here's what I did to solve my problem (which worked for Excel, Word and Power Point):

     

    My environment:

    OS X (10.9.5)

    Microsoft Office for Mac 2011

     

    1. right click the icon on the dock

    Screen Shot 2016-01-21 at 12.10.21 PM.jpg

    2. uncheck the 'Keep in Dock' option

    3. repeat step #1 and ensure it has been unchecked

    4. close the entire application by quitting the application (not just closing the window)

    Screen Shot 2016-01-21 at 12.12.48 PM.jpg

    5. you will notice that the icon is no longer in the dock. Go to Mission Control and put the icon back on the dock

    6. restart your Microsoft application

     

    Taking the above steps fixed my issue.  The example above is for Power Point, but it also worked for Word and Excel.

     

    Hope this helps!