I built something. It's small. It solves exactly one problem. And I'm kind of annoyed it took this long to exist. Meet WindowToggle
The problem
My typical working day involves bouncing between a browser and a code editor. Sometimes it's a terminal and a docs tab. Sometimes it's Figma and Slack. The specific apps change. The frustration doesn't.
I'd be deep in one window, switch to check something in another, then want to get back. That should be a simple shortcut. Instead, it was a visual scavenger hunt -- thumbnails in Mission Control, a Stage Manager sidebar to scan, or Cmd+Tab cycling through every open app until I landed on the right one.
I don't need a picker. I know where I was. I just want to go back.
What I tried first
The obvious solution is a keyboard shortcut. macOS has nothing built-in for "return to previous window." So I started looking at third-party options. Most were GUI-based -- they'd show you a switcher UI, which means you're still looking at thumbnails, just in a different place. A few required Screen Recording permissions, which is a non-starter for me on a machine I use for client work. The ones that did what I wanted weren't free.
I remember spending about 20 minutes one afternoon just testing apps and closing them, one after another, increasingly irritated. None of them just did the simple thing.
So I built it
WindowToggle is a free, open source macOS utility. It does exactly one thing: when you press your shortcut, it jumps to the window you were just in. No picker UI. No thumbnails. No animation. Just instant.
It uses the Accessibility API -- not Screen Recording. That distinction matters. It only needs to know which window is active, not what's on your screen.
Setup takes about 30 seconds. Download the DMG, drag WindowToggle to Applications, and allow Accessibility in System Settings. Because the app is free and distributed outside the Mac App Store, macOS requires one additional step — open Terminal and run one command to clear the quarantine flag. You only do it once. After that, set your preferred shortcut in Preferences. The default is Ctrl+W — change it to whatever feels natural. Start at Login is a checkbox. Auto-updates are handled by Sparkle so you never have to think about it.
What it doesn't do
WindowToggle is not a full window manager. It does not show you all your open windows. It does not let you pick from a list. If you need that, there are good tools for it.
This is for the person who already knows exactly which window they want -- they just need a faster way to get there.
Get WindowToggle
Free. Always. No account, no license key, no nag screen.
If macOS blocks the app on first launch, go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. Standard Gatekeeper behavior for apps outside the App Store.
The GitHub repo is currently private but will be public soon.
Open Source at: WindowToggle on GitHub.