Some Windows users might know that MacOS users have a nifty feature of being able to simply tab between multiple open projects as a function of the operating system.
Well, now Windows users can do something similar, but not by default.
There’s a Windows Store App (in Beta) called United Sets. When you download it, it will prompt you to install a specific .NET framework. This takes around a minute and United Sets installs afterwards. This is a one-time installation.
For daily usage:
You need to launch United Sets as an application before starting Scrivener.
Next, launch your first Scrivener project.
In United Sets, click on the + button, as you would in a browser with horizontal tabs.
You are prompted to hover your cursor over the app you wish to include and press the Tab keyboard key–in this case hover over your Scrivener project and press Tab. The project is added to Unite Sets.
Launch you second Scrivener project, click on United Sets, press the + button, hover your cursor over the second project and press Tab. The second project is added to United Sets.
It’s also possible to add other applications to United Sets and everything you’re working with will be a horizontal tab away.
I run links between projects and the Quick Reference windows that open don’t disturb my workspace by switching to the target project when using tabs this way, i.e. when you do it without United Sets, the QR Window opens and focus jumps to the target project.
United Sets works on Windows 10 and 11.
United Sets takes up hardly any workspace, as can be seen from this extract:
I always enjoy learning about cool tips, so thank you for sharing this.
I’m unfamiliar with how the Mac does these things, so perhaps that’s why I’m having difficulty understanding what problem you’re solving. In Windows, I can tab between open apps, including two instances of Scrivener, each with a different project, with Alt+TAB. Obviously, I’m missing something, but what?
I think what is happening here is along the top of the screenshot. Above the project window title bar is a second bar with tabs, like browser tabs. So you can switch between projects in a single draggable window.
That said, I do often feel the same as you do, in that this concept does not add a lot to the window manager. Or maybe I feel other innovations over the years, particularly on Linux, have gone beyond it, like a shortcut to show all windows, where typing filters them down by name until you have one left to hit return on—most windows are three or four letters away for me, whatever virtual desktop they may be on.
But some people really like tabs, so this is a nice tip to have around.
This helped me realize that the phrase “being able to simply tab between multiple open projects” made me incorrectly think of the Alt+TAB functionality of Windows, where the user can quickly navigate (Alt+TAB through) open apps.
I should have paid more attention to the images! I see now that this was a tip on how to get the apps to run in a tabbed fashion, such as is common on a web browser. I can see how folks who like this feature would benefit from United Sets. Thanks, Amber.
I’m more tethered to a mouse than keyboard shortcuts. Alt+Tab offers switching to anything that’s open but is not as fluent as simply switching between tabs already on screen in a “strip” at a glance. The thumbnails on available on the Taskbar are also not readily available, which I hide by default. It’s like favourites in a browser. There’re alternatives, but I prefer what’s already there and doesn’t take a break in concentration.
That’s my only reasons for seeking out static tabs.
Is there not a shortcut on Windows that cycles between windows of the current application? I think one reason window tabs haven’t appealed to me is that on both Mac and Linux you can cycle within one program, so tabs always felt to me like another set of shortcuts being taken away, globally, for something you could already kind of do.
Well, even so you bring up a good point in that it is a much more mouse friendly approach. Browser tabs are popular for a reason!
Yes, Ctrl+F6. It’s reserved for the Microsoft in-house products like Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Microsoft does offer code to developers to implement tabs in their applications (reinventing the wheel as you pointed out in a prior post). I have no idea if it’ll work just pasting it into your Qt code for Scrivener for Windows. You can check it out here: Tab View - Windows apps | Microsoft Learn
If you have the program icon in the taskbar hovering over it will bring up all instances of the program which are open, like multiple scrivener projects and click your choice. You can use Alt Key + tab and tab again to cycle thru all the open program windows to reach what you want. I find hovering over the program icon and choosing the open scrivener project works better.
I know about Alt+Tab and Alt+Shift+Tab, as well as jump lists and Taskbar Thumbnail Previews.
I’ve pointed out why I find them inconvenient above.
With Microsoft introducing Static Tabs to their browser (probably because they adopted Chromium tech), File Explorer and certain Inbox Apps, I hope they move towards Static Tabs, because your info is available at a glance without having to do peculiar finger gymnastics.
There’s nothing more irritating that sitting in an office full of people and there’s a constant call of “What’s the shortcut for X, again?”
Point taken. Playing with a Stardock product Called Groupy 2 which gives tabs and groups and allows a lot of personalization. Doing a thirty day free trial.
Thanks. Saw Groupy 2 and watched a YouTube video. Never looked deeper to see how when the fee kicks in. There’s also a very expensive subs option which I’ll avoid like a pestilence.
I think the 30 day trial expires. Gave no payment info just downloaded trial. 10 dollars might work, not sure yet. Can just drag an item off the group if want to place on different monitor and can slide tabs around and color to personalize which is nice. Gives a preview just like hovering an icon in windows taskbar will show multiple open scrivener projects.
I’ll give it a go. If it can pin 2 or more Scrivener sessions, it’s worth it. I note that it can save groups, and if it can remember two projects that were open and reopen them on launching in their separate tabs, then it’s beyond what I expected.
Having trouble with saving group option, so if figure it out let me know. But can pin 2 or more scrivener sessions and add scapple and I threw on spotify.
No, it doesn’t launch more than one Scrivener project in tandem, but that’s hardly a train smash.
I managed to break United Sets yesterday with a few in and out of the app drags. It terminated Scrivener, and all other open apps. My open sessions saved (Scrivener is that good), but the open projects never backed up.
So far, Groupy 2 seems worth it, and the fee is one-time and reasonable.
The Windows size of groupy is dependant on what you do in the app you’re working on, so it plays well with the Windows Snap features, for instance if you want to drag an item to a QR panel to create an internal Scrivener link, Snap the QR panel to a half screen not inside Groupy 2 and highlight the target, then click on the Scrivener project in Groupy 2 and drag the source item from one panel to the highlighted text in the other panel.
And if a window has disappeared off screen and you are having trouble getting it visible again, press Windows+P, then select “PC screen only” from the menu that appears (typically on the right side of the main monitor).
I had that problem in a media production setup that I ran but that was not set up by me. Everyone was jumping up and down because the countdown had begun to start the event. So, I accessed (hovering over, not clicking) the thumbnail of the media app and used Win+Shift+Left Arrow to bring the app back from the screen in an outside venue. Someone had obviously sabotaged things.
Your suggestion is the more obvious solution I should have thought of.
And that’s why I like Windows, different ways to do the same kind of thing.
