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I know this question has been asked about Windows XP but I was wondering if there was a better or built-in solution.

I'm looking for a shortcut or third party program that allows me to focus a specific window (as opposed to alt-tab where you have to select it).

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Which window? That of a specific program always or do you want to press the shortcut, specify any program's name and then have its window focused? Plus what if multiple instances of the program are running? Also, I'm having a hard time figuring out the exact need for something like this. What is it you're looking to do actually? Maybe there's a better way to accomplish the same. –  Karan Dec 11 '12 at 23:22

2 Answers 2

I’m not sure what you mean by “focus a specific window”.  Win+n may be what you want; it will go to the nth task on the taskbar.  If you want a certain combination (e.g., Win+5) to always go to a certain program, you should pin it to the taskbar.  (If the task has multiple windows, hold Win while you press n repeatedly, and it will cycle through the windows.)

Another answer is to invoke Windows Task Manager (e.g., by Ctrl+Shift+Esc), go to the “Applications” tab (if you aren’t there already), select the task you want to go to (click or cursor down or type the first letter of its name), and press Enter or click on “Switch To” or double-click on the task name.

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This is the Windows-native and correct solution. –  Ben Richards Dec 12 '12 at 0:23
@sidran32: Thanks. Which one? –  Scott Dec 12 '12 at 0:35
The <kbd>Win</kbd>+<kbd>*number*</kbd> shortcut. It will focus the specific window without having to go through <kbd>Alt</kbd>+<kbd>Tab</kbd>. –  Ben Richards Dec 12 '12 at 0:53

Have a look at the third party program found here.

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Welcome to Super User. I refer you to our How to Answer FAQ: “A link to a potential solution is always welcome, but please add context around the link so your fellow users will have some idea what it is and why it’s there. Always quote the most relevant part of an important link, in case the target site is unreachable or goes permanently offline.” In this case I interpret that to mean, “If you post a link to a program, put a brief description of the program in your post.” –  Scott Dec 12 '12 at 0:45

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