I would like to be able to switch through the most recently active pages using Ctrl + Tab and Shift + Ctrl + Tab, exactly the way it works in Firefox for switching tabs based on most recently used (MRU) order. This is also how task switching works in Windows, macOS and Linux (the keyboard shortcut is different but the workflow is basically still MRU).
Here’s an example of a disgruntled user complaining about the absence of MRU on Microsoft Edge, and he’s right: it absolutely sucks.
The absence of MRU on Microsoft Edge is driving me crazy
The current Ctrl + Left and Ctrl + Right shortcuts are implemented in such a way that the user is expected to keep track of the order in which pages where selected and whether they were selected with a click of the mouse in the pages panel or via the Ctrl + Left/Right keyboard shortcuts.
Interestingly, any page that’s activated with the mouse becomes the last active page, but —and this is the counter-intuitive part— pages that are activated using Ctrl + Left/Right don’t become the last active page. Users should only need to remember which page they were working on, not how they got there.
The software internally knows the order in which pages were accessed, but the current system makes it difficult for the user to keep track of it and the associated keyboard shortcuts are deviation from the familiar Ctrl + Tab that’s used in most tabbed interfaces, including web browsers. A predictable MRU-based navigation system would make these workflows substantially faster and reduce cognitive load.
I think this matters because, when working with related tables and views, users frequently switch between pages to compare information, edit records, and verify relationships. My current workaround is to open multiple Grist windows and use Windows’ own task switching shortcut (Alt + Tab) which isn’t ideal.