Comments on: Hide all Windows on a Mac

By: Nathan

Nathan — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:04:44 +0000

You can also use CMD+TAB to switch back to any open (and hidden) app. I use that all the time and almost never use my dock since I hate clicking too much with my mouse.

My workflow: CMD+H to hide apps I’m not using for a while and use CMD+TAB to quickly get them back if I need them.

I find minimizing to the dock and having to click the icon in the dock to get the window(s) back too cumbersome, slow and too reliant on the mouse.

By: 6 Ways to Maximize Productivity on Small Screens & Mac Laptops

6 Ways to Maximize Productivity on Small Screens & Mac Laptops — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:46:53 +0000

[...] Inactive Apps – Use Command+Option+H to hide all applications and windows except for the active app, also you can Option+Click out of a specific [...]

By: Minimize and Hide All Windows in Mac OS X with Command+Option+H+M

Minimize and Hide All Windows in Mac OS X with Command+Option+H+M — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:45:07 +0000

[...] combining the Hide All shortcut with the minimize keyboard shortcut in Mac OS X Lion, you can use a third ‘Minimize [...]

By: Brad

Brad — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:13:30 +0000

So you have to click on each app one at a time to unhide them again? Not much of a shortcut is it.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:34:53 +0000

The shortcut hides all non-active application windows. You can just click on the active applications in the Dock to retrieve the windows again.

By: riddletr

riddletr — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 18:02:18 +0000

Forgot to mention. Command+Option+H did not merely “hide” the non active applications, the windows in those applications were gone. The applications themselves were not closed though because they were still active in the Dock. I don’t find this trick of much use if you can’t back to the killed windows easily. Perhaps it should be called “Kill What You Are Not Using” trick. OR, maybe I’m missing something here.

By: riddletr

riddletr — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:58:24 +0000

When recommending this sort of trick, it would be helpful if you would specify which versions of OS X this works in and how it works, if you know. I just tried it in 10.5.8 while my active window was Safari. I also had other Safari windows open plus a Text Edit window and a Preview window open. The only windows to dissapear were the non-Safari windows. All the Safari windows (not tabs) stayed open. Is there a way to get them back as quickly as they are killed?