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- [SOLVED] How to hide all windows but not hide them from taskbar?
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How to hide all windows but not hide them from taskbar?
I’d like to get that «windows»-ish effect where I can hide all the windows (Ctlr+Alt+D) but they are not hidden from the taskbar.
Simple workflow:
— I write an email, and want to include a screenshot
— I take the screenshot (copy&paste from clipboard is not working
— I save the screenshot. To save time I select the deafult folder, which is Desktop
— now I have to hide all windows, grab the saved file’s icon, pull it to the taskbar, wait a little until the window pops up, bring the icon into the window and drop.Now the problem is, if I hide all windows, they are gone from the taskbar, too. So there is no place to pull the dragged icon back.
Changing viewport is a solution (if the other viewport is not full of windows either) but I consider it a workaround, I truly believe there is some configuration to do this
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Re: How to hide all windows but not hide them from taskbar?
Thats strange when i push (ctrl>alt>d) my windows minimises and they still remain on the panel
try adding the «show desktop» applet to your panel
Last edited by qwerty2009; November 24th, 2009 at 03:23 PM.
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Re: How to hide all windows but not hide them from taskbar?
Originally Posted by qwerty2009
add the «show desktop» applet to your panel
Should be there, bottom left by default unless it was removed by the OP.
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Re: How to hide all windows but not hide them from taskbar?
As stated, the «show desktop» feature is what you want. In the left corner of the bottom panel do you have a monitor-looking icon? That is the «show desktop» icon and if you click it all your windows will be minimized. It should be there by default.
Please mark the thread solved via the Thread Tools link near the upper right of the original post when you no longer need assistance.
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Re: How to hide all windows but not hide them from taskbar?
Sorry for your time
The culprit is Compiz’s Show Desktop. If I turn it off, the Show desktop button and Ctrl+Alt+D works as it should.
When turned on, it behaves differently. Hides every window from screen, plus hides every unhidden window from taskbar. Strangely, every window that was hidden by the user, stays on the taskbar even pressing Ctrl+Alt+D.
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GNOME is a beautiful, modern desktop environment focusing more on switching between applications.
But what if you want to minimize all the running windows and display just the desktop?
In Windows, you can do this by pressing Windows + D. You can also use the same keyboard shortcuts in Ubuntu as it uses a customized GNOME desktop.
But vanilla GNOME has disabled the shortcut key to show the desktop for some reason.
When you press Super+D or Ctrl+Super+D, nothing happens. If you want to see the desktop, you’ll have to minimize all running windows one by one. It is not convenient especially if you have several application windows open.
If you prefer the minimize to desktop option, you can add a custom keyboard shortcut. It takes a tiny bit of effort but does the job.
In this quick tutorial, I am going to show you how to add a keyboard shortcut to show the desktop in GNOME.
Add a shortcut key to show the desktop in GNOME
I am using Arch Linux with GNOME 43 in this tutorial, but the steps are applicable to any Linux distribution using any latest versions of GNOME.
Also, the latest GNOME versions have improved UI designs. So, you might not see the same looks if you are a few releases behind.
But I believe the steps are straightforward and you can easily follow them.
FYI, the Super key in Linux terms is the Windows key.
Step 1
Go to System Settings. Press the Super key to access the activities overview and search and open settings.
Step 2
When you are in System Settings, scroll down a bit and look for the Keyboard section in settings.
From the Keyboard section, select View and Customize Shortcuts. From the new window listing available categories for shortcuts, select Navigation as shown in the above screenshot.
Step 3
You can find all the actions available and their respective keyboard shortcuts here. From this list, you’ll see that the Hide all Normal Windows action has been disabled.
Clicking on this action will pop up a dialog box, where you can enter your required shortcut. In this case, I used Super + Ctrl + D. Once done, press Set to save your choice.
You can use any keyboard shortcut you want. If any combination you entered is already being used for another action, it will display a warning message.
You can either replace the existing one for your purpose or use a new shortcut by pressing cancel and trying again.
Now, your new shortcut will be assigned for showing the desktop.
If you accidentally press the wrong key combination and set it, just click on it and press the backspace key and it will be disabled again. Also, you can click on the small button to the right of the shortcut to disable it.
Now click on it again and use the desired key combination.
Once all set, you can press the combination to minimize all windows. Pressing one more time will make them reappear.
Alternative: Use third-party extensions to peek into desktop
In this method, you can use Dash to Panel extension, which is available and supported for the latest GNOME releases also.
First install Dash to Panel extension, either from the website or through the extensions manager app. I used the Extension-Manager app to do the same.
Once installed, you will notice that your top panel has been removed and a bottom panel like Windows appears.
In this, clicking the right-most button, as shown above, will minimize all the windows to show you the desktop. Another click will bring the minimized windows back to the old state. Also, you can customize this panel to your liking.
That’s it. Enjoy the shortcut to show the desktop in GNOME. I hope you found this quick tutorial helpful. Any questions, suggestions, or a word of thanks are always welcomed 
About the author
Abhishek Prakash
Created It’s FOSS 11 years ago to share my Linux adventures. Have a Master’s degree in Engineering and years of IT industry experience. Huge fan of Agatha Christie detective mysteries 🕵️♂️
There are a number of keyboard shortcuts for minimizing and restoring windows. You can minimize all windows at once by pressing Alt+Tab or the ‘M’ key. Alternatively, you can right-click the taskbar to bring up a menu of options. You can also choose a shortcut to maximize the current window on top of all the windows. This can be especially useful if you are constantly switching between open applications.
Depending on the program you are using, you may have a number of windows that open. To minimize them all at once, you must first select the window you want to close. Then, press Alt+Tab again. This will bring the window to focus. When you want to restore all the windows, press Shift+M. Alternatively, you can press Windows+Up Arrow to maximize the window on the left or right side.
In Windows, pressing the Windows Key + M (or Shift+M on a Mac) will minimize all windows. This command will open a shortcut menu, but you won’t be able to reopen windows that have been minimized. Alternatively, you can click the small horizontal rectangle in the taskbar to maximize all windows at once. If you prefer the feel of a keyboard shortcut, Alt+Space+D will also minimize all windows at once.
You can minimize all windows at once in Linux using the Super + Up arrow or the Super + Down arrow keys. Both Windows and Linux have well documented user interfaces. Often, you can find documentation about Linux and your specific software by pressing the F1 key. This command will open a menu, documentation, and help pages for the operating system. When using Linux, it’s also convenient to use the “Super” key to open the dash.
How Do I Minimize a Window in Linux?
There are a few ways to enable the click to minimize function in Linux. First, open the Software Center via the Applications menu and search for “dconf”. Click on it, and then you can enable the click to minimize function. Clicking on the “Minimize on Click” button in the Software Center will enable the click action. If you click on “OK” to confirm the change, click on the button again to dismiss the “I’ll be careful” warning. You can then disable the default value and select a custom value.
Another way to enable the click to minimize window behavior is to use a keyboard shortcut. In many applications, the F11 key is used. To enter full screen mode, press F11. To exit the full screen mode, press N. The WINKEY key and up arrow keys can be used to maximize or minimize the size of an application’s window. In Linux, you can also use Alt Space to reset the F11 key to N.
How Do I Minimize Everything in Ubuntu?
If you are not aware of how to minimize everything in Ubuntu, you can enable this function by using the dconf editor. Using the shortcut Ctrl+Alt+T or from the menu, open the terminal and copy and paste the following command into it. This command should enable the minimize on click behavior immediately. Alternatively, you can go to the Applications menu and search for “dconf” and install it. Then, you can use the dconf editor to customize the click action.
First, open the window in question. If it’s open, press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow to move it to another workspace. Similarly, press Super+Left or Super+Right Arrow to maximize or restore the window without minimizing it. You can also press Super+M or Super+V to see your notifications and calendar, or Super+Space to change the input source.
How Do I Minimize All Windows in Linux Mint?
If you’re frustrated with your desktop clutter, you’ve probably wondered how to minimize all windows in Linux Mint. You can do this with a keyboard shortcut. Hold the “Super” key and drag the window away from the edge of the screen. Then, use the Alt-tab switcher to view the previews of open windows. You can also click “move minimized windows to the end of the alt-tab switcher” to move the window to the end of the queue. While this may be useful if you frequently switch between open windows, it can become annoying if you’re cycling through recently-opened windows.
Which Key is Used to Minimize All Windows?
Which Key is Used to minimize All windows in Ubuntu? The answer to this question depends on the operating system. In Linux, the M key minimizes all windows and the Command and Option keys maximize the active window. The ‘M’ key also minimizes the active window on top of all windows. This command is useful in multiple-window systems, as it minimizes all windows to the desktop. Depending on the type of operating system, these shortcut keys may change with new operating system updates.
The command line is very important for Linux distros, which can be used to execute commands faster than GUI. For example, in Ubuntu, you can open the Terminal by pressing ctrl + alt + T. Minimizing all windows may be useful if you want to focus on other tasks, but too many open applications can hamper your productivity. When this happens, you can hit the Super + D key to hide all windows and restore them when you want to.
How Do I Close All Windows in Ubuntu?
How to close all windows in Ubuntu is one of the most common questions people ask when installing the operating system. Ubuntu provides a number of keyboard shortcuts that can help you do this. You can use Ctrl+Shift+Tab to close an application window or you can press Alt+F4 to close all windows. The best way to switch between workspaces is by using the Activities Overlay. Having multiple open app windows can be a hassle, as they take up much of the screen.
How Do I Exit Full Screen in Ubuntu?
Once you have entered full screen mode, you will notice a toolbar on the bottom of the screen. This toolbar contains icons for closing and minimizing the window. If you move your mouse to the bottom of the screen, you can see these icons. If you want to exit full screen mode, simply press F11 or Ctrl+Shift+F11.
Learn More Here:
1.) Windows Help Center
2.) Windows – Wikipedia
3.) Windows Blog
4.) Windows Central
This small guide explains how to map the Windows key in order to use it as a modifier, under Ubuntu. This guide also shows how to map common Windows Key shortcuts so that the behavior is similar to default Windows functionality. This whole process is accomplished using the ‘xmodmap’ utility.
First, we will need to edit or create the .xstartup file. This file is run when the GUI is started, and will give persistence to this modification. If the file exists, open your favorite text editor then edit to include the following commands. If the file does not exist, add the following to a new file and save it to «/home/user/.xstartup».
# Make the Windows key a useable mod key: xmodmap -e "remove mod4 = F13" xmodmap -e "keycode 115 = Super_L" xmodmap -e "add mod4 = Super_L"
Note: You can type these three commands directly in a terminal window to test them. If the first command returns commandline:1: bad remove modifier keysym list (empty), then simply delete it or add a # before it to comment it out.
Map Keys
In order to create your key shortcuts, you will need to open the Keyboard Shortcuts window from the System > Preferences menu. Click on the shortcut you want to create, then assign your key combination.
For example, if you want to copy the «Run» dialog box functionality from Windows (Win+R), just click on Show the panel run application dialog, then press Win+R at the same time.
Common Windows Shortcut Key Combinations
|
Key |
Keyboard Shortcuts Item Name |
Windows equivalent |
|
Win+R |
Show the panel run application dialog |
Run dialog |
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Win+E |
Home Folder |
Windows Explorer (or My Documents) |
|
Win+L |
Lock Screen |
Lock Screen |
|
Win+F |
Search |
Search Files or Folders |
|
Win+M |
Hide all windows and focus desktop |
Minimize all windows, showing desktop |
|
Win+D |
Hide all windows and focus desktop |
Bring desktop to front, minimizing all windows |
Using Ubuntu’s keyboard shortcuts can improve your productivity, and make it faster to perform respective tasks.
You probably know a stack of Ubuntu keyboard shortcuts already, as general actions like copy (ctrl + c), paste (ctrl + v), and undo (ctrl + z) are the same as on other operating systems (and throughout most, if not all, software, Linux included).
Keyboard shortcuts improve productivity by making repetitive tasks easier to perform
In this post I list 14 Ubuntu shortcuts you might not already know about, as well as a few keyboard shortcuts you may have forgotten about.
At the end of this guide I also show you how to create custom keyboard shortcuts in Ubuntu, so you can launch apps, or trigger actions specific to your needs.
Let’s dive in!
All the keyboard shortcuts in this list were tested on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and should work on newer versions without any issues.
Several of the shortcuts I recommend involve pressing the Super key.
Don’t know what the Super key is in Ubuntu? It’s the key that sits between the ctrl and the alt keys on your keyboard, next to the space bar. It may have a small “Windows” logo on it (though modern Linux laptops usually with a penguin on the key).
If you use an Apple keyboard with Ubuntu then the Super key is mapped to the cmd ⌘ key, which remains directly left of the space bar – muscle memory FTW!
1. Open A New Terminal
Quick access of the command line is super important on Linux distros like Ubuntu as, like it or not, doing things via the CLI is often faster than clicking your way around the “GUI” option.
Press ctrl + alt + T to open a new Terminal window on Ubuntu.
Bam! Instant command line access.
2. Instantly Show the Desktop
Having too many app windows open can hit your productivity.
So next time the clutter gets too much press Super + D to hide all windows and instantly see the desktop.
Press the same shortcut again to restore hidden windows back to where they were!
3. Log Out Quickly
Plan on leaving your laptop or PC unattended for a short while (or let someone else use it)? If so, you should log out first.
You can log out of Ubuntu and return to the login screen at any time by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete.
4. Take a Screenshot on Ubuntu
To take a screenshot on Ubuntu without opening the ‘screenshot’ app you can press the Print Screen button. This saves a full-screen snap of your entire desktop in the ~/Pictures folder.
But what if you only want to screen grab a specific section of your screen?
Well, you could take a full screenshot (see above) and then crop it using an image editor like GIMP or Shotwell.
But there is a faster way…
To take a partial screenshot on Ubuntu press Shift + Print Screen. Use the crosshair that appears on screen to select the portion of the screen you wish to snap. Release your mouse button to take the partial screenshot.
As with full screen snaps partial screen grabs are saved to the ~/Pictures folder.
5. Control Window Snapping
Ubuntu lets you “snap” windows to the left and right edges of your display using your mouse. You just drag a window to the side of the screen for a few seconds and then let go.
But did you know you can also snap windows using your keyboard, too?
Focus the app you want to snap left or right and press Super and ← or → to instantly do that.
You can “un-snap” a window the same way: just give the window focus then press the same command again.
6. Quick Command Prompt
If you’ve used Linux for a while you’ll know how handy the alt + f2 shortcut is.
A simple key press can open a powerful command prompt from you can run commands, force quit an unresponsive app, restart the GNOME Shell desktop, launch a specific utility with command line arguments, and much more.
So versatile is this little box that it merited inclusion on our list of the best app launchers for Ubuntu & Linux Mint!
7. Hide Any App, Instantly
Here’s a shortcut ideal for those of you working near eagle-eyed bosses and/or curious partners: you can hide the app you’re looking at immediately by pressing the super + h shortcut (with the app you want to hide in focus of course).
8. Record the Ubuntu Desktop
We’ve shone a spotlight on the GNOME Shell screen recorder before, but many people still don’t know it exists!
You can record the Ubuntu desktop (i.e. create a screencast) without using any apps. How? Just press Shift + Ctrl + Alt + R.
A small red dot will appear in the status area letting you know that recording is active.
Screen recording is capped at 30 seconds by default but you can extend the duration of screen recordings using the dconf editor tool, as detailed in the aforementioned guide.
9. Window Spread
To open the app overview in Ubuntu you can click on the “Activities” label in the upper-right of the screen — but a much faster way is to press the Super key.
Unity, Ubuntu’s much missed desktop, showed a nice window spread when you pressed the Super + W shortcut. The Activities Overlay in the GNOME Shell desktop is broadly similar, showing you all windows from the current workspace.
This instantly opens the window spread. You can quickly close windows using your mouse (click the ‘x’) but, alas, not using your keyboard. What’s up with that?
On the subject of windows, there are various ways to switch windows on Ubuntu using keyboard shortcuts, (e.g., alt + tab, alt + esc, alt + `) but I find the expansive “overview” of the Activities Overlay (Super) to be quickest.
10. Quickly Maximise Windows
It’s difficult to concentrate on a specific task when there are multiple app windows on screen, vying for your attention. When you need to focus on just one task you can maximise an app to take up more screen space.
To maximum the app in focus on Ubuntu press Super and ↑.
To “un-maximise” (i.e. restore back to a small window) just focus the window and press Super + down.
11. Launch Apps on the Dock
Hold Super and press 1 to 9 to quickly launch the corresponding app pinned to the Ubuntu Dock, e.g. the top-most item being 1, the next 2, and so on up to a maximum of 10 (with 10 being launched by pressing 0).
12. Focus the Top Bar
You can navigate the Top Bar (the thick panel across the top of the screen) using the keyboard — you just have to be explicit about it.
To focus the top bar in Ubuntu press ctrl + alt + tab.
An on-screen dialog lets choose whether to give focus to application menus or the top bar. Select the Top Bar using the Tab key and hit Enter.
Now you can use your keyboard to navigate and action status menus, applets and GNOME Shell extensions.
Move between menus using the Tab key; use Return/Enter to “click” on an item to open (or expand it); and use the left and right arrow keys to move sliders (e.g., Volume) up or down.
When you’re done using the keyboard in the top bar press Esc.
13. Move Workspaces
Workspace fans should definitely become familiar with the Super + Page Down and Super + Page Up combos. Using these keyboard shortcuts allows tout to move around workspaces without using a mouse.
14. Learn more Shortcuts!
The final Ubuntu keyboard shortcut that’s worth knowing about is rather meta: it’s a keyboard shortcut to show more keyboard shortcuts!
Press ctrl + F1 or ctrl + ? in a GNOME core app, e.g., Nautilus file manager, Evince document viewer, etc, to see a one-sheet overview of keyboard shortcuts available.
Bonus Tip: Create Custom Shortcuts on Ubuntu
Any application, script, command, or action that you can run from the command line (or via Alt + F2, see step #5 above) can be assigned to a keyboard shortcut of your choice.
To create custom keyboard shortcuts on Ubuntu go to Settings > Devices > Keyboard. Click the “+” button at the very bottom of the list of keyboard shortcuts.
In the dialog that appears you should enter the command (with any arguments required) to be run in the ‘Command’ box, and then ‘record’ the shortcut you want to use to use it.
For example, to make the Rofi app launcher appear when I press Shift + Ctrl + { I enter “rofi -show run” in the command field and then press the ‘record shortcut’ button and press the Shift, Ctrl and { keys to bind it.
Then, I enter a descriptive name (‘rofi’ will do), click ‘Add’ to save the keyboard shortcut, and i’m all set!
