Windows hotkey minimize window

When you combine the Windows key with other keys, you can quickly do common tasks. The following list includes many common keyboard shortcuts that use the Windows key.

Whether you are multitasking during work or just having fun with multiple apps or games, you may sometimes need to minimize all opened windows at once to go back to the desktop screen or to focus only on one window.

This guide will show you two methods on how to quickly minimize all windows at once and several other keyboard shortcuts to minimize or maximize windows in Windows 11.

Also see: How to Cycle Through Windows in Windows 11

Minimize all windows by clicking the “Show desktop” button

If the taskbar is visible to you while your apps’ windows are opened, you can simply click the “Show desktop” button on the taskbar to quickly minimize all opened windows and show the desktop on Windows 11.

This button is not actually visible without hovering your mouse cursor over it. It is an empty area at the far right corner of the taskbar, right next to the date and time. When you hover your mouse over the area, a grey vertical line will appear. That is the button to minimize all windows and show the desktop.

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If you don’t see the grey line while you mouse over it, the show desktop taskbar feature may have been disabled. Follow the steps below to enable the show desktop feature. First, in Windows 11, right-click anywhere on the taskbar and select Taskbar settings.

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Next, scroll down the settings page to the bottom and expand “Taskbar behaviors“. Make sure the “Select the far corner of the taskbar to show the desktop” option is enabled.

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After turning on the option, you should then be able to click the show desktop button in the taskbar to quickly minimize all currently opened windows. However, if you are on a full-screen or borderless window app or game where the taskbar is not visible to you, use the keyboard shortcut method below instead.

Related: How to Move a Window That is Off-Screen in Windows 11

Shortcut key to minimize all windows on Windows 11

The easiest way to quickly minimize all windows on Windows 11 is by using one of the keyboard shortcuts suggested below. These keyboard shortcuts will help you manage and navigate between opened windows and apps with ease.

Press Windows key + D to quickly minimize all windows, including fullscreen apps or games, and return to the desktop screen. Pressing Win + D again will reopen (maximize) the previously minimized windows.

Another similar keyboard shortcut key to minimize all windows and programs on Windows 11 is Win + M. It works similarly to the Win + D shortcut, except if you want to undo the minimized windows and to maximize them again, you need to press Win + Shift + M.

Tip: How to Center a Window in Windows 11

Other shortcut keys to minimize window

Pressing Windows key + Down Arrow will minimize only the active window (currently selected window). To maximize the window again, simply press Win + Up Arrow.

In addition, press Win + Tab to open the Task View in Windows 11. You can use the Task View to select any open window and bring it to the front. Task view also allows you to choose between your virtual desktops or to create one.

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One of the most used Windows keyboard shortcuts is the Alt + Tab keys which will allow you to switch between opened apps and windows. To use this shortcut key correctly, while pressing and holding the Alt key, repeatedly pressing the Tab key to cycle between the opened windows, and then release both keys to select the window. The selected window will be brought to the front immediately.

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Win + Left Arrow or Right Arrow will allow you to snap a window to the left or right side of the screen respectively. This keyboard shortcut may come in handy when you want to snap 2 or 4 windows side-by-side on one screen in Windows 11.

Windows 11 is the latest operating system from Microsoft, and it comes with many new features and improvements. One of the areas that has changed is how you can manage multiple windows and tabs on your screen. Whether you want to multitask, focus, or organize your work, you may need to know how to minimize, maximize, restore, and close windows and tabs in Windows 11. You may also want to know how to disable some of the automatic features that Windows 11 offers, such as Snap Layouts and auto-minimize.

Here are some of the questions and answers that can help you with window and tab management in Windows 11.

How do you minimize all windows at once in Windows 11?

There are two keyboard shortcuts that can help you minimize all windows at once in Windows 11.

The first one is:

Windows key + M

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which will minimize all open windows to the taskbar.

The second one is:

Windows key + D

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which will minimize all open windows and show the desktop.

To restore the minimized windows, you can use:

Windows key + Shift + M

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or Windows key + D again.

Alternatively, you can also use the:

Show desktop

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button on the far right of the taskbar, which will do the same thing as Windows key + D .

To restore the minimized windows, you can click the button again or hover over it to peek at the desktop.

How do I minimize all tabs at once?

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If you are using a web browser, such as Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome, you may have multiple tabs open within a single window. To minimize all tabs at once, you can use the same keyboard shortcuts as above:

• Windows key + M

or

• Windows key + D .

This will minimize the entire browser window to the taskbar or show the desktop.

To restore the browser window with all tabs, you can use:

Windows key + Shift + M or

Windows key + D again, or click on the

browser icon on the taskbar .

However, if you want to close a single tab or manipulate open tabs within a browser window, you can use a different shortcut:

right click

on each tab that you want to manipulate. This will show a drop down window with multiple options for configuring the current tab or new tabs as shown.

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How do I turn off auto minimize in Windows 11?

One of the new features in Windows 11 is Snap Layouts, which allows you to quickly arrange multiple windows on your screen by dragging them to the edges or corners. However, some users may find this feature annoying or distracting, especially if they accidentally trigger it when moving windows around. If you want to turn off Snap Layouts in Windows 11, you can follow these steps:

Another feature that may cause windows to auto-minimize is Task Manager. If you have Task Manager open on your screen, it may automatically minimize when you switch to another window or app. If you want to prevent Task Manager from auto-minimizing in Windows 11, you can follow these steps:

How do I close all windows in Windows 11?

If you want to close all windows in Windows 11, there are a few keyboard shortcuts that can help you. The first one is:

Alt + F4 ,

which will close the current window or app that you are using. You can repeat this shortcut until all windows are closed. The second one is Ctrl + W, which will close the current tab or document that you are viewing. You can repeat this shortcut until all tabs or documents are closed.

However, if you want to close only some of the windows or tabs that are open, you can use a different keyboard shortcut:

Ctrl+F4.

This will close the current window or tab that you are working on, without affecting the others. For example, if you have multiple tabs open in your browser, you can use Ctrl+F4 to close the one that you don’t need anymore, while keeping the rest open. This can help you save time and avoid cluttering your screen with too many windows or tabs.

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned how to minimize all windows at once in Windows 11, how to minimize all tabs at once, how to turn off auto minimize in Windows 11, and how to close all windows in Windows 11. These are useful tips for managing your desktop space and multitasking efficiently. We hope you found this article helpful and informative. Thank you for reading!

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If you are a Windows user, you definitely know how to switch among the opened apps and how to minimize and maximize the opened windows. Almost all of us use the maximize and minimize buttons on the top right side of the apps for this purpose. Do you know there are multiple other ways in Windows 11/10 to maximize and minimize windows? In this article, we will see how to maximize and minimize windows in Windows 11/10.

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If you have ever noticed that apart from maximizing and minimizing a window, there is one more option available in Windows 11/10, i.e., Restore. Before we begin our discussion on the different ways to maximize and minimize windows in WIndows 11/10, let’s see the difference between these three terms.

• Maximize: When we say maximize, we refer to the app that has covered the entire screen of a user’s computer irrespective of his screen size.
• Minimize: Minimizing an app hides it from your desktop or laptop screen without closing it. The app remains open but only gets hidden from your screen. You can access it by clicking on its icon on the Taskbar.
• Restore: Restoring a window neither maximizes it to the full screen nor minimizes it to the Taskbar. When you press the Restore button, the size of the selected window will change. You can consider it as a state between maximize and minimize. When you restore an app, both maximize and minimize options become available.

You can maximize and minimize active, inactive or all open windows in WIndows 11/10 by using the following methods:

1. By using the maximize and minimize buttons
2. By clicking on the Title Bar of the app
3. By using the Title Bar menu
4. From the Taskbar
5. By using the keyboard shortcuts
6. Maximize and Minimize all the opened windows

Let’s see all these methods in detail.

1] Maximize and Minimize windows in Windows 11/10 by using the maximize and minimize buttons

Let’s start with the method that is known to almost all Windows users. Almost all of you are familiar with this method. You can maximize and minimize the apps by clicking on the respective buttons. These buttons are available on the top right side of an app or opened window.

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When an app is not opened in full-screen mode, you will see both maximize and minimize buttons on the top right side. The minus sign minimizes the app and the square box button maximizes the window or app. Click on the button as per your need.

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When you maximize a window, you will see that the single square box button has turned into a double square box button. This is the Restore button. If you click on this button, the size of the opened window will change.

2] Maximize and Restore an app by clicking on its Title Bar

This trick does not minimize the window. Instead, it restores and maximizes it. To maximize and restore an app, you just have to double-click on the empty space on its Title Bar. If the app is opened in the full-screen mode, double-clicking on its Title bar will restore it and vice-versa.

3] Maximize and Minimize an opened window by using the Title Bar menu

Above, we have seen that double-clicking on the Title Bar of an opened window only maximizes and restores it. You cannot minimize an app by double-clicking on its Title bar. But if you use the Title Bar menu, you can maximize, minimize, and restore the window.

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To bring the Title Bar menu, right-click on the Title Bar of an app or press the Alt + Spacebar. After that, select the desired option. In the Title Bar menu, you may find a certain option greyed out. This is because your app is currently in that mode. For example, if your app is in the full-screen mode (maximized), you will see that the Maximize option in the Title Bar menu is greyed out.

4] Maximize and Minimize windows from the Taskbar

The icons of the apps or programs that we open appear on the Taskbar. We can switch between the opened apps or programs by clicking on the respective icon on the Taskbar or by pressing the Alt + Tab keys. Most of you probably do not know that you can maximize and minimize the apps from the Taskbar.

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The following steps will help you maximize and minimize windows from the Taskbar.

1. Hover your mouse cursor over an app icon.
2. You will see the thumbnail preview of that app. Right-click on it.
3. When you right-click on the thumbnail preview, Windows will show you the menu to minimize, maximize, restore, and close the app.
4. Select the desired option.

5] Maximize and Minimize the apps by using Windows 11/10 keyboard shortcuts

You can maximize and minimize the opened windows using keyboard shortcuts. Let’s see what these keyboard shortcuts are and how to use them.

• Win + Up Arrow Key: This key combination maximizes the window.
• Win + Down Arrow Key: When you use this keyboard shortcut, the opened window is first, restored, then minimized.
• Win + Right Arrow Key: Maximizes the window to the right of the screen.
• Win + Left Arrow Key: Maximizes the window to the left of the screen.
• Win + Home: This key combination minimizes all the windows except the active desktop window.
• Win + Number Keys: This keyboard shortcut is used to open the apps pinned on the Taskbar. For example, if you want to open the 4th app pinned on the Taskbar, you have to press the Win + 4 keys and so on. This keyboard shortcut works only for up to 9 apps because 9 is the largest single-digit number.

You can also use this Win + Number Keys shortcut to maximize and minimize the windows. For example, if you have opened an app that is pinned on the 6th number on the Taskbar, you have to press the Win + 6 keys to minimize it. Press the Win + 6 keys again to maximize it.

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In the above screenshot, I have numbered the apps pinned on the Taskbar from 1 to 7. If all these apps are opened, the keyboard shortcuts to maximize and minimize the windows are as follows:

• Win + 1: File Explorer.
• Win + 2: Microsoft Edge.
• Win + 3: Mozilla Firefox.
• Win + 4: Paint dot net.
• Win + 5: Notepad++.
• Win + 6: Bluetooth.
• Win + 7: Microsoft Store.

6] Maximize and Minimize all the open windows

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Pressing Win+M will minimize all open windows. If you want to maximize or minimize all the opened windows at once, you can use the Win+D keyboard shortcut. Pressing this shortcut will minimize all the opened windows. Pressing it again will maximize all the minimized windows. Apart from this keyboard shortcut, there is one more way to maximize and minimize all the opened windows at once. On the bottom right side of the Taskbar, there is a vertical strip. When you click on that strip, all the windows will be minimized. If you click on that vertical strip again, all the minimized windows will be maximized.

Read: How to Select, Copy and Paste, Delete, Rename Multiple Files and Folders in Windows 11/10

How do I maximize a window in Windows 11?

There are multiple ways to maximize a window in Windows 11. The most common way is to use the maximize button present on the top right side of an opened window. This is the method used by most Windows users. Apart from this, there are several other methods to maximize a window in Windows 11. You can use the keyboard shortcuts, Title Bar menu, etc., for the same. In addition to this, double-clicking on the Title Bar of the opened window also maximizes and restores the windows.

We have described all the methods to maximize and minimize windows in Windows 11/10 in this article.

Read: Windows 11 File Explorer Tips and Tricks

What are the shortcut keys for maximizing and minimizing the window?

You can use Win + Arrow Keys to maximize and minimize the windows. If you press the Win + Up Arrow Keys, your window will be maximized. If you press the Win + Down Arrow Keys, your window will be minimized. Apart from that, you can also use the Win + Number Keys for the same. We have explained all the keyboard shortcuts to maximize and minimize windows on Windows 11/10.

Hope this helps.

Read next: Managing Files and Folders in Windows.