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Minimize ALL windows on a Mac

How do I Minimize ALL windows on a Mack. I am a PC user and would like to know what the Mac solution is. I don’t mind buying 3rd party software to get this feature.
I have Googled this issue and still do not have an answer.
Help…

— Steven K James

Comments: 5 Responses to “Minimize ALL windows on a Mac”

    14 years ago

    It really depends on what you are trying to do. The idea of "Minimize" could mean a lot of different things. What is it you are really trying to accomplish by minimizing all the windows?
    Command+Option+M will minimize all the windows in the current application. By that, it means to move them into the Dock. You can also hold Command+Option while clicking the yellow window button at the top left of any window to minimize them all -- but just that one application.
    But if you really want to "hide" windows in applications, then you can choose Hide or Hide Others from the Applications's namesake menu (Command+H, Command+Option+H). For instance, if you are running 7 applications, you can switch to the Finder and do Hide Others and all the windows from all 7 applications will become hidden. You will only see Finder windows, then.
    Most people who would request this are trying to find a better way to locate a window they want to work with. In that case, Mac OS X has a much better solution called Expose. You should check it out if you are not familiar with it. http://macmost.com/using-expose.html

    James Ford
    14 years ago

    I am a PC user as well as a Mac user and when I minimize all windows on a PC the purpose is to be able to get all the windows out of the way so I can see the desktop.

    On the Mac you do not have to do this to see the desktop, you simply press the F11 key and all open windows slide off the screen. To bring them all back just press the F11 key again.

      Robin Kanters
      14 years ago

      Or click one of them ;)

      Nicky
      14 years ago

      my F11 key reduces volume?

        14 years ago

        Hold down the "fn" key and press F11. You can toggle that (so F11 is F11 and fn+F11 is volume down) in the System Prefs.

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