Tastenkürzel: alle Fenster ausblenden
"Is there a shortcut that hides every window at once?" Windows has a few that look like it — Win+D, Win+M, switching virtual desktops — but they move windows out of the way. The taskbar buttons, the tray icons and the sound all stay, and one click brings everything back. Here they are side by side with a real boss key.
What the built-in shortcuts actually do
| Shortcut | What it does | Taskbar buttons | Tray icons | Sound | Getting back |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win+D | Show the desktop | Still there | Still there | Keeps playing | Win+D again, or click any taskbar app |
| Win+M | Minimize all windows | Still there | Still there | Keeps playing | Win+Shift+M |
| Ctrl+Win+D / Ctrl+Win+←→ | New / switch virtual desktop | On the original desktop | Always visible (the tray is shared by all desktops) | Keeps playing | Switch back; Task View shows everything |
| Win+L | Lock the PC | — | — | Keeps playing | Type your password |
| gohide Ctrl+Alt+H | Hide the apps you picked | Hidden | Hidden | Can be muted | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H, exactly as before |
Win+L hides the most, but getting back needs your password and a locked screen draws attention; the others only move things aside.
A real one-key hide with gohide
- Download gohide and tick the apps to hide in its main window (up to 3 in the free edition, unlimited in Pro).
- Press Ctrl+Alt+H: their windows, taskbar buttons and tray icons disappear together.
- Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H: everything returns — same position, size and stacking order.
Both can be changed under Settings → Global hotkeys, which also has a lock-screen hotkey for when there's no time to hide.
Even faster triggers (Pro)
- Hot corners / mouse side buttons: flick the pointer into a screen corner, or press a side button, and everything hides — no keyboard needed. See Hot-corner hide.
- Privacy cover: on "Hide all", cover the screen with an image or bring a real, innocuous app to the front instead of revealing a suspiciously empty desktop. See Fake work screen.
For the full boss-key setup, see Boss key for Windows 11.