show desktop

[toronado455]

Is there a key combination or gesture to hide all windows and show the desktop?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

System Preferences > Exposé & Spaces (or Mission Control in Lion) > Active Screen Corners > Show Desktop
You can also set a mouse button to do it.

Helpful Information for Any Mac User by GGJstudios​

 

[basher]

F11 on the keyboard.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

F11 on the keyboard.

Only if it hasn't a "Volume Up" symbol on it and/or if the standard functions have been enabled via System Preferences > Keyboard, unless the OP has a very old Mac.

 

[toronado455]

New MBP. F11 has vol down symbol. Looks like I'd need to disable all the special symbol functions in the keyboard prefs in order to assign one to Expose's show desktop function. Not worth loosing all the other special functions. Be better if I could just re-assign the F4 dashboard key to show desktop instead since I don't use dashboard.

Actually, I don't like the way expose does the show desktop by sliding everything up and making that border around the screen as a temp situation. I'd rather it just be exactly like the normal desktop with all other windows and apps hidden. It seems there used to be a command for that in the old Mac OS.

 

[zeemeerman2]

CMD-F3 (Command + Exposé key) in Snow Leopard.
Don't know about Lion; perhaps it's the same.

 

[DewGuy1999]

I don't know if this changed in Lion or not, but in Snow Leopard, option + command + click desktop will hide all windows and show the desktop.

 

[jive turkey]

CMD-F3 (Command + Exposé key) in Snow Leopard.
Don't know about Lion; perhaps it's the same.

This still works in Lion.

 

[toronado455]

I don't know if this changed in Lion or not, but in Snow Leopard, option + command + click desktop will hide all windows and show the desktop.

This is the closest to what I'm wanting, but it doesn't hide Finder windows, so it isn't exactly what I want. But I still greatly prefer it to the Expose method of showing the desktop.

 

[mrgraff]

Sounds like you want the equivalent of Windows+D on a PC. Try http://www.everydaysoftware.net/showdesktop/

 

[AdeFowler]

I've assigned the Finder to Desktop 1 and get to it using Control 1, just like I did in Snow Leopard. Having Finder windows open isn't a problem for me and takes a millisecond to close them if I want to.

 

[toronado455]

Sounds like you want the equivalent of Windows+D on a PC.

OMG! Thank you! I use Windows too and I never knew about that.

Try http://www.everydaysoftware.net/showdesktop/

I'll give that a try on the Mac.

 

[cerberus 12]

To use the F1-F12 keys you simply hold the function key in addition to your desired F-key.

The function key is in the bottom left hand corner with "fn" on it.