How to restore all minimised windows? Windows 11

Participant · 2 Jun 2022 at 10:30

Hi all

Ctrl D minimises all windows / shows the desktop. If you then do almost anything else apart from press Ctrl D again, it doesn't maximise / restore all windows.

Same with Win-M / Win-Shift-M. It works as in instant toggle, but if you minimise all then go to settings, or a game, or something, I can't then restore all windows without having to click each one individually.

Is there a Windows shortcut that will just maximise or restore all open program windows? Seems simple and I can't believe this isn't integrated into Windows, but I can't find anything.

lord filbuster · 2 Jun 2022 at 12:25

I don't seem to have any issues with Win-shift-M, it still restores everything even after playing games or opening other windows.
But it will only maximise windows which were minimised by a shortcut, if you minimise with the mouse instead it won't work on those windows.

I actually don't think there is a shortcut to maximise all, only to restore them. Quite annoying actually.

Participant · 2 Jun 2022 at 12:35

lord filbuster said:
I don't seem to have any issues with Win-shift-M, it still restores everything even after playing games or opening other windows.
But it will only maximise windows which were minimised by a shortcut, if you minimise with the mouse instead it won't work on those windows.

I actually don't think there is a shortcut to maximise all, only to restore them. Quite annoying actually.

Thanks.

Win-Shift-M only works intermittently for me, for some reason.

Will play around but looks like it's unachievable.

this_is_gav · 4 Jun 2022 at 11:16

Not the solution you're looking for, but I'm guessing adding a second desktop wouldn't help?

Participant · 4 Jun 2022 at 11:34

this_is_gav said:
Not the solution you're looking for, but I'm guessing adding a second desktop wouldn't help?

I don't understand how it would help but that's because I don't know much about them. Thanks for the suggestion anyway and I'll look into it.

this_is_gav · 4 Jun 2022 at 11:36

Participant said:
I don't understand how it would help but that's because I don't know much about them. Thanks for the suggestion anyway and I'll look into it.

It depends on what your workflow is, but you could keep the windows you want open in one desktop, then use WIN+CTRL+[arrows] to flick back and forward.

Like I said, it might not be a viable solution, but I thought it was a worth a mention just in case.

Participant · 5 Jun 2022 at 20:18

this_is_gav said:
It depends on what your workflow is, but you could keep the windows you want open in one desktop, then use WIN+CTRL+[arrows] to flick back and forward.

Like I said, it might not be a viable solution, but I thought it was a worth a mention just in case.

Thanks appreciate the idea and I'll look into it.

I just think this seems like such an obvious thing. Maybe there's a fundamental reason why it would be difficult to do.

I could just write something myself, slight problem being that my programming experience extends to recording Excel macros.