Quick Screen Clear

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 25, 2021)

2

I often have a whole bunch of windows open on the screen at the same time. This is great, as it allows me to easily move between programs and transfer information. (I often transfer information between browser windows, Word, and Excel.) However, all the open windows can be a bit overwhelming at times, and sometimes it would be nice to work with only a single window.

The normal way to deal with this is to activate each program window and either close it or minimize it to the Taskbar. This can take a lot of time, however. A great shortcut in Windows is to use what is called "Aero Shake." (Cheesy name, I know.) Even though Aero was supposedly only a Windows 7 feature, this shortcut still works in later versions of Windows as well.

To see how it works, activate the single window you want to work on. Point to the window's title bar, click your mouse, and shake the mouse back and forth. What should happen is that all the other windows are automatically minimized, leaving only the single window open on the screen.

You'll probably have to play with this technique just a bit—it takes some finesse to get the shaking just right. When you do, it can be a real timesaver to quickly clear your desktop and focus on a single window.

 This tip (12561) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Absolutely Positioning a Graphic

Want a graphic to appear at a precise place on the page? It's easy to gain control by following the steps in this tip.

Discover More

Quickly Formatting Multiple Documents

Need to format a bunch of documents so they all look the same? If the documents use styles, doing the formatting is ...

Discover More

Creating a Shortcut for Pasting Values

Excel's Paste Special command is used quite a bit. If you want to create some shortcuts for the command, here's some ways ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Enabling Safe Mode

Safe Mode is an essential way to regain control of a system that fails to fully boot. Windows 10 doesn't come with a way ...

Discover More

Changing Behavior for Audio CDs

When you place an audio CD in you PC, Windows attempts to play the CD, by default. If you don't want Windows to behave in ...

Discover More

Opening HEVC and HEIF Files

HEVC and HEIF are two new popular graphics file formats that are gaining support. Getting your Windows 10 computer setup ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 7 + 9?

2021-02-01 12:36:13

Nolan

Awesome tip, man!

After all these years never knew that one.


2021-01-25 06:45:19

Geraldine Richardson

This is the craziest, cutest and one of the most useful tips I have ever seen. Who would have thought? Thanks again, Allen.


Newest Tips