Mac OS X - Quickly hide all windows except for that one you need on your desktop.
I'm regularly having this problem:
I've got plenty of finder/application windows opened and suddenly I need to grab a file from the desktop and drag it inside one of my finder windows.
Normally to do that I'd need to manually minimize all active windows leaving on the desktop just this one finder window I want to drag my file to. This is very cumbersome, so I came up with the new interaction pattern involving expose's hot corners.
Idea is to grab this particular window you want solely on your desktop, drag it to this hot expose corner, which shows the desktop, then place your window on the desktop where you want it and then drag your file inside it.
It works like that:
A) click and hold the window you want solely on your desktop, drag it to the bottom right hot corner (by default in MacOSX bottom right corner shows the desktop and hides active windows).
B) with all windows now hidden and desktop at your disposal, place your window where convenient
C) now you have only that window over your desktop and you can easily drag your file of choice inside your window.
Easy!
4 comments
Feb 05, 2010
Marek | Webcentric Studios said...
Dude.. I'm sure we all appreciate your Mac based input.. but I had to mention that in Windows 7, they managed to get this right (and I love it) You just grab and shake the window you want to remain and to expose desctop at the same time. Presto! and to return all the windows back to its original state.. just grab you window.. and shake from side to side. http://spedr.com/4rwm
Mar 09, 2010
Kris.Skib said...
Try to clik the window you need to work with and then push alt+cmd+h (hide all other windows)
Mar 09, 2010
Maciek Saganowski said...
mate. this is gold! it worked, thanks a lot. Still my suggestion stays valid :)
May 02, 2011
Adam said...
Yeah but the problem with cmd+opt+h that drives me nuts is that if you have many windows open in the same app. like in Safari, Apple Mail etc getting to your desktop is a drag. Yes command +tab to the finder and then cmd+shift+d and then you can drag over what is there but a bit of a hassle.What I like even better on windows is not the shake thing but windows key+m to hide all other windows but active one. That is what I am looking for.
