Windows: How to Hide All Windows with One Click - Here’s the macOS Inspired Utility

Scott Hanselman, a historical figure at Microsoft and current Vice President of Developer Community, has released a new open-source tool aimed at anyone struggling to keep their workflow organized on Windows. It’s called Peek Desktop and arises from a very specific need: to replicate the capability of macOS Sonoma to instantly hide all active windows with a simple click on the desktop wallpaper. Although Windows has long offered shortcuts like Win+D or the 'Show Desktop' button in the corner of the taskbar, the approach of Peek Desktop aims for a more natural and visual interaction, eliminating the need to search for specific areas of the interface or key combinations.

Through the icon in the system tray, the user can choose from four different Peek Styles that change the system's behavior. The native Show Desktop mode leverages the standard File Explorer pathway, ensuring maximum stability. For those seeking something more visual, the Fly Away mode (still experimental) animates the windows by sliding them off the screen, while the Classic Minimize operates in the traditional manner on individual tracked processes.

A Productivity Feature from macOS Sonoma Lands on Windows

The Virtual Desktop mode, also labeled as experimental, simulates revealing the desktop by quickly switching to an empty virtual desktop. Hanselman has implemented smart detection logic: the tool distinguishes between a click on the empty wallpaper and a click on file icons. This means you can drag, rename, or open documents on the desktop without the software accidentally restoring hidden windows. Restoration occurs only with a second click on the background, on the taskbar, or by selecting an active application.

From a technical standpoint, Peek Desktop is an example of extreme optimization. Written in C# and based on .NET 10, the software is distributed in a self-contained format, eliminating the need to install additional frameworks on the system. Once launched, RAM consumption remains steadily below 5 MB, making it practically invisible to system resources.

Integration with Windows occurs through the use of low-level APIs for monitoring mouse messages and MSAA hit-testing to accurately identify what is under the cursor. The application does not require administrator privileges to function and natively supports ARM64 architectures, a crucial detail given the increasing prevalence of new Windows PCs with Snapdragon processors. Despite starting as a personal project, numerous updates have already been released within hours to fix bugs related to tray icon management and the accuracy of window position restoration (including maximized windows).