How Do I Get My Taskbar to Minimize All Programs?
When you're multitasking on your computer, your desktop may become confusingly cluttered. For example, if you are writing an article or essay, you might have open programs relating to both the Internet and word processing as you research and type. As you gather more information, however, the number of browser windows may increase as well, covering up your desktop. Most of Microsoft's operating systems offer a feature called Show Desktop. As the name indicates, this feature shows your desktop instantly by minimizing all of your programs to the taskbar.
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Instructions
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Locate the "Show Desktop" icon. By default, on most Windows operating systems, the Show Desktop icon is in the Quick Launch menu. The Quick Launch menu is on your taskbar, the same bar where your system clock and Start Menu icons are located. Usually the Quick Launch menu is close to the left-hand side of your taskbar and is populated with additional icons, such as My Computer and your default web browser.
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Minimize all programs by left-clicking the Show Desktop icon. All of your program windows will minimize to the taskbar, and the desktop will appear.
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Restore all programs. When you minimize your programs, Windows remembers how they appeared on your desktop. When you need to restore, or maximize, all of the programs, simply left-click the Show Desktop icon again. You can toggle back and forth between minimize and maximize simply by clicking the Show Desktop icon.
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Tips & Warnings
If you have many programs open, on the order of five or more, the taskbar may not be able to display icons of those programs all at once. Try using the "Group similar button" feature (see Resources) to align similar programs together along the taskbar.
