How to Minimize All Windows at Once on Mac

macOS has no single shortcut that minimizes every window of every app — but it does have one for the front app, a hidden Option-click, and several faster routes to an empty desktop that skip minimizing entirely. Here's what actually exists, and what to use instead of the thing that doesn't.

Minimize all windows of the front app

• Cmd + Option + M — every window of the frontmost app slides into the Dock at once.
• Option-click the yellow button on any window — same result with the mouse.

The shortcut is just Cmd + M (Minimize) upgraded by Option, a pattern macOS uses everywhere: hold Option with the Window menu open and Minimize becomes Minimize All. Repeat it app by app if you genuinely want everything in the Dock — there is no built-in "minimize every app" key on any macOS version, and the better tools for that urge are below.

Getting minimized windows back

This is where minimizing bites. There's no "unminimize all" either, and minimized windows don't return with Cmd-Tab. Your options:

• Click each thumbnail on the right side of the Dock.
• Cmd-Tab with an Option-release: hold Cmd, Tab to the app, then hold Option as you let go of Cmd — one minimized window returns.
• The Window menu: minimized windows are listed with a diamond marker; select one to restore it.

Tip: turn on System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Minimize windows into application icon and thumbnails stop accumulating in the Dock — windows tuck into their app's icon instead, restored via right-click on that icon.

Usually better: show the desktop without minimizing

Most people reach for "minimize all" because they want to see the desktop — grab a file, check a stack. macOS has dedicated tools for that which restore everything just as fast:

• fn + F11 (or F11 on full-size keyboards) — windows fly to the screen edges, revealing the desktop. Press again and they fly back.
• Trackpad spread: thumb and three fingers spreading outward shows the desktop; pinch back to restore. Check it's on in System Settings → Trackpad → More Gestures → Show Desktop.
• Click the wallpaper — on Sonoma and Sequoia, clicking the desktop shoves every window aside (the Click wallpaper to reveal desktop setting in Desktop & Dock; set it to Always or Only in Stage Manager).
• A hot corner — assign Desktop to a corner in Desktop & Dock → Hot Corners.

Every one of these is a toggle: one gesture out, the same gesture back. Minimizing, by contrast, makes you rebuild your window layout click by click.

And if you want apps gone, hide them

Cmd + Option + H then Cmd + H empties the screen completely, and everything returns via Cmd-Tab with zero Dock excavation. For clearing the decks — rather than peeking at the desktop — hiding beats minimizing every time.

Fine-tune the minimize experience

Three settings in System Settings → Desktop & Dock change how minimizing feels day to day:

• Double-click a window's title bar to → Minimize — turns every title bar into a big minimize target, much easier to hit than the yellow dot.
• Minimize windows using → Scale Effect — the straight-line animation is snappier than the Genie curl, and it adds up across a day of window juggling.
• Minimize windows into application icon — the tidiness setting from earlier: with it on, Cmd-Option-M sends five windows into one app icon instead of sprouting five Dock thumbnails.

And remember the singular versions: Cmd + M minimizes just the front window, exactly like clicking the yellow button once. If you catch yourself minimizing single windows all day just to "put them somewhere," try hiding the app instead — same visual result, far faster return trip.

Related tune-up

If minimizing still feels slow, the genie animation is half the problem — switch it to Scale in one command: change the Dock minimize effect.