Windows users have been able to minimize every window on their desktop ever since keyboards with the Win key started showing up — just tap WIN + M on your keyboard, and every window is minimized. For Mac OS X, it’s not quite as simple.
You can, of course, use the CMD + OPT + H + M shortcut key combination to hide most windows… but that’s a lot of keys to hit at once, and it doesn’t always minimize everything in my experience. So like everything else I wanted from Windows, it was time to figure out how to get it on OS X as well. This method uses QuickSilver to provide the shortcut key trigger — if there’s a better way to do that, please let us know.
Creating a Minimize All Windows Hotkey for OS X
Luckily, OS X includes a nice scripting platform, and we can use the following script from a helpful person over at SuperUser to make this all happen.
Open up a new AppleScript Editor window and paste in the script from above. Then go to File and Save.
Change the File Format to Application and save it somewhere useful with a name that makes sense, like MinimizeAll.
Now head into QuickSilver’s preferences, then create a new Trigger. Choose your new MinimizeAll app with the action of Open. Note: if you aren’t familiar with QuickSilver, it’s a very powerful way to control your Mac, and well worth looking into.
Click the hotkey setting checkbox and a panel will open for you to add the hot key there.
I used Option + M which is the same key as WIN + M on a regular Windows keyboard. Save and exit, and your new shortcut should be working.
