Temporarily preview the desktop using Peek
You can temporarily view the desktop using Peek. This can be useful for quickly viewing desktop gadgets and folders, or when you don’t want to minimize all open windows and then have to restore them.
Watch this video to learn how to preview the desktop using Peek (1:08)
To temporarily preview the desktop
-
Point to the Show desktop button at the end of the taskbar. The open windows fade from view, revealing the desktop.
-
To make the windows reappear, move the pointer away from the Show desktop button.
Tips
-
Press the
Windows logo key
+Spacebar to temporarily preview the desktop. To restore the desktop, release the
Windows logo key
+Spacebar.
-
To minimize open windows so that they remain minimized, click the
Show desktop button, or press the
Windows logo key
+D. To restore the open windows, click the
Show desktop button again or press the
Windows logo key
+D again.
If you don't want the desktop to fade when you point to the Show desktop button, you can turn off this feature of Peek.
-
Open Taskbar and Start Menu Properties by clicking the Start button 
, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Taskbar and Start Menu.
-
Under
Preview desktop with Aero Peek
, clear the
Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop
check box, and then click OK.
