


* Note that if you have the keyboard setting for “Use f1, f2, etc keys as standard function keys” enabled then you won’t need to press the Function key. You can hide the desktop and return all the windows to their normal position again by pressing Function+F11 again, or by interacting with another item on screen which opens a window. Just like the command+F3 keyboard shortcut, pressing FN + F11 together will activate the Mission Control “Show Desktop” feature and slide all windows off screen to show the desktop of the Mac, where you can access icons and whatever else. You will need to press both Function (fn) key and the F11 key together to show the desktop with this keystroke.*

The animated GIF below demonstrates how this effect looks, revealing the desktop on Mac after the keystroke has been pressed successfully:Īnother Show Desktop keyboard shortcut for Mac OS X is Function F11. You can hide the desktop and return to the prior window state by pressing Command+F3 again at any time, or if you interact with an onscreen item, launch a new app, or open a new window, that will also return all the windows back to their prior status over the desktop again. Pressing this keystroke combination will immediately activate the Mission Control “Show Desktop” feature in Mac OS and push all windows on screen aside to reveal the desktop of the Mac. Press both the Command key and the F3 key together. The first keyboard shortcut that shows the Mac Desktop is Command F3. There are two Show Desktop keystrokes immediately available for all modern Macs, each of the keyboard shortcuts takes advantage of the Mission Control feature of Mac OS. Show Desktop Keyboard Shortcuts on Mac OS Keep in mind these tricks work to show the desktop on all vaguely modern versions of Mac OS system software, as long as they include support for the Mission Control or Expose features. Let’s review the keyboard shortcut options for showing the desktop on the Mac. The Mac actually has several Show Desktop keyboard shortcuts in Mac OS and Mac OS X, and for Macs that are equipped with a Trackpad, there is an easy to use gesture to show the desktop as well. These tricks can offer a fast way to access files and other icons on the desktop, or even just to quickly hide whatever is on the screen by shuffling away windows to show the Mac desktop instead.
