36

F11 makes a window go full screen. Is there a shortcut that minimizes a window? I am using Arch Linux with Gnome Shell.

Aventinus
  • 1,352
  • 4
  • 17
  • 31
  • It depends on your distribution. In Ubuntu there is preset keyboard short-cut, which I can't remember, because I changed it to `Alt-F9`, which is what it used to be, and which ties in with the other window controls. (I think it was something like `Ctl-Sh-0`.) – AFH Oct 01 '16 at 13:59
  • 1
    What distribution and what window manager? – DavidPostill Oct 01 '16 at 14:57

6 Answers6

72

Gnome Shell actually supports this. Super+H is the default key. If you want to change the key go to:

Settings -> Keyboard -> Windows -> Hide Window

Since this answer has gained some traction it is good to also know that:

  1. This works on MacOS as well.
  2. This does not work on Windows, however, you can achieve the same effect by using a tool like AutoHotkey.
Aventinus
  • 1,352
  • 4
  • 17
  • 31
  • This one works like a charm in Ubuntu 17.10 (Gnome) – nipunasudha Nov 01 '17 at 07:57
  • 1
    No problems in Fedora 28 either. Never thought to search for "Hide" rather than minimize though. – Steen Schütt Oct 31 '18 at 12:14
  • works on Debian 9 – Vass Aug 01 '19 at 02:49
  • Works on Ubuntu 20.04 – user2514157 Oct 04 '20 at 03:40
  • 2
    too bad the rest of the workd talks about minimize a window..... I had to look very hard to find this..... Thanks!! maybe because its a oneway without a toggle? – U.V. Oct 22 '20 at 19:46
  • Works in Ubuntu 18.04 – Daniel Dec 22 '20 at 12:17
  • 1
    For the record, the same key also works on macOS. – Aventinus Apr 01 '21 at 08:21
  • Thank you for this answer! And I do think a PR needs to be made upstream for searching shortcuts for the word "Minimize" as I did that and nothing come up and I had to do a search for "gnome minimize window shortcut" to find this answer that says if I had searched for "Hide" then it would have come up. It should come up for both "Hide" and "Minimize". – Elijah Lynn Oct 18 '21 at 18:09
  • Is there a way to make the window stop losing focus though? I want to minimize with superdown and the maximise again with superup. But the window loses all focus when minimised to the taskbar when using "hide window". It's not as useful like this – Richard Sep 30 '22 at 09:42
8

I know the OP didn't ask for it but for the sake of completeness, Super+D minimizes all windows (think of it as "show Desktop"). Ubuntu 19.04, Gnome 3.32.1.

Petr 'PePa' Pavel
  • 215
  • 2
  • 9
5

Using gsettings:

$ gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings minimize  
['<Super>h']

Set Super+Shift+H):

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings minimize "['<Super><Shift>h']"
radistao
  • 193
  • 1
  • 8
  • 1
    thank you!! I'm on popOS and "minimize" isn't in the Keyboard Shortcuts menu at all for some reason; this worked like a charm :) – jyn Feb 10 '23 at 01:10
4

On the GNOME desktop environment, you can use CTRL-ALT-D to minimise all and give focus to the desktop. You can also use ALT-F9 to minimise the current window. I think these are the same for Ubuntu/Unity.

Jack
  • 81
  • 1
  • 5
1

works in gnome
super+down(↓)
For minimizing the window size of an application
super+up(↑)
for maximizing the window size of an application
super+right(→)
for throughing application window to right side of monitor screen
super+left(←)
same as above

HARSHAL RATHORE
  • 11
  • 1
1

This wasn't set as a default for my environment, but setting it in Gnome 43.3 went as follows:

  1. Open Settings. <Super> type Settings <Enter>
  2. Navigate to Keyboard. Left pane
  3. Select View and Customize Shortcuts. Bottom
  4. Use Search to find Hide all normal windows under Navigation.
  5. Set shortcut as desired. For example, I used Super + D.

Here's what my settings look like

Keenan Verbrugge
  • 11
  • 1