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Is there a keyboard shortcut to restore a minimised application window from the Dock?

Almost all Apple Mac OSX applications respond to the Apple + M command which minimises the current application window to the Dock, which is fine.

I can then use Alt + Tab to cycle through my running applications - including the minimised application, but selecting the application with the minimised window neither restores the minimised window, nor sets focus to the minimised application window in the Dock so I can restore it without having to reach for the Mouse..

Update: Thanks for the answers, however the consensus seems to be to use the 'Hide' feature (Apple + H) instead of minimising, as it's easier to get the window back using Alt + Tab.

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nice Applescript: stackoverflow.com/questions/7681418/… – BerndHH Sep 27 '12 at 9:50

migrated from stackoverflow.com Jul 3 '12 at 18:06

12 Answers

up vote 44 down vote accepted

Command + Tab until you get the app's icon, then press ⌥ (option) and release.

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Thanks! This does indeed answer my question. (hint - the 'option' key is also labelled 'alt' on the new mac keyboards) – Andrew Sep 17 '08 at 21:16
Is this only supposed to work when there all widows are minimized? It seems to only restore one window of many. – benc Oct 3 '08 at 22:47
This method is the equivalent of clicking the application's icon in the dock, so it behaves exactly the same way. – jtbandes Jul 24 '10 at 21:22
Exactly what I wanted -- thanks! – Yoav Shapira Dec 22 '11 at 15:49
life savior ! been searching for this for a while – Jean Feb 8 '12 at 21:57
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up vote 1 down vote

Cmd + Tab and focus on desired application and then press Cmd + L. (Works with Mountain Lion)

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How do you focus on the application using the keyboard? – Mark Mar 23 at 21:00
This answers the question. But the hide function requires fewer keystrokes and is therefore preferable. – DrGuyBH Mar 28 at 0:57
Unfortunately, Cmd + L conflicts with the command to focus on the omnibar in Chrome and search bar in other applications. – DrGuyBH Mar 29 at 16:49
up vote 0 down vote

I have found the answers to this question helpful for this as well.

For an easy way to invoke App Expose to get at minimized windows for current app use Cmd-Down; Down; Enter.

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up vote 8 down vote

To restore one of many minimized windows using only the keyboard:

  1. Start with a minimized window
  2. Cmd + tab to the application icon (Continue to hold Cmd)
  3. While holding Cmd, push the ↑ (or ↓) arrow key on the keyboard. This will bring up a list of all the application's windows (You can release key command key once the window list view comes up if you like)
  4. Push the down arrow key to select the minimized windows.
  5. Use the left and right arrow keys to select the minimized window you want
  6. Push enter to restore the window and bring it into focus (make it the selected window)

(Tested on OSX Mountain Lion)

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That's really nice! – patrix♦ Sep 24 '12 at 17:30
up vote 4 down vote

I had to find this one, as I use Linux as well as Mac OS X, and in Thunderbird Ctrl + M is the key to compose a new message... under Linux. On Mac OS X, it keeps "minimizing" the app. This is a little tricky, but...

Cmd + Tab to the app you want to restore. Release Tab, but keep Cmd held down. Now press Option (a.k.a. Alt), and while it is held down release Cmd.

I have been "training" myself to make use of Cmd + H (Hide) on Mac OS instead of minimizing. If you hide an app, then once it is selected via Cmd + Tab it pops back up on-screen.

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up vote 22 down vote

I asked for assistance at the Apple Genius bar in Aventura, and while they didn't have an answer, they did suggest using the Hide feature instead (Apple + H) which works well because when I Alt + Tab back to the application the hidden window is shown.

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I think this is a better way of doing things. Just hide the apps that you are not using at the moment. I do not know if there is a difference in resource usage between Hiding and Minimizing and app. – Tao Zhyn Sep 10 '08 at 19:39
1  
Voted-up.... once I learned about Hide I stopped bothered with minimise. – robsoft Sep 10 '08 at 20:18
I prefer this method over the above one. Hold Alt after Cmd + Tab is not so convinient – Vdt Apr 17 '12 at 9:00
up vote 0 down vote

Depending on how your keyboard is set in system preferences, the shortcut to focus the dock may be Ctrl + Fn + F3.

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up vote 8 down vote

I don't know of a direct way to restore a minimized window, however, you can get keyboard focus in the dock by pressing Ctrl + F3. Then select the item you want and press space to restore it.

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up vote -1 down vote

A couple of caveats about the alt/option option:

1) You must switch to another app and let it take focus first. In other words, you can't just (shift-/)command-tab to another app and before actually selecting that app (by releasing command-tab), switch right back to your minimized app which you might do if you minimized by accident or just simply changed your mind shortly after minimizing.

2) Both the command and left alt/option keys must be pressed on the same side of the keyboard.

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-1: should be a comment – Blacklight Shining Jan 17 at 13:26
up vote 0 down vote

Many mac users that are keyboard-shortcut fanatics have come to know and love "Quicksilver," which allows you to customize quite a number of shortcuts and easily link them to a broad variety of actions.

Quicksilver is a free, open-source program.

Quicksilver is the work of a Google programmer, Nicholas Jitkoff, and the open source code for this project is also available in Google Code.

You can download the program from http://www.blacktree.com/

Here is one decent introduction to its usage:

http://lifehacker.com/software/quicksilver/hack-attack-a-beginners-guide-to-quicksilver-247129.php

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up vote 1 down vote

I would strongly suggest using Witch. This lets you bring back minimized apps, as well as 'orphaned' apps, after you have closed the main window. You can also directly access the different windows within an app. Well worth the registration fee; about 10 euros.

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Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out :o) – Andrew Sep 30 '08 at 12:41
+1 for a good suggestion which happens to be a paid app (also look at Optimal Layout which is in the App Store) – Mark Mar 23 at 21:01
up vote 0 down vote

You can launch the application again to display the last minimised windows. For example, if you minimise Safari, clicking the Safari icon in the dock or launching it via Spotlight will un-minimise the last minimised window.

I've only checked this with the 5 apps I have open but it works in each of them.

I guess you could write an applescript to perform this function and assign it to an keyboard shortcut.

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