How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac

You can quickly navigate to the desktop on your Mac by pressing a keyboard shortcut, by swiping the trackpad using a specific gesture, or by creating your own customized shortcut. Press + . Doing so will reveal your desktop.

Table of Contents

Using a Keyboard Shortcut
Swiping on the Trackpad
Adding a Custom Keyboard Shortcut

Method 1 of 3:

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

Press Fn + F11. Doing so will reveal your desktop.
1. Alternatively, you can press ⌘ Command + F3.

Method 2 of 3:

Swiping on the Trackpad

Place your thumb and first three fingers on the trackpad. Make sure you've got a window up, such as a browser, to switch to the desktop from.
Spread your thumb and three fingers apart. Doing so will reveal your desktop.
1. For a demonstration of the gesture, click on the Apple icon in the top left corner of the menu bar.
2. Click System Preferences.
3. Click the "Trackpad" icon.
4. Click More Gestures.
5. Click on "Show Desktop." An example animation will play on the right side of the window.

Method 3 of 3:

Adding a Custom Keyboard Shortcut

Click on the Apple icon in the top menu bar. If you want to make your own keyboard shortcut for accessing the desktop quickly, simply navigate to the shortcuts menu.^[1]
Click System Preferences.
Click the "Keyboard" icon.
Click Shortcuts.
Click Mission Control. It's on the left side of the window.
Click Show Desktop on the right side of the window.
Click it again to highlight the keystroke text.
Type in your custom keyboard shortcut.
1. If you're using an "F" function key, you will have to hold down the Fn key to type your command.
Click the red "X" button. Your keyboard shortcut will be saved!

Isabella Humphrey

Update 04 March 2020

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