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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.
Method 1 of 3:

Using a Keyboard Shortcut

  1. How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 1How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 1
    Press Fn + F11. Doing so will reveal your desktop.
    1. Alternatively, you can press ⌘ Command + F3.
Method 2 of 3:

Swiping on the Trackpad

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    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.
  2. How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 3How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 3
    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

  1. How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 4How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 4
    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]
  2. How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 5How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 5
    Click System Preferences.
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    Click the "Keyboard" icon.
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    Click Shortcuts.
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    Click Mission Control. It's on the left side of the window.
  6. How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 9How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 9
    Click Show Desktop on the right side of the window.
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    Click it again to highlight the keystroke text.
  8. How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 11How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 11
    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.
  9. How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 12How to Quickly Show the Desktop on a Mac Picture 12
    Click the red "X" button. Your keyboard shortcut will be saved!
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