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Cover image for A Mac OS Keyboard shortcut, How to maximise a minimised window
Ali Alp
Ali Alp

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A Mac OS Keyboard shortcut, How to maximise a minimised window

If you love working with Mac OS only using the keyboard like me, so keep reading.

According to the Apple

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However, I prefer to use the trackpad as less as possible, hence I was looking for a way and to be honest it took a while for me to find a way to maximised a minimised window with the keyboard in Mac OS.

So here is how I have managed to do it:

  • Press CMD + TAB
  • Hold the CMD and press the TAB key until the focus is on the app that you have minimised by CMD + M or using the minimised button by mouse
  • While holding the CMD key press Down-Arrow key

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  • When the above screen appeared, release the CMD key
  • Press Down-Arrow key one more time to select the window that you desire to maximise

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  • Press enter

and voilà, you have maximised a minimised windows without usage of the trackpad, It is a simple thing but it was annoying for me, so I thought it can be worth sharing.

happy coding :)

Top comments (9)

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

The Apple way of doing that is application-specific, so what they tell you there is false. Some apps let you maximise, some don't. Some native windows allow it, some don't. It's completely inconsistent, so I'd definitely recommend using something like Spectacle instead.

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alialp profile image
Ali Alp

A little reminder, You cannot maximise a window with Spectacle, which has been minimized with minimize button or CMD + M

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

I don't think I ever minimise anything on MacOS, I just cover the windows up with something else.

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amiroff profile image
Metin Emiroğlu

Why do you use minimise windows anyway? I always use hide (Cmd + H) and Cmd + Tab between them. Any usage advantages of minimising over hiding?

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alialp profile image
Ali Alp

we are getting into philosophy, Off course you can hide and switch , but what you are asking is similar to the question of why some people eat meat and some not , it's the matter of preference , what i have mentioned in this post is a way to maximise a minimize window , so if you haven't minimized any window you don't need to maximise it :)

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brendanmz profile image
Brendan M

Or you can press fn+ctrl+F3 which allows you to navigate through the dock with your arrow keys. Then just press spacebar on the window you want to open again!

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devdrake0 profile image
Si

If you can live with full screen, over maximised, look at spectacle.

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alialp profile image
Ali Alp

Actually I am using spectacle and love it , but there are some situations which you may need to minimise a window , in that case even spectacle can not do anything to bring the window back to the screen

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Kaira

it is horrible, too cumbersome. Shame for Apple, basically shortcut oriented users are going to be not so efficient, of course you can install some app, but it is so obvious thing.