If you haven’t gone through the official Windows Keyboard Shortcuts list, you may be wondering if it’s possible to open all the windows which are grouped under a single icon in the Taskbar.
Luckily, there is a keyboard shortcut available for this so that you don’t have to open each window in the group one at a time.
Restore all windows in a group
To restore all windows in a group, press the SHIFT key down, right-click on the group icon in the Taskbar. You’ll see a menu with the following options.
- Cascade
- Show windows stacked
- Show windows side by side
- Restore all windows
- Minimize all windows
- Close all windows
Click Restore all windows.
Open windows one at a time
To open each window at a time, hold the Ctrl key and click on the group icon. This cycles through the windows in that group.
Also, you’d like to read about the Hidden context menu items in Windows.
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@ Stephen:
I have the exact same issue. I often want to show the desktop so i can get to a folder (to copy or drag something from it), then I press Win+D to restore everything i had open, and nothing. I have to manually go back and click everything in the task bar (especially annoying if there are grouped windows), or use alt+tab+click (also annoying as it reorders everything as you select, and every thumbnail looks the same in there).
I too am a Mac user, so I guess I’m a bit spoiled by the AWESOME Expose feature. Windows has nothing that comes even close. Sigh…sorry about the rant. Windows 7 finally pissed me off this morning. Maybe I’ll go find a suggestions form at Microsoft. right….