Clicking on Finder: Hide Files

Hi,

When you click on Finder located at the dock, it opens up and shows all of your documents, pictures, videos etc. Similarly, yet in contrast, when you open up Finder by pressing Option + Command + Space, your files do not show automatically, unless you click on a given side panel (applications, desktop, documents, pictures, videos, music).

I much prefer the latter (Option + Command + Space) when everything is hidden upon going into Finder, unless I click on a side panel. Is there a method to hide these files when clicking on Finder at the dock?

Option-command-space isn't Finder per se, it's a search in Finder. That's why you don't see anything at first. When you click on something in the sidebar, it kills the search and goes to regular Finder.