show all windows automatically

[karlmac]

ok so, when I open multiple folders and minimise them it goes into the finder however to view & open a certain folder I have to right click the finder and click the folder I need or right click & "show all windows"

Is there a way for it to automatically show all windows with a single left click when multiple files/apps are open so that I don't have to right click? just like it would on windows

I understand I can untick "minimise windows into application icon" in the dock settings however this clutters the dock & I don't want that

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Rather than minimizing each window, you can hide them. So try this.... with a bunch of Finder windows open, press CMD-H to hide them all. When you want them back, just left-click on the Finder icon. This is an all-or-nothing action. Unlike minimize, you can't hide/unhide just certain ones.

If this isn't what you are looking to do, then there are a couple options. From the Finder menubar, click on Window, then select the Finder window you want. If you in fact want that exact "Show All Windows" display, then that can be activated with a keyboard command. It's actually part of Mission Control, and you can customize the keyboard shortcut in System Preferences » Keyboard » Shortcuts. Select Mission Control on the left, then Application windows on the right. Set a hot key to your liking that isn't in use already. The default is CTRL-Down Arrow. If you use this quite a lot and have a multi-button mouse with a button not in use, you could use something like SteerMouse to program that button to activate that command for you. You can also set a Hot Corner to activate it... just move the mouse to a corner that you set and BAM! You get the list. You can set that in System Preferences » Desktop & Screen Saver. Click on the Screen Saver tab, then Hot Corners at the bottom.

 

[Rod]

The simplest way I can think of managing multiple windows is with Mission Control. It's a bit of a departure from how you are currently managing so it might take a bit of getting used to.

As mentioned by Lifeisabeach above you can do this via key commands but I am very mouse oriented and only have a 13" MBP so I use Hot Corners.: System Preferences > Desktop & Screensavers > Screensaver (Tab) > Hot Corners as pictured above.
So when I place my cursor in the top right corner I see this:





Note Desktops 1,2 & 3 at the top. Mission Control gives you access to multiple Desktops and you can drag open windows from one to another or select the one you want or create another with the Plus sign.
You can just close these windows by clicking the X in the top left of the above examples until all open windows are just on one desktop.
Used with just one Desktop the same action displays all open windows and allows you to bring any one to the front by clicking on it.
This really creates a lot of potential "realestate" and has allowed me to make full use of my 13" display.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Speaking of Spaces... you can also force any particular app to be assigned to a specific Desktop so it always open in a specific one. This saves the need to drag them around to a different Space each session. Another thought... assign Finder to its own Desktop. That way, all its windows can stay open in its own Space rather than hiding/minimizing them. When you click on Finder, you'll go straight to the Space it belongs to and see all the windows. Then switch back to the app you were working on, ideally assigned to a different Space, by simply clicking its icon or CMD-TAB to it. You could also consider getting a 3rd party tiling tool to auto-arrange all the Finder windows into a grid so they aren't stacked over each other.

 

[ferrarr]

Why not use tabs instead of separate windows?


PS. I just saw this thread, How to Tile Your Windows in macOS Monterey.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Another option is to use a window manager that will allow you to tile all open windows exactly as you want them. There are a few nice free ones:


Amethyst | ianyh


Rectangle


Tiles