# Mac - is there a key stroke to minimize a program display?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 19, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170 "2010-11-19T01:29:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/1 "2010-11-19T01:29:59Z")

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I’m trying to use a photobook program, but the workspace displayed for the program is too big - some of the control buttons are off-screen, if you know what I mean.

It doesn’t have the red-orange-green buttons in the upper left corner which you use to minimize it, and the little hatch marks in the bottom right corner are off-screen as well.

Is there a keystroke that shrinks or minimizes the workspace?

Running Mac OS 10.5.8.

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/2 "2010-11-19T01:49:31Z")

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Here, let me [Google that for you](http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343).

**Command-M** - Minimize window  
**Option-Command-M** - Minimize all windows

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/3 "2010-11-19T02:24:45Z")

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sorry - forgot to mention that I’d tried command-M, alt/option-M, ctrl-M and fn-M - none of them worked. I was wondering if there’s something else that I’m missing.

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/4 "2010-11-19T03:16:18Z")

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I’ve used this Applescript, or its like, successfully on badly sized windows:

```auto

tell application "Firefox"
    activate
    set oldbounds to front window's bounds
    set newbounds to {200, 22, 800, 800}
    set front window's bounds to newbounds
end tell
return oldbounds -- this is just to show you the initial size of the window 

```

Of course, you’ll have to change the “Firefox” to whatever your photobook program is called.

The AppleScript Editor.app from which the script may be run is usually found in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder.

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**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/5 "2010-11-19T03:20:57Z")

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Command-H (for Hide) puts away the current window. But if standard Mac commands like command-M don’t work in this particular app then who knows what you are supposed to do. Can’t you drag the window by another edge so that the bottom-right corner is in view?

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/6 "2010-11-20T15:00:16Z")

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No, that’s the problem - the edges are outside the boundaries of the monitor display, so I can’t move it. That’s why I was hoping for a command that would shrink the window, like the green button does.

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/7 "2010-11-20T15:11:20Z")

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Go to “Window” on the menu bar and click “Zoom.” This should automatically resize the window to fit the screen.

You could also try System Preferences \> Displays \> Gather Windows.

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/8 "2010-11-20T15:23:05Z")

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There’s no “Window” menu on this program.

Using the “Display” command resized the display, but the edges of the window were still outside the display area.

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/9 "2010-11-20T15:27:22Z")

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Hmm. What you may have to do is connect your computer to a display with a high enough resolution that the window will fit on screen.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/10 "2010-11-20T19:00:19Z")

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I’m probably misunderstanding your problem, but I’ll still ask - do you use “Hot Corners” (i.e. moving the cursor to a particular corner of the screen to do things like minimize all open windows)?

And, did you try Command-H (I know you tried Command-M)?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/11 "2010-11-22T00:06:09Z")

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no, that’s the problem - the hot corners are outside the display, so I can’t click on them.

thanks for the comments, everyone we gave up on that photo program and switched to a different one. I think that the one we were trying was designed for Windows and not adapted well for Mac.

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/12 "2010-11-22T05:10:32Z")

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Was it a Microsoft program? I had an experience with Excel for Macs that would come up absolutely huge - like 1,000 times bigger than my computer screen. I ended up just deleting all the Microsoft Office for Macs from my computer because they were so fatally flawed.

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**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-is-there-a-key-stroke-to-minimize-a-program-display/561170/13 "2010-11-22T06:41:52Z")

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What’s the app? That’s very bad behaviour for a Mac app (well, or any app). If it’s the result of a previous monitor or something (i.e. you once had a screen that size, but now you don’t any more), you can probably get it to “forget” it’s settings by deleting the preference file in ~/Library/Preferences: probably something like “com.company.appname.plist”.

Alternatively, if you can borrow a second monitor (or an iPad + AirDisplay), you can move the second monitor’s position around in the display control panel until you can get to the controls you need (i.e. put the second monitor to the upper left of the main monitor to get at the close box, or the lower right to get at the resize box.