ShowDesktopOneMonitor

The Show Desktop command enables you to minimize the windows on your desktop instantly, clearing your workspace and allowing you to bring them back up at a moment’s notice. It does have one major limitation, however – it cannot hide windows on a single monitor only, as all connected displays are affected.

ShowDesktopOneMonitor is a tiny, open-source utility designed to get around this limitation. While it is running, you can still use the old Win+D hotkey to hide windows on all monitors, but you can also use Win+Shift+D to show the desktop only on the current display.

The benefits of using more than one monitor cannot be denied, especially when your work involves a lot of multitasking. However, the Show Desktop command is quite limited in this regard, as it minimizes windows on all your available displays when used.

With this program, you can use the alternative Win+Shift+D hotkey to minimize/restore windows only on the monitor where the mouse cursor is currently located. Windows on your other monitors will not be affected.

The application accounts for windows that were already minimized when the hotkey was used, so those will not be restored when using the command again; this is exactly how the regular Show Desktop works, so nothing new here.

The only difference is that the minimize animation can be viewed when using the Win+Shift+D hotkey, whereas it is disabled when the old Win+D is used, unless you have disabled all animations from your OS settings.

ShowDesktopOneMonitor lacks a UI, and you have to add it to the startup list manually to avoid launching it every time you boot up your system. It is a very simple piece of software, but it worked well during our tests, and it can prove very helpful for users who have multiple-monitor setups.