ShowDesktopPerMonitor

When you use the Win+D hotkey to view your desktop, windows on all connected monitors are hidden. If you only want to minimize windows on your primary screen, this behavior can be quite irritating.

ShowDesktopPerMonitor is a small, open-source utility that restricts the effects of this command to your primary display. It can prove very helpful, especially if you have remote desktop sessions or virtual desktops on your secondary displays.

If you have multiple windows open at the same time, being able to hide them quickly and view your desktop can be helpful. However, it is usually not necessary to minimize windows on all your displays if you do most of your work on the primary monitor.

Most importantly, however, users who run virtual desktops or remote sessions on their other displays will not be happy about these windows being minimized as well.

What the program does is quite simple – while it is running, pressing Win+D will cause the windows on your primary monitor to be minimized, while those on your other displays will remain in the foreground. The utility only runs in the system tray, so it is very unobtrusive.

Of course, it would have been great if it were possible to hide windows on whichever screen your mouse cursor is on, but technical limitations most likely make this very difficult.

Naturally, if you are controlling another PC remotely, and its desktop is shown on a secondary monitor, you can use that system’s Win+D command to hide windows only on that display, and the same goes with virtual desktops.

Overall, ShowDesktopPerMonitor is a simple utility that provides you with a way to get around the limitations of the Show Desktop command. It is particularly useful for those who have remote sessions or virtual systems on their secondary monitors.