The Accidental Desktop Reveal
In Windows 10, the extreme bottom-right corner of the taskbar (just past the clock and notification area) acts as a hidden button. By default, if you simply rest your mouse cursor over this tiny sliver of space for more than half a second, Windows will make all your open application windows completely transparent, revealing your bare desktop underneath. This feature is called “Aero Peek.”
While this is intended to let you quickly check a sticky note or gadget on your desktop without minimizing your workflow, it is highly prone to accidental activation. If you carelessly flick your mouse to the corner of the screen while reading a document, your entire screen will suddenly vanish. If you find this “Peek” behavior jarring and prefer that your windows remain solid unless you explicitly click the minimize button, you can disable the hover activation.
How to Disable the Aero Peek Hover Effect
You can turn off the transparent desktop preview in the Taskbar settings.
- Right-click anywhere on the empty space of your Taskbar (the bar at the bottom of the screen).
- Select Taskbar settings from the context menu.
- The Settings app will open directly to the Taskbar configuration page.
- Look down the list for the toggle switch labelled Use Peek to preview the desktop when you move your mouse to the Show desktop button at the end of the taskbar.
- Toggle the switch to the Off position.
Hovering your mouse in the extreme bottom-right corner will no longer make your windows transparent. Note that you can still click that corner to instantly minimize all windows and show the desktop; this setting only disables the accidental hover effect.