The Invisible Trigger
Windows 11 features an invisible shortcut known as the “Show Desktop” button. Located in the absolute bottom right corner of the screen—past the system clock and the notification bell—this tiny, invisible sliver of pixels acts as a master minimize switch. If you click it, every single open window on your computer instantly minimizes to the taskbar, revealing your blank desktop. While useful for quickly accessing a shortcut, it is incredibly easy to trigger by accident when aggressively throwing your mouse cursor to the corner to click a scroll bar or close a maximized window. If you constantly find your applications minimizing unexpectedly, you must disable the hidden button.
How to Turn Off the Show Desktop Button
You can permanently deactivate the invisible corner shortcut via the Taskbar settings.
- Click the Start Menu and type Settings, or press the Windows Key + I.
- In the left-hand sidebar, click on Personalization.
- In the main window, scroll down and click on Taskbar.
- Scroll down to the very bottom and click on Taskbar behaviors to expand the hidden menu.
- Locate the checkbox labeled “Select the far corner of the taskbar to show the desktop.”
- Click the checkbox to completely remove the checkmark.
A Safe Corner
The change takes effect instantly. Windows 11 will completely remove the invisible trigger zone from the bottom right corner of your screen. You can slam your mouse cursor into the corner and click as aggressively as you want, and your windows will remain perfectly in place. (Note: You can still quickly minimize everything at any time by pressing the Windows Key + D on your physical keyboard).