Go to desktop or Show desktop icon on Windows 7 64-bit?

Your instructions were great for Vista, but is there a way to create a ‘Go to desktop’ icon for Windows 7 64 bit.
Judy Faulkner

Judy, there is no need to create a ‘Show desktop‘ icon (or a ‘Go to desktop‘ icon as you call it) in Windows 7 64-bit because it’s already there! Unfortunately, it’s kind of inconspicuous on the Taskbar. But the good news is that it works better than what we have been used to in Windows XP or Vista.

Where is the Show desktop on Windows 7?

The Show desktop ‘icon’ is the glassy looking small vertical strip on the extreme right side of the Taskbar – to the exact right of the time in the system tray. Here’s a little test. Open a few program windows – any programs you want – make sure they are now maximized and place them around the screen. (If the windows are of different sized, you’ll get a better feel of the ‘Go to desktop’ functionality in Windows 7).

Now move the mouse cursor and place it over the Windows 7 Show Desktop icon – Don’t click. All open windows will fade away quickly leaving only their outlines. Isn’t that super cool? This is the “Peek desktop” feature. It quickly lets you view the desktop without minimizing any open window. It even works if all open windows are maximized (though you won’t see any outlines).

In contrast to Peek desktop, a single click on the Show desktop ‘icon’ minimizes all windows and displays the desktop. Clicking on it once again makes the windows go back to their positions and sizes on the screen. This is exactly what we had in the earlier versions of the Windows operating system.

Don’t like the Peek desktop and want only the Show desktop

In my opinion, there is actually no harm in having the Peek desktop functionality because it generally doesn’t interfere with what you are doing. But if you do want to get rid of it and want only Show desktop on Windows 7, simply right click on the ‘icon’ and deselect Peek desktop from the menu.

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