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I don't know what the button on the end of the Windows taskbar which clears the screen is called. Anybody know?

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It is just called the "Show Desktop Button"

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"Show Desktop Button" is its name. But it doesn't just hide all windows. If you click it again, it will show them again, just as they were before you pressed it the first time. Winkey+D shortcut does the same. Basically, it toggles between all your visible windows and desktop.

Also, if you want to hide all windows, press Winkey+M. Pressing this combination multiple times will not bring up the hidden windows, you'll have to do it manually. A useful "boss-key".

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    except if you use it to show your desktop so that you can open a new window, you then can not press it again to bring your other windows back. One of the most annoyingly half implemented parts of win7. – JamesRyan Sep 26 '14 at 10:02
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    "If you click it again, it will show them again, just as they were before you pressed it the first time." - Really?! I wish I knew that trick earlier... – user11153 Sep 26 '14 at 13:31
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    Pressing Winkey + Shift + M brings back the windows that are minimized using Winkey + M. – Chirag Bhatia - chirag64 Sep 28 '14 at 19:20

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