Hide All Guide
Hide desktop clutter with one click.
1. Build and open
Extract the ZIP to a permanent folder, for example C:\Tools\HideAll, and run build.bat. The script uses the existing .NET Framework compiler to create and launch HideAll.exe. It separately attempts to compile HideAll.Media.dll when the required Windows metadata and framework references are available. Failure to build that optional helper does not, by itself, prevent the main app from launching.
No executable or helper DLL is included in the supplied ZIP. Quit an existing copy before rebuilding; the script attempts to stop it before compilation. Click the tray icon to open the controls. Closing that page does not quit Hide All.
3. Choose hiding actions
Under When hiding, independently enable Minimize windows, Hide desktop icons, Hide the taskbar, Pause media, and Mute sound. Enable at least one action to use Hide now; switching all five off disables hiding. The first three are on initially; media pausing and muting are off.
Center mouse on button is a separate remembered option under When hiding, off by default. When enabled, Hide now, the desktop button, the shortcut and automatic hiding move the pointer once to the actual button centre. It follows Screen center or My spot, including the screen-centre fallback if a saved spot is unavailable. The pointer remains free to move; restoring does not move it. Centering alone does not enable hiding when all five actions are off.
The implementation hides visible desktop/taskbar windows rather than changing your persistent Show desktop icons or taskbar preferences. Its restore logic tracks what it changed. A hiding action is not a promise that every third-party window will respond to the Windows minimize command.
4. Pause media and mute sound
With the optional media helper available, Hide All requests a pause for sessions Windows reports as currently playing. A player has to expose a compatible Windows media session for this route to work. Without the helper, or if playback state cannot be read, no media command is sent. The old fallback was removed because some players treated it as a toggle and resumed paused media.
Mute sound enumerates currently active playback outputs, mutes those that are not already muted, and records the outputs it successfully changed. Restoring unmutes the recorded outputs; outputs already muted beforehand are left alone. This is output-device muting, not microphone muting, and it does not continuously monitor newly connected devices while hidden.
Bringing the desktop back does not send Play. Other applications can change their own playback state independently. Use pausing and muting together when that matches your intended behavior; neither constitutes a guarantee that every player and future audio device will be covered.
5. Keyboard shortcut
The shortcut is disabled initially. Enable it to use Ctrl + Alt + Space, or choose Change to capture another supported combination: one ordinary key, optionally with up to two of Win, Ctrl, Alt, and Shift. Esc cancels capture. Combinations of ordinary keys such as Q + W are not supported.
A single-key shortcut takes over that key while Hide All is running, so the app asks for confirmation. If registering a new combination fails, it attempts to retain the previous shortcut and reports the problem.
6. Hide when not in use
Automatic hiding is off initially. When enabled, its initial interval is 30 minutes without mouse or keyboard input; the controls allow one minute through 24 hours 59 minutes.
Automatic hiding is deferred when Windows reports certain fullscreen, busy, or presentation states. This is a system-state check, not an exhaustive detector for every application. The manual hiding controls are separate and are not blocked by that automatic safeguard.
7. Appearance and use with the other apps
Light and dark appearance share a preference with Download Spots and Mouse Parker; another app reads it when its tray page next opens. The website’s four-theme system remains separate.
The desktop button settles out of its hover state when the pointer stays still, including when Mouse Parker parks there. Hide All only moves the cursor when its optional Center mouse on button setting is enabled and hiding begins. Download Spots can continue its work while desktop icons are hidden, without showing its landing highlight. Physical multi-monitor and display-scaling checks remain separate from the automated Windows checks.
8. Recovery, quitting, and uninstalling
Hide All includes cleanup paths for normal exit, session shutdown and handled exceptions, handles Explorer recreation, and saves recovery information for a later launch. Forced termination cannot be assumed to execute cleanup immediately. If it stops while hidden, its next launch attempts recovery from the saved state.
Quit and Uninstall... restore the taskbar, desktop icons, and recorded sound outputs; unlike the main toggle’s restore path, they do not request that all minimized windows be restored. Uninstall asks for confirmation, removes startup/settings entries and the app’s own files, and removes the containing folder only if it is empty.
9. Source, local data and rights
The supplied code implements local desktop behavior. No outbound network-client, account or telemetry functionality was found in the source review. Settings are stored for your Windows account under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\HideAll. Start with Windows uses your account’s Run key. The uninstall delay uses a loopback ping to this computer. Windows and other applications can use a network independently.
This release is a source/build package. No prebuilt executable or installer is included. Version 0.1.2 ignores right-clicks while hidden and removes the unsafe media-command fallback. Mouse centering and outlined crosshairs from 0.1.1 remain. The owner marks the app Complete · maintained. Verification combines static source and documentation review with automated Windows compilation, hiding-trigger, preference and cursor-pixel checks. Physical multi-monitor and display-scaling acceptance remains with the owner.
The owner licenses this app’s original source under MIT: you may use, modify and redistribute it, including commercially, while retaining the copyright and licence notice. The current ZIP includes the notice; historical 0.1.0 bytes stay unchanged. Keep the accompanying MIT licence with any copy or substantial portion of the software. This does not grant logo or endorsement rights.
Website Settings changes the website’s four themes and header visibility, not the installed app’s controls or its shared light/dark preference.
Website settings
Main site and the named parents above the page follow the site’s hierarchy. Guide and Settings use local pages where available.
Settings lets you hide the header and choose Light, Light Gray, Dark or Pitch Black / OLED. Light Gray is the first-visit default. The parent row and footer remain available when the header is hidden.
Choose System, DM Sans, Outfit, or Outfit headings with DM Sans body text in Settings. The preview and interface change immediately. Outfit is the first-visit default; fonts are served by these websites. Your saved selection is preserved.
Theme, header and font preferences are shared across andrazdjuric.com websites in this browser. They contain no document data or visitor identifier and are separate from installed application settings.
Contact in the footer opens the main site’s contact options in a new tab. Use it for questions, problem reports or suggestions.
The shared interface rules explain navigation, link markers, themes, raised surfaces and control states.