@bmike In the meantime I figured out that it's not the Mini which crashes but the Thunderbolt Display which refuses to turn on again. Amazing how complex modern technology is...

Oh no, those can ruin Ethernet networks and now Macs day with DDOS type results. Glad you figured it out, though.

@Monomeeth Hello

Can i ask you something about an Automator script ? i'm trying to make it work for 2 hours now

@Adrian Hi Adrian, sure, happy to see if I can help. I'm about to head out shortly for about an hour or so, so won't be able to get into this right now. In the meantime, I'm assuming you're using an extended keyboard since you mention the F19 key? Also, were you following any particular steps to try and get this to work (just so I know what you've tried)? Finally, is this script available somewhere so I can test at my end, or is it one you've written yourself?

Since I'll be out for a little while, see if my answer here helps at all (although this was before Catalina).

As an aside, not sure about using to Hot Corners to run your script, will have to look into that.

@Mono

@Monomeeth i have tried already that method. You can find that script in automator, create a script or service and search for Hide All Applications. I have tried to add in in the keyboard shortcuts ( the app or the service ) but doesn't work. Yes, i have the extended keyboard. I also tried other keyboard combinations ( command +u , command + f19 ) nothing works. Regarding the hot corners , i would give up on the keyboard shortcuts if i can make my bottom left corner to hide all windows.

The action is : <string>/System/Library/Automator/Hide All Applications.action</string>

@Adrian The screenshot's configuration lets me hide all applications from both left corners

Has it changed in Catalina ? I am on Mojave

Also, if you're seeing thumbnails, that doesn't necessarily mean that people are online

@ankii Great minds think alike! :)

@Adrian I was pretty much going to say the same thing - if all you're wanting to do is hide everything so you can see your desktop, then selecting the Desktop option in a hot corner will do that for you.

Hey , That is not hide. It's just a preview on the desktop. I have that already configured but it's not that helpfull for me ...

it's like pressing command + H on a window

that's what i want to achieve with Hide All Applications

@Adrian Ok, can I ask what you're actually wanting to achieve (you said it's not that helpful for you), just in case we have any other solutions for you?

misunderstanding 100

Okay, so you basically want the same effect as going to Finder and then pressing option + Command + H

exactly

What if Finder also has a window ?

It doesn't matter if finder has a window and after the hide it will remain active.

i just want all the apps hidden when i go to the hot corner

I'll try for the shortcut.. hot corner does not seem possible to me. you may want to post a question ?

Ok, just to clarify, the Hide All Applications action (from memory) will hide all applications except whatever window you were in when you ran that action. So, is this what you actually want? Because it seems you want everything hidden, regardless of what you're in at the moment - hence why I was asking if the effect you want was being in Finder and then pressing option + Command + H, although as ankii rightly points out, any Finder windows will still be visible.

@ankii Since Mojave 'services' are known as 'actions'.

Hide All Applications wil hide all the windows except finder but i don't mind that. I usually keep just 1 finder window opened. On my computer, when i run the Hide All Applications action it hides all, even the active window

"Quick Action" then ?

@ankii Yep.

i want the exact efect like i'm on Finder and then pressing option + Command + H

@ankii , i think i will talk with apple if i don't sort this out. I will try to contact them tomorrow morning. Now it's late here..

@Adrian Could I interest you in this kind of menu ?

what do you mean by this kind of menu ?

is that an app that i need to install ?

it's a two click process (even one click and drag) and will run a script that will do the job. The script will be in the menu

Script Editor. Inbuilt, native I mean.

apple.stackexchange.com/a/373438/313842 See this answer for enabling it..

well, i could do this very simple with an app and create the shortcut but i'm kind of crazy regarding my computer. i want just a few apps installed on it.

There is keyboard maestro that does the job, but i'm too paranoic with the apps that i keep installed

don't need malware , even if it's now, can't guarantee for the future

my entire life is on my computer. work, money, family

yes I understand that, I feel the same for the files generally. not so much for apps.

But Script Editor can be found in Utilities.

i just want a simple one key press shortcut

let me try then

i lose time when i do even 2 clicks.

sorry for this, don't want to be weird about it

see you in the morning, out to sleep. thanks a lot guys for all your help! didn't imagine i would find this kind of help here

have a good day/night to you all

Night!

nighty night!

Hmmm looks like despite binding it to F9, it doesnt work.

while clicking on it, via menu works.

Oh wait @Monomeeth , I bound it to cmd + \ and it works!

F keys can go F themselves :p

@Adrian. For when you wake up, I've just finished some very quick testing.

I set up Hide All Applications as a Quick Action and then allocated F16 to it as a keyboard shortcut. I found that this worked in some apps, some times.

I know of cases where users have had to restart their Macs for the Quick Action (or Service) to run from a keyboard shortcut, but I wasn't able to restart mine at the moment, so I then went into each app separately and selected the Hide All Applications option from each of their Services menus and this would work. It seems that once I did this, then the keyboard shortcut also worked in all of them. Hopefully this helps.

@ankii Yeah, using Function keys is always problematic. So many of them are used by lots of applications, mostly undocumented, so it's easy to inadvertently cause a conflict.

My first successful shortcut binding \o/

@ankii I was going to suggest the same thing if Hide All Applications didn't work. :)

apple.stackexchange.com/questions/114933/… this answer helped here.

Adding Finder to that dropdown is tricky

how do I remove the service now O-O

ah system prefs.

Or just go to ~Library/Services and delete (or move) it from there.

oh I went to System/Library/Coreservices

But yeah, reveal in Finder ftw

I have a meeting to go to, so will pop back in a few hours. :)

Bye! I'm off for a coffee

or en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covfefe as he calls it