

This means you might not be able to click the minimize button at the top of the window or click on another window in the taskbar. And sometimes, even when in windowed mode, a game might not allow your mouse cursor to traverse the window’s internal boundaries. However, this doesn’t always work with all games.
#WINDOWS SHORTCUTS MINIMIZE FULL#
This shortcut often allows you to switch from full screen to windowed mode in games and applications, where you can then minimize the game. If you’re looking to minimize a full screen game on your PC, then you might try Alt + Enter.

With a different window focused, you can then see and access the Start menu and taskbar (as long as the new focused window is maximized). You can then use your mouse to click on the Window you want to bring to focus, or cycle through them by pressing the Tab key. However, if you hold down the Alt key, it brings up an overlay that contains all the open windows you currently have running on your computer. Pressing the Alt + Tab key will switch to the last active window. One of the most recognizable hotkeys on the list is Alt + Tab. Not every keyboard shortcut will work, but one of the following is almost guaranteed to work for whichever game you’re playing.

If you’re looking to quickly minimize nearly any PC game, then you have a ton of options to choose from. But not to worry! You have other options. Of course, not every game has a native windowed mode or an active community developing quality of life mods like this. But thanks to the active community, there are mods available that allow you to configure the game to run in windowed mode. Normally, you can only play the game in full screen mode. The original release of Age of Empires 2 is one such example. That is, unless you can find a workaround. However, for older games, this isn’t usually an option. Many newer games are made with a native windowed mode function available in the settings. This will cause your game to launch in a normal window with the minimize, maximize, and exit buttons at the top, allowing you to quickly minimize the screen, so you can easily multitask. If you tend to game with background windows open, such as YouTube or Discord, then you may consider setting your game to run in windowed mode.
#WINDOWS SHORTCUTS MINIMIZE HOW TO#
Fortunately, there are a number of ways you can minimize your game, and we’ll show you how to do it. But if you need to momentarily minimize your game for any reason, it can be a bit of a pain. That’s great for immersion into the game. And that means that you can’t simply click the minimize button at the top of the window like other programs in order to minimize them. If you’ve played PC games, you know that most of them run in borderless full screen mode.
