Proper way to Hide and then Activate an app

FWIW, if you click the Shortcuts yellow minimize button you have to right-click/control-click on its icon in the Dock and select it from the popup menu for it to reopen. If you choose Shortcuts > Hide Shortcuts or press Cmd+H it will hide in the Dock and reopen when you click its icon in the Dock.

Clicking the yellow dot minimizes an app, which is not the same as hiding an app. Minimize 'reduces' the app window to a position on the far right of the Dock (right side of the 'line', '2' below). Command-H (Shortcuts menu > Hide Shortcuts; same for most apps) just makes the app window invisible without putting a 'second' copy in the Dock.

Either way, to return to the app you can either click on it in the Dock to make it active again. If you hide it, click on the regular app icon (1). If you have minimized the app, you have to click on the minimized icon (2) to restore it.

Note that you also use the App Switcher to return to it, press Command-Tab then keep holding the Command key and press the Tab key repeatedly to move the selection right or press the ' (above Tab) to move it left until you get to the Shortcuts app.

Minimizing with the yellow button doesn't hide or minimize the app. It minimizes the document window-they are not the same. When you click on the App icon, it activates the app, but not a minimized document window except if you have minimized all the app's windows, then it will open the last minimized window.

If you hold down the Option key and click on an app icon in the Dock, it will hide the app you left.

dialabrain wrote:

Barney-15E wrote:

Second, I find no difference in Shortcuts from the standard behavior I described. If anything doesn't work as I described, you may well have a problem with your Mac.

FWIW, Shortcuts does behave differently than other apps. All apps when using the yellow button will minimize into the Dock. And if you immediately click on the apps' icon in the Dock its window will reopen. Shortcuts doesn't. A minor difference but still different.

I stated (as did etresoft) that some apps do not restore a minimized app even if there are no open windows. Whether it is wrong (I don't think so) or an unsupported feature, Shortcuts is one of them. You have to ctrl-click the icon and choose the minimized window to re-open it (or use Appsposé).

dialabrain wrote:

Barney-15E wrote:

Shortcuts is one of them. You have to ctrl-click the icon and choose the minimized window to re-open it (or use Appsposé).

As I explained in a previous post, you have to right/control click on the minimized Shortcuts icon to open it. So far, it's the only one I have found where that is true.

It used to be many, if not all of them. It seems they are slowly changing. Mail has some quirks. It will open the Messages window if it was closed. If the Messages window was minimized, it will open the last minimized window. Contacts seems to work the same way. Messages has another quirk in that it opens both the Messages window and the last minimized window.

Cybersco wrote:

Hey,

Thanks for the response! Unfortunately, neither of your suggestions works for me. I have no idea why? First, minimizing (yellow dot)....does NOT put the icon in my recent app area of the Dock. Maybe because Tahoe? Also, when trying to use the Task Switcher method, it similarly does NOT bring the Shortcuts app back to my Desktop. Lastly, trying to click the icon in the Dock (I have it pinned there, and it does have the dot under the icon), it similarly refuses to bring the app back. ??? Apparently, this only affects me, I guess

This does sound like a bug in Shortcuts.

First, some background...

When you click the yellow button, you're minimizing just a window in Shortcuts. If you look in the Dock, you'll see the Shortcuts icon and a new icon for the Shortcuts window that you just minimized. You can click on the Shortcuts icon all day and it's not going to maximize the window that you've minimized. It will make the Shortcuts app activate again. It will say "Shortcuts" in the menubar, but there won't be any windows open. You can open up a new Shortcuts window if you want. But you'll still have the old one minimized in the dock.

Most apps have a feature where they'll automatically restore a minimized window in the Dock when you activate it if there isn't already a window active. I tried Safari, Mail, and two apps that I've written and they all work this way. I know I didn't code anything specific to do this. One app is a document-based app and one isn't. But they both work the same. I even tried an iOS app running on a Mac, and that works the same way too. But not Shortcuts.

You can Hide shortcuts as described earlier. Then, when you click the icon in the Dock, or tab-switch to it, those Shortcuts Windows will be active again. But otherwise, it's just a bug. Apple releases a lot of those these days.

First, there is an option to have the window minimize into the App or just into the Dock. I think the default is to minimize into the Dock. It really doesn't matter which option you use, clicking on the App icon will not necessarily re-open a minimized window. As noted several times, it will only restore the last minimized window if no other app windows are open. If there is another app window open, that window will activate when you click on the icon in the Dock. Even when no app windows are open, the app has to activate the last minimized window. It isn't a global OS option. It doesn't matter how you switch to the App, it will not restore a minimized window. You minimized the window for a reason. Having it just pop back open doesn't make any sense.

You have to understand that you are not hiding the app when you click the yellow dot. It is not the same thing Windows does. The concept of a Document Window does not exist in Windows. All apps are documents and all documents are apps. When you click the yellow dot, it minimizes the Document window, not the app itself.

Second, I find no difference in Shortcuts from the standard behavior I described. If anything doesn't work as I described, you may well have a problem with your Mac.

Barney-15E wrote:

Shortcuts is one of them. You have to ctrl-click the icon and choose the minimized window to re-open it (or use Appsposé).

As I explained in a previous post, you have to right/control click on the minimized Shortcuts icon to open it. So far, it's the only one I have found where that is true.

You hide an app by pressing Cmd+H. You unhide it by clicking its icon in the Dock.

Barney-15E wrote:

Second, I find no difference in Shortcuts from the standard behavior I described. If anything doesn't work as I described, you may well have a problem with your Mac.

FWIW, Shortcuts does behave differently than other apps. All apps when using the yellow button will minimize into the Dock. And if you immediately click on the apps' icon in the Dock its window will reopen. Shortcuts doesn't. A minor difference but still different.

If you enable "Minimize windows into application icon" in System Settings > Desktop & Dock, clicking the yellow button does the same thing as pressing Cmd+H or choosing Hide from the App menu.

I guess I should have mentioned clicking the Minimize yellow button behaves the same as Hide, if you only have one window for a given app open. It doesn't take the app out of focus. Just to be clear, Hide and Minimize are not identical.