When I wave with a window, all other windows minimize to the taskbar, why?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How do I disable Aero Shake in Windows 7?

Sometimes, and I really don't know how to do it, when I grab an application in the window-bar and drag it around, as if I'm waving, then all other windows are minimized to the taskbar.

I have three questions:

how do I do this?
what's this feature called in Windows 7
how can I disable this Windows 7 feature?

I know I can undo it by hitting Ctrl+Shift+Winkey+M.

How to disable it was asked and answered on SuperUser back in 2009. — JdeBP, Nov 02 '11 at 18:25
Many people might not know that this feature is called “Aero Shake”—especially as the days when Aero was the new and popular thing to talk about have become history. I think this question is better than the one it is marked as a duplicate simply because it describes the issue in a way that one who doesn’t know the feature’s name can actually find it. — binki, Jun 11 '18 at 21:33

score 34 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 02 '11 at 15:53

34

This feature is called Shake. Just wiggle a window vigorously to minimize all other windows. You can also just release the click on the window, then click again and waggle to undo this.

Disabling Shake entirely requires a registry edit:

Browse to the following key:
```
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
```
(the Explorer key may not be there by default, just create it)
Make a 32-bit DWORD called "NoWindowMinimizingShortcuts".
Set the value to 1.

edited Nov 02 '11 at 15:53

Gareth

18,809

answered Nov 02 '11 at 15:48

Shinrai

18,776
3
51
72

I'd just add that personally I've done this by accident maybe once ever, so I don't see a need to disable it. It can come in handy. – Shinrai Nov 02 '11 at 15:49
2

Apparently I have a shaky hand sometimes. When I try it on purpose, I don't manage to do it. But by accident, it happens, say, once a week or so, much to my surprise and annoyance (I like my messy overlaid windows on my big screens). – Abel Nov 03 '11 at 12:51
10

In Windows 10 you need to create a 32-bit DWORD value called DisallowShaking in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced and set it to 1 – ntv1000 Aug 15 '15 at 15:07
So far I've been able to wiggle with my mouse, but I'm having trouble with the waggle. Is it all in the wrist, or do I need a touchscreen? – DavidS Mar 12 '16 at 02:15
2

@ntv1000 's comment applies to Windows 7 also. – ashnazg Mar 28 '18 at 13:52
2

This: click again and waggle to undo this, is worth one thousand upvotes! – Mhluzi Bhaka Nov 01 '18 at 17:26
@ntv1000 can you please make an actual response so we can all upvote it? You're the real MVP here. :) – GroggyOtter Jan 22 '23 at 18:25

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 02 '11 at 15:49

9

It most certainly is a 'feature' of Windows 7 and it's called 'Aero Shake', more details can be found here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/shake

And what you are describing is exactly how it works. Grab the title bar of any window, give it a shake and everything else drops to the task bar.

To disable Shake you'll need to use either the Group Policy editor or do some registry tweaking as outlined here:

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-disable-aero-shake-in-windows-7/

answered Nov 02 '11 at 15:49

Moif Murphy

1,232

1

Didn't realize you could do this in gpedit, that's helpful. – Shinrai Nov 02 '11 at 15:57
Thanks, you both answered this thoroughly and it's good to know that GP editor can do this. – Abel Nov 03 '11 at 12:52
If you could quote or place the instructions directly in your answer, that’d improve the quality of this answer. – binki Jun 11 '18 at 21:36

When I wave with a window, all other windows minimize to the taskbar, why?

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