Summary

One of the most noticable features of Microsoft Windows 7 is the new and improved Taskbar. It is packed with quite a few new features. However, with the introduction of these new features, some of its functionality that we are already used to is changed a bit. In this article, we are going to touch on one of such functionalities, that is, how to close/minimize multiple windows at once.

Taskbar Buttons

When an application is launched, Windows 7 displays a button in the taskbar with the application's icon. Multiple windows launched for the same application are grouped together by default, and the taskbar button is given a cascade effect to indicate that there is more than one windows open.

Close / Minimize All

Early versions of Windows have a functionality which allows you to close or minimize multiple windows in one go. For example, suppose you have 5 windows open and you want to close window 1, 3, and 5. First, you would click on the taskbar button of the first window. Then, you would click the taskbar button for window 3 and window 5 while holding down the CTRL key. At last, you would right-click on any of the three buttons and click Close all windows.

In Windows 7, however, you can only close/minimize windows that belong to the same group.

• Close All: To close all windows, just right-click on the application's button and click Close all windows. Note that Close all windows option is available only when you have more than one window in the same group.

• Minimize All: To minimize all windows, hold down the SHIFT key, right-click on the application's button and then, click Minimize all windows.