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https://github.com/londopy/hidedesktopapps

Lightweight Windows system-tray app to hide/show desktop icons, taskbar & all windows via hotkeys. Perfect for ricing, streamers, Wallpaper Engine fans & focus tools.
https://github.com/londopy/hidedesktopapps

Last synced: 2 months ago
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Lightweight Windows system-tray app to hide/show desktop icons, taskbar & all windows via hotkeys. Perfect for ricing, streamers, Wallpaper Engine fans & focus tools.

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README 

          
= HideDesktopApps

:toc:

:toc-placement: preamble

:icons: font

 

A lightweight Windows system-tray utility that hides and shows desktop icons,

the taskbar, and open application windows — perfect for ricing, revealing a Wallpaper

Engine wallpaper or cleaning up for a presentation on demand.



image:https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/Londopy/HideDesktopApps[GitHub release,link=https://github.com/Londopy/HideDesktopApps/releases/latest]

image:https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg[License: MIT,link=https://github.com/Londopy/HideDesktopApps/blob/main/LICENSE]

image:https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-Windows%2010%2B-blue[Platform]

image:https://github.com/Londopy/HideDeskTopApps/actions/workflows/release.yml/badge.svg[Release,link=https://github.com/Londopy/HideDesktopApps/actions/workflows/release.yml]

image:https://img.shields.io/github/directory-file-count/Londopy/HideDeskTopApps[Files]

image:https://img.shields.io/github/issues/Londopy/HideDeskTopApps[Issues]

image:https://img.shields.io/github/languages/code-size/Londopy/HideDeskTopApps[Size]

image:https://img.shields.io/badge/rust-1.78%2B-orange?logo=rust&logoColor=white[Rust, link=https://www.rust-lang.org]

image:https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-Windows%2010%2F11-0078d4?logo=windows&logoColor=white[Platform,link=https://github.com/Londopy/HideDeskTopApps/releases/latest]

image:https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/Londopy/HideDeskTopApps/total?[GitHub Downloads]



---



== What is this?



HideDesktopApps is a small Windows tray app that makes your desktop disappear — and come back — on command.



Press a hotkey (or click the tray icon) and your desktop icons, taskbar, and open app windows all vanish instantly. Press it again and everything is exactly where you left it.



*A few things people use it for:*



* **Windows ricing** — toggle the taskbar and icons on and off to match your desktop aesthetic, take clean screenshots, or switch between layouts without touching a single setting

* **Streaming / going live** — hide your personal windows before your screen goes live, bring them back after with one key press

* **Wallpaper Engine** — reveal your animated wallpaper without minimising or closing anything

* **Presentations** — clean up your screen before sharing, no need to manually minimise everything

* **Focus mode** — use a saved profile to strip away distractions without disrupting your workflow



No install requirements, no runtime, no admin rights needed. Just a single ~5 MB exe that sits in your tray.



---



== Install



=== Installer (recommended)



Download `HideDesktopApps-vX.X.X-x64-setup.exe` from the

https://github.com/Londopy/HideDesktopApps/releases/latest[Releases page]

and run it. The installer handles startup registration and notifications.



=== Scoop



[source,bash]

----

scoop bucket add HideDesktopApps https://github.com/Londopy/HideDesktopApps

scoop install HideDesktopApps

----



=== WinGet



[source,bash]

----

winget install Londopy.HideDesktopApps

----



=== Portable ZIP



Download the ZIP for your architecture (x64 / x86 / ARM64), extract it

anywhere, and run `HideDesktopApps.exe`. Config lives next to the exe when a

file named `portable` is present in the same directory.



---



== Who is this for?



* **Streamers & presenters** — hide sensitive apps before going live, restore

  them after.

* **Wallpaper Engine fans** — reveal your animated wallpaper with a single

  hotkey without closing anything.

* **Focus / productivity** — use profiles (Focus, Presentation, Clean Desktop)

  to switch states instantly.

* **Kiosk displays** — tuck away standard OS chrome for a dedicated display

  without terminating background processes.

* **Riced setups** — programmatically control the taskbar and icons to match

  your current layout.



---



== Features



* **Three global hotkeys** — Ctrl+Alt+H (icons), Ctrl+Alt+T (taskbar),

  Ctrl+Alt+W (windows). All fully configurable.

* **Profiles** — save and apply named combinations (e.g. "Focus", "Clean

  Desktop") from the tray submenu or a dedicated hotkey.

* **Dynamic tray icon** — colour changes reflect the current hide state at a

  glance; an orange dot marks a hidden taskbar.

* **Auto-start** — registers a Task Scheduler job with a configurable delay

  (default 30 s) so the app starts with Windows without a UAC prompt.

* **Windows toast notifications** — optional pop-ups for updates, hotkey

  conflicts, and profile switches.

* **Discord Rich Presence** — shows what you're hiding; clears automatically

  when everything is visible.

* **Auto-updater** — checks GitHub Releases on a configurable interval,

  verifies SHA-256, and does an in-place binary replacement.

* **Multi-monitor taskbar** — hides and restores the taskbar on all connected

  monitors.

* **Portable mode** — place a file named `portable` next to the exe to keep

  config local.

* **Config migration** — automatically imports a legacy `config.ini` from the

  Python version on first run.

* Single Rust binary, no runtime, ~1–2 MB.



---



== Controls



[cols="1,2",options="header"]

|===

| Action | Effect



| Ctrl+Alt+H

| Toggle desktop icons



| Ctrl+Alt+T

| Toggle taskbar



| Ctrl+Alt+W

| Toggle all open windows



| Left-click tray icon

| Toggle desktop icons



| Right-click → Profiles

| Apply a saved profile



| Right-click → Settings…

| Open the settings window



| Right-click → Check for Updates

| Manually trigger an update check



| Right-click → Restart

| Restart the app



| Right-click → Exit

| Restore everything and quit

|===



---



== Tray icon guide



[cols="1,2",options="header"]

|===

| Icon | Meaning



| Four coloured tiles

| Everything visible



| Four coloured tiles + orange dot

| Taskbar hidden



| Grey tiles + red X

| Desktop icons hidden



| Grey tiles + red X + orange dot

| Icons and taskbar hidden

|===



---



== Settings window



Right-click the tray icon → *Settings…* to open a tabbed window:



* **Hotkeys** — set modifier keys and letter for all three actions; conflicts

  are detected live.

* **Profiles** — create, edit, and delete named state snapshots; assign

  individual hotkeys.

* **Startup** — toggle auto-start and set the login delay (0–120 s).

* **Notifications** — master toggle and per-event checkboxes (update, hotkey

  fail, profile switch).

* **Updater** — channel (stable/beta), check interval, manual check button.

* **Discord** — enable/disable Rich Presence.

* **About** — version, build target, links, "Copy debug info" button.



---



== Recovery



=== Taskbar hidden and can't reach the tray



Open *Run* (Win+R) and type:



[source,powershell]

----

powershell -command "Stop-Process -Name explorer -Force"

----



Or just press Ctrl+Alt+T — the hotkey works even without the taskbar visible.



=== All windows hidden



Press Ctrl+Alt+W again, or right-click the tray icon → *Toggle App Windows*.



=== App not in tray after a crash



Hidden windows stay hidden until the app restores them. Restarting

HideDesktopApps will restore them automatically because the app checks state

on startup. If that doesn't work, reboot — Windows restores all window

visibility on logon.



---



== Building from source



[source,bash]

----

# x64

cargo build --release --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc



# ARM64 (cross-compiles from x64)

cargo build --release --target aarch64-pc-windows-msvc

----



Requires the `windows-latest` GitHub Actions runner or a Windows machine with

Visual Studio Build Tools + the relevant MSVC target installed.



---



== File layout



----

HideDesktopApps/

├── src/                    Rust source

│   ├── main.rs

│   ├── config.rs

│   ├── ui/                 egui settings window

│   └── ...

├── assets/

│   └── installer.iss       Inno Setup script

├── scoop/

│   └── HideDesktopApps.json  Scoop manifest

├── winget/

│   └── manifests/          WinGet manifest tree

├── .github/workflows/      CI (ci.yml) + release (release.yml)

├── Cargo.toml

├── LICENSE

├── LICENSE-COMMERCIAL

└── README.adoc             this file

----



---



== License



MIT for personal and open-source use. See link:LICENSE-COMMERCIAL[] for

commercial licensing.