Some people are good at managing their desktop space and keeping it really neat and tidy. Well, I am not one of them and my Mac’s desktop is cluttered with folders and files. I love my chaos, and I am not going to change my habits in the foreseeable future. However, I do need to hide my desktop files on certain occasions. For example, if I have to attach screenshots in any of my articles, or when I have to give a presentation at work, I would rather show people a cleaner desktop, as it is easier for them to focus on the right things. Whether you are struggling to keep your desktop clean or you thrive in the chaos like me, you will encounter moments when you have to hide all that clutter quickly. For those quick moments, here’s how to hide desktop icons in macOS quickly:
The Terminal is like a trove of treasure. You can do wonders on your Mac with the right commands, so it’s no surprise that you can use the Terminal to hide desktop icons on a Mac. You can just launch the Terminal by searching for it in Spotlight and run the following command:
killall Finder
and then restart Finder with the following command:
Use Third-party Apps to Hide Desktop Icons on Mac
While using the Terminal to hide desktop icons on a Mac isn’t a difficult task, if you need to hide/unhide desktop icons in macOS on a very regular basis, using the Terminal might not be the most efficient method for you. In such a case, you can use a third party app that will let you hide desktop icons or unhide them with just a click. I’m recommending HiddenMe (free) for this.
If the only reason you want to hide desktop icons is to make your desktop look neat and clean for screenshots and presentations (like me), there’s an easier and better option that you can use.
Alternatively, you can just use the keyboard shortcut ‘control + command + O’ to enable Desktop Stacks on your Mac.
