Minimizing a window with ⌘M or its yellow button sends it to the Dock, and macOS has no single key that brings it back: Apple's list of Mac keyboard shortcuts has one to minimize a window and none to restore one. These are the ways that work, and the Dock settings that decide where minimized windows go. If you're not sure the window was minimized at all, minimize vs hide explains the difference.
Why ⌘Tab doesn't restore it
⌘Tab switches apps, not windows. Apple describes it as switching to the next most recently used app among your open apps. When every window of that app is minimized, the app becomes active, its menus appear in the menu bar, and its windows stay in the Dock.
| Keys | What it does with minimized windows |
|---|---|
| ⌘Tab | Switches to the app. Its minimized windows stay in the Dock. |
| ⌘` | Moves through the front app's open windows and skips the minimized ones. |
| ⌘M | Minimizes the front window. ⌥⌘M minimizes all of the front app's windows. |
So the keyboard routes go through the app's Window menu or the Dock, both of which macOS lets you reach without a pointer.
The Window menu
Most apps list their open windows at the bottom of the Window menu, minimized ones included and marked with a diamond (◆). Choosing one restores it. With a mouse, that's two clicks; from the keyboard it takes a few more keys:
-
Switch to the app
Press ⌘Tab until the app is selected, then let go.
-
Move focus to the menu bar
Press ⌃F2, or Fn⌃F2 on keyboards where the top row controls brightness and volume. Press → until Window is highlighted, then Return to open it.
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Choose the window
Use ↓ to reach the window, or type the start of its name to jump to it, and press Return. It comes out of the Dock and to the front.
Nothing happens?Apple notes that some keyboard focus shortcuts need turning on first. Open System Settings › Keyboard, click Keyboard Shortcuts, select Keyboard on the left, and turn on the shortcut you want, such as moving focus to the menu bar or the Dock.
App Exposé
Press ⌃↓ to show all the open windows of the app you're in. If App Exposé is turned on in Trackpad settings, a swipe down with three or four fingers does the same. The app's minimized windows appear too, in a row along the bottom of the screen; click one to restore it. Press the keys again, or swipe up, to go back without choosing. Of the routes here, App Exposé is the one that ends with a click.
App Exposé is the quickest way to see which window is which before you pick, because it shows the windows rather than their names. App Exposé on Mac covers the rest of what it does.
The Dock
Unless you've changed the setting below, each minimized window gets its own spot in the Dock, at the end with the Trash. Click it and the window comes back where it was.
- From the keyboard: press ⌃F3, or Fn⌃F3, to move focus to the Dock, use ← and → to go from icon to icon, and press Return on the minimized window.
- From the app's icon: Control-click the app's icon in the Dock to see a menu of its windows, then choose the one you want.
No sign of it in the Dock? If Minimize windows into application icon is off, the window probably wasn't minimized: it may be hidden, on another desktop or off screen. See how to find a lost window.
Minimize windows into application icon
In System Settings › Desktop & Dock, Minimize windows into application icon sends a minimized window into its app's icon instead of giving it a spot of its own. The Dock stays shorter, but there's no thumbnail to click or to reach with ⌃F3. Use the Window menu, App Exposé, or Control-click the app's icon and choose the window. If you'd rather see each window, turn the setting off.
The same section decides how windows get minimized in the first place. If windows vanish into the Dock when you double-click a title bar, the double-click is set to Minimize; choose another action. Apple renamed these settings in macOS 26:
| Setting | macOS 14 and 15 | macOS 26 and 27 |
|---|---|---|
| Where minimized windows go | Minimize windows into application icon | Minimize windows into application icon |
| The minimize animation | Minimize windows using | Minimized window animation |
| Double-clicking a title bar | Double-click a window's title bar to | Window title bar double-click action |
On macOS 14 the double-click choices are Zoom, Minimize and Do Nothing; macOS 15 adds Fill, and macOS 26 renames Do Nothing to No Action. Apple's guide spells the animation setting Minimized windows animation.
With Flick
Flick is a window switcher, and it lists minimized windows alongside your other windows, each marked with a small Minimized icon. Hold ⌥, tap Tab until the window is selected, or type part of its name, and let go: Flick restores it from the Dock and brings it to the front. Windows of a hidden app are listed too, and picking one shows the app again first.
Minimized windows are listed by default; the setting is Show minimized windows in Settings › General. The free version lists your 5 most recent windows; a license lists every window. Flick needs the Accessibility permission to see and restore other apps' windows. How the list treats minimized, hidden and full-screen windows is in Spaces, full screen and minimized windows in Flick.
How Flick brings back minimized windows
Sources
Checked on , for macOS 14, 15, 26 and 27.
- Mac keyboard shortcuts (⌘Tab, ⌘`, ⌘M, ⌥⌘M, ⌃↓ and the keyboard focus shortcuts), Apple Support
- View open windows and spaces in Mission Control on Mac (App Exposé: ⌃↓ and the swipe down), Mac User Guide, Apple
- Use the Dock on Mac (Control-click for the Dock menu, Fn-⌃F3), Mac User Guide, Apple
- Change Desktop & Dock settings on Mac (compared across the macOS 14, 15, 26 and 27 versions of the page), Mac User Guide, Apple
- Move and arrange app windows on Mac (minimizing a window), Mac User Guide, Apple
