It might happen that while playing a particular game on your PC you face the need to search for something on your browser, in this case, you need to have knowledge of the rest of your keyboard function in order to escape the full screen and change to some other tab and completely exiting your game would not be an option since you will lose out on your progress.
You have several options to choose from if you want to quickly minimize any game on your PC. most PC games run in borderless fullscreen mode and you would know this if you often play PC games which means you can not just simply use the minimize button at the top of the window like you would do with other programs to minimize the tabs. If you intend to momentarily minimize your game for any particular reason, it might be a bit tricky but don’t worry, there is a number of ways how you can do this and some of the methods might differ according to the PC you are using.
Key Takeaways:
- Multiple combinations of shortcuts on the keyboard can help you minimize games on your PC
- You will first have to pause the game by pressing the Esc key, followed by the Windows key which will lead to minimizing the gaming tab.
- “Hotkeys” are features associated with any program which functions efficiently with the application, therefore each operating system has its own set of combinations to solve problems and questions such as how to minimize a game.
Set the game to run in windowed mode
If you intend to play the game while keeping the background windows open like for instance tube or Discord then it is recommended you should consider setting your game to run in windowed mode and this will lead to launching your game in a normal window with the minimized, maximize and exit buttons at the top, allowing you to quickly minimize the screen so that you can also multitask easily. A lot of newly launched games are embedded with the native windowed mode function which is available in the settings of your PC whereas for comparatively older games this is not a preferable option, which is until you manage to find a workaround.
You have other options to choose from too since not every game has a native windowed mode or an active community developing quality-of-life mods as mentioned above.
Solution 1
(Alt+Tab)
One of the most easily recognizable tabs on every keyboard is Alt+Tab pressing on which would transfer you to the last active window. But if you press down the Alt key, it will bring up an overly list of the most recently opened active windows on your PC. You have an option of either clicking on the respective window or cycling through them by pressing the Tab key. You will also have the option of accessing the start menu and taskbar while you are focused on a different window.
Solution 2
If the Alt+Tab solution doesn’t work for you then you can always click on the Windows key and this will bring up the Start menu thereby allowing you to change over to the next tab.
- Windows+Down key can be used to resize the game or application that is opened in a windowed fullscreen.
- Window+Tab is very much similar to the Alt+Tab key which opens the task view interface and presents a thumbnail view of all the open applications this option can also be used for switching between different applications and games.
- Window+ G is another shortcut that can be used to minimize the game window. Once you press these keys, an overlay will open from where you can navigate to your desktop and minimize the game.
- Windows+D this solution works almost, in the same way, were holding down the Windows key and simultaneously pressing the D key will also minimize your games window along with any other applications or windows that might be opened on your screen and will also bring you to the desktop.
- Windows+M is the same as Windows+ M and this will also minimize the games along with all the other applications that are open and bring you back to the desktop. But unlike the previous one, this does not restore the minimized windows on pressing these keys again. Instead, the solution is to press Windows+Shift+M to restore all the previously minimized applications.
(Quick Tip: Multiple desktops can be switched between using Ctrl+ Window key+ Right/Left Arrow key shortcut)
Alternatives Solutions:
(Alt+Enter)
You can also try the shortcut of pressing Alt+Enter when you are trying to minimize any particular game on your PC and this will allow you to switch from full screen to windowed mode whether it is in games or other applications. This solution might not always work with all games that you are trying to minimize on your PC, even when it is in windowed mode since you might already know that not all games allow the mouse cursor to traverse through the internal boundaries of the window screen. Therefore, it would automatically imply that you might not be able to minimize every other game by moving the cursor of the mouse on the top right taskbar.
(alt+Esc)
when you have more than one application opened on your tab, this option allows you to minimize any given application and switch to the one present right below it. This will help you minimize the application that is presently being displayed on the screen and in chronological order the rest of the windows follow it. To switch back to your game, you need to cycle through the rest of the open applications by restoring and minimizing them one by one till you reach the first app. This shortcut minimizes one application at a time.
(Ctrl+Alt+Delete)
Following this process would help you minimize all the open windows and applications and bring you back to the desktop.
(Ctrl+shift+esc)
Following this option will help you minimize games and applications that are open on the screen at a time. Ctrl+shift+esc is much similar to ctrl+alt+delete where they both depend on the task manager to minimize the application.
Final Thoughts
You might want to get out of your fullscreen gaming zone and get back to the desktop to attend to some other work and I have already listed a few ways it can be done. Follow the solutions and if you face any problem leave your comment in the comments section below and I will surely reach out to you with preferable solutions asap.
FAQs-
How do I play games on minimized screen?
Alt+Tab functions as a shortcut to switch to various applications already running on the computer.
How do I make a game windowed?
It is possible to switch to a windowed mode simultaneously while playing games by pressing the Alt+Enter hotkey and this works when the gaming mode is in full screen.
How to minimize a game on Steam?
Again, Alt+Tab is considered the easiest way when it comes to minimizing a game on your PC, and in this case, you will have to hold the Alt key down and press the Tab key.
How do I know if my game is frozen?
Computer games might often freeze which can be indicated by various different ways like the sound of the game disappearing or loops, the screen might get dark or it might stop responding to specific commands.
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