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Auto Hide Windows
If you are using docked windows, you can have them available for use but kept minimized or hidden until you actually need to use them. The windows are represented by tabs in the top, bottom, left or right margins of the work area. In the illustration, the Browser window is the open hidden window with the Focus window, Inspector window, Properties window, Discuss & Review window and Diagram Toolbox hidden in the margin.
When you move the cursor over the tab, the window overlays the screen and you can work within it. As soon as you move the cursor out of the window, it automatically contracts into the margin tab again. This means that you have the maximum work area for performing your main task, with the convenience of still being able to immediately use any of a wide range of other windows.
If you 'hide' a tabbed frame of docked windows, those windows are hidden together in one click. Each window behaves in the same way as before, but if you cancel auto hide on one of them they are all released.
When you cancel the auto hide on a docked window (or a frame of windows) it will persist on the screen as an insert (pushing visible window borders across to take up some of the display) when you select it.
Auto Hide a Window or Set of Windows
- To set the displayed window to 'auto hide', click on the
button in the top right corner of the window; any other windows in the same frame as the open window are set to 'auto hide' as well - To turn off 'auto hide' for a particular window, or set of windows within a frame, click on the
button
Notes
- You can only auto hide docked windows; if you want to auto hide a floating window, dock it against a margin first
- When you select an auto hidden window, it immediately displays against the nearest work area margin; you can make the auto hidden window slide out of and into the margin by selecting the 'Animate Autohide Windows' checkbox on the 'Window Behavior' page of the 'Preferences' dialog ('Start > Appearance > Preferences > Preferences > General > Window Behavior')