18.04application-switcher
I want to see a "show desktop" icon when I press Alt+Tab (i.e. in the Application-switcher).
My question is the opposite of How can I remove "Show Desktop" from the Alt-Tab (application) switcher?
I am using Ubuntu 18.04.
I have installed GNOME Tweak Tool which I think may help, but I don't know how to achieve what I want.
I've uploaded a Unity build for 12.04 that fixes this (no Show Desktop in the Alt-Tab switcher).
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:izx/askubuntu -y sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install unity
You can enable the "Show Desktop Icon" setting in the Unity Plugin in Compiz (using ccsm) to get the icon on the Launcher on the left:
If/when a new Unity update is released, Update Manager will download it automatically. I will try to "fix" the update and put it in the PPA as soon as possible; please add a comment to this answer to alert me if you upgrade and "Show Desktop" re-appears in the Switcher!
I modified the Unity Source. It consists of two steps:
plugins/unityshell/src/LauncherController.cpp, which by default adds the "Show Desktop" icon to the switcher:// results.push_back(pimpl->desktop_icon_);
Change line 1638 in plugins/unityshell/src/unityshell.cpp from:
if (!(results.size() == 1 && results[0]->GetIconType() == AbstractLauncherIcon::IconType::TYPE_DESKTOP))
to
if (!results.size() == 0))
Press Ctrl + Super + D. Super is normally the windows key - the same which opens the acitivites overview.
To view shortcuts, open settings and go to Keyboard and then the Shortcuts tab. This shortcut is "Hide all normal windows" under Navigation.
Incedentally, Super + D also works for me - I'm not sure why!
My pronouns are He / Him
Best Answer
This is not implemented in Gnome Shell, the desktop used by Ubuntu 18.04. In many cases, gnome extensions can implement desired features, but I do not know of an extension that specifically meets your desire to have a "Show Desktop" icon in the application switcher.
To quickly show the desktop, you can set up a hotkey to hide all windows at once (i.e., show desktop). In Settings - Keyboard, find "Hide all normal windows" under "Navigation" and assign it a shortcut, for example Super+d.
A hack you might try, if you think it is worth it, is to create a "Show desktop" launcher as outlined in this Askubuntu question. Pin it as a favorite to your Dock (or Dash if using pure Gnome). Then install the extension Super+Tab launcher, which is well maintained at the time of writing. This extension includes your not running favorites in the Alt+Tab switcher. It thus will also contain your launcher to minimize all windows. The catch however is that all favorites will now be in the launcher, unless you remove the other favorites from the dock/dash.