I know there are supposed to be several ways to do this, but I will explain why they don't work for me.
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Super+D and Super+Ctrl+D both result in this bug. So does the "Show Desktop" button in the Unity launcher and the "Show Desktop" that appears in the Alt+Tab app switcher. I'm guessing that all four execute the same command(s).
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I use
Docky. But the Docky docklet "Show Desktop" does not work due to this bug. -
I don't use the Unity launcher (I hide it) but I guess, as a last resort, I wouldn't be uninterested in ways that involve it. I read about something called "My Unity," but I couldn't find out how to install it. Anyhow, I am primarily interested in a way that uses a keyboard shortcut or
Docky.
So there are three really nice ways to hide all windows and show the desktop that, unfortunately, don't work at the moment.
In this question I am asking for:
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A way to solve one or more of these bugs.
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More ways to accomplish the same thing, without the bugs. I prefer ways that don't depend on the Unity launcher, but I'd still like to hear about those that do.
I'm on Ubuntu 14.04, 64-bit.
Best Answer
You can use multiple workspaces and switch to a new empty workspace instead of minimizing all windows on the current one to see the desktop.
To enable workspaces, open System Settings → Appearance, switch to the Behaviour tab and tick the Enable workspaces checkbox.
Then you have 4 workspaces (2x2) between which you can switch using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Arrow ↑←↓→.
To move the focused window on a different workspace, you can select Move to workspace up/left/down/right or Move to another workspace from the window title bar's context menu, or using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Arrow ↑←↓→.