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Freedom251 › Blog › Aero Shake

What Is Aero Shake in Windows? How It Works and How to Turn It Off

By Freedom251 Team · · 2 min read

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Aero Shake is a Windows gesture that minimizes every other open window when you quickly shake the active window by its title bar. The selected window stays visible. Microsoft’s current setting name is Title bar window shake; you can switch it on or off in Settings on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

What Aero Shake does

When several windows are open, click and hold the title bar of the window you want to keep, then move it back and forth quickly. Windows minimizes the other open windows and leaves that active window on screen. It is a quick way to clear the desktop without closing your apps.

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Shake the active window again to restore the windows that were minimized by the gesture. Microsoft describes the feature as a way “to quickly minimize all open windows except the one you’re working on.” The current Windows setting is called Title bar window shake. Microsoft Support’s instructions cover Windows 10 and Windows 11.

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How to turn Aero Shake on or off

  1. Open Start > Settings > System > Multitasking.
  2. Find Title bar window shake.
  3. Turn the toggle on to use the gesture, or off to prevent shaking a window from minimizing or restoring other windows.

Microsoft documents this settings route for Windows 10 and Windows 11. The exact screen layout or wording around the toggle can vary by release.

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How organizations can disable the gesture

On managed devices, an administrator can use the user policy Turn off Aero Shake window minimizing mouse gesture. The policy name is NoWindowMinimizingShortcuts. When enabled, it prevents application windows from being minimized or restored when the active window is shaken back and forth with the mouse. If disabled or not configured, the gesture applies.

Microsoft maps the policy to SoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftWindowsExplorer and the value NoWindowMinimizingShortcuts. Its documented scope is User. Supported editions include Pro, Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise / IoT Enterprise LTSC. Microsoft lists applicability for Windows 10 version 2004, 20H2, and 21H1 with KB5005101 and later, and Windows 11 version 21H2 and later. These are policy applicability details, not a complete history of when Aero Shake was available. See Microsoft’s ADMX_Desktop Policy CSP documentation for the policy details.

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Aero Shake is separate from other window-arrangement features

Turning off Title bar window shake disables this specific shake-to-minimize gesture; it does not mean every Windows feature for arranging or managing windows is disabled. On a personal PC, use the built-in Settings toggle rather than starting with a registry edit. On a work or school PC, an organization may manage the setting, so contact its IT administrator if the toggle is unavailable or cannot be changed.

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Aero ShakemultitaskingWindowsWindows 10Windows 11

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