I really like the "Minimize to tray" code that is included in the autohotkey help file. (I'll include it here:)
; CHANGES:
; July 22, 2005 (changes provided by egilmour):
; - Added new hotkey to unhide the last hidden window (Win+U)
;
; November 3, 2004 (changes provided by trogdor):
; - Program manager is prevented from being hidden.
; - If there is no active window, the minimize-to-tray hotkey will have
; no effect rather than waiting indefinitely.
;
; October 23, 2004:
; - The taskbar is prevented from being hidden.
; - Some possible problems with long window titles have been fixed.
; - Windows without a title can be hidden without causing problems.
; - If the script is running under AHK v1.0.22 or greater, the
; maximum length of each menu item is increased from 100 to 260.
; CONFIGURATION SECTION: Change the below values as desired.
; This is the maximum number of windows to allow to be hidden (having a
; limit helps performance):
mwt_MaxWindows = 50
; This is the hotkey used to hide the active window:
mwt_Hotkey = #h ; Win+H
; This is the hotkey used to unhide the last hidden window:
mwt_UnHotkey = #u ; Win+U
; If you prefer to have the tray menu empty of all the standard items,
; such as Help and Pause, use N. Otherwise, use Y:
mwt_StandardMenu = N
; These next few performance settings help to keep the action within the
; #HotkeyModifierTimeout period, and thus avoid the need to release and
; press down the hotkey's modifier if you want to hide more than one
; window in a row. These settings are not needed you choose to have the
; script use the keyboard hook via #InstallKeybdHook or other means:
#HotkeyModifierTimeout 100
SetWinDelay 10
SetKeyDelay 0
#SingleInstance ; Allow only one instance of this script to be running.
; END OF CONFIGURATION SECTION (do not make changes below this point
; unless you want to change the basic functionality of the script).
Hotkey, %mwt_Hotkey%, mwt_Minimize
Hotkey, %mwt_UnHotkey%, mwt_UnMinimize
; If the user terminates the script by any means, unhide all the
; windows first:
OnExit, mwt_RestoreAllThenExit
if mwt_StandardMenu = Y
Menu, Tray, Add
else
{
Menu, Tray, NoStandard
Menu, Tray, Add, E&xit and Unhide All, mwt_RestoreAllThenExit
}
Menu, Tray, Add, &Unhide All Hidden Windows, mwt_RestoreAll
Menu, Tray, Add ; Another separator line to make the above more special.
if a_AhkVersion = ; Since it's blank, version is older than 1.0.22.
mwt_MaxLength = 100
else
mwt_MaxLength = 260 ; Reduce this to restrict the width of the menu.
return ; End of auto-execute section.
mwt_Minimize:
if mwt_WindowCount >= %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
MsgBox No more than %mwt_MaxWindows% may be hidden simultaneously.
return
}
; Set the "last found window" to simplify and help performance.
; Since in certain cases it is possible for there to be no active window,
; a timeout has been added:
WinWait, A,, 2
if ErrorLevel <> 0 ; It timed out, so do nothing.
return
; Otherwise, the "last found window" has been set and can now be used:
WinGet, mwt_ActiveID, ID
WinGetTitle, mwt_ActiveTitle
WinGetClass, mwt_ActiveClass
if mwt_ActiveClass in Shell_TrayWnd,Progman
{
MsgBox The desktop and taskbar cannot be hidden.
return
}
; Because hiding the window won't deactivate it, activate the window
; beneath this one (if any). I tried other ways, but they wound up
; activating the task bar. This way sends the active window (which is
; about to be hidden) to the back of the stack, which seems best:
Send, !{esc}
; Hide it only now that WinGetTitle/WinGetClass above have been run (since
; by default, those commands cannot detect hidden windows):
WinHide
; If the title is blank, use the class instead. This serves two purposes:
; 1) A more meaningful name is used as the menu name.
; 2) Allows the menu item to be created (otherwise, blank items wouldn't
; be handled correctly by the various routines below).
if mwt_ActiveTitle =
mwt_ActiveTitle = ahk_class %mwt_ActiveClass%
; Ensure the title is short enough to fit. mwt_ActiveTitle also serves to
; uniquely identify this particular menu item.
StringLeft, mwt_ActiveTitle, mwt_ActiveTitle, %mwt_MaxLength%
; In addition to the tray menu requiring that each menu item name be
; unique, it must also be unique so that we can reliably look it up in
; the array when the window is later unhidden. So make it unique if it
; isn't already:
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
if mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% = %mwt_ActiveTitle%
{
; Match found, so it's not unique.
; First remove the 0x from the hex number to conserve menu space:
StringTrimLeft, mwt_ActiveIDShort, mwt_ActiveID, 2
StringLen, mwt_ActiveIDShortLength, mwt_ActiveIDShort
StringLen, mwt_ActiveTitleLength, mwt_ActiveTitle
mwt_ActiveTitleLength += %mwt_ActiveIDShortLength%
mwt_ActiveTitleLength += 1 ; +1 the 1 space between title & ID.
if mwt_ActiveTitleLength > %mwt_MaxLength%
{
; Since menu item names are limted in length, trim the title
; down to allow just enough room for the Window's Short ID at
; the end of its name:
TrimCount = %mwt_ActiveTitleLength%
TrimCount -= %mwt_MaxLength%
StringTrimRight, mwt_ActiveTitle, mwt_ActiveTitle, %TrimCount%
}
; Build unique title:
mwt_ActiveTitle = %mwt_ActiveTitle% %mwt_ActiveIDShort%
break
}
}
; First, ensure that this ID doesn't already exist in the list, which can
; happen if a particular window was externally unhidden (or its app unhid
; it) and now it's about to be re-hidden:
mwt_AlreadyExists = n
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
if mwt_WindowID%a_index% = %mwt_ActiveID%
{
mwt_AlreadyExists = y
break
}
}
; Add the item to the array and to the menu:
if mwt_AlreadyExists = n
{
Menu, Tray, add, %mwt_ActiveTitle%, RestoreFromTrayMenu
mwt_WindowCount += 1
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows% ; Search for a free slot.
{
; It should always find a free slot if things are designed right.
if mwt_WindowID%a_index% = ; An empty slot was found.
{
mwt_WindowID%a_index% = %mwt_ActiveID%
mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% = %mwt_ActiveTitle%
break
}
}
}
return
RestoreFromTrayMenu:
Menu, Tray, delete, %A_ThisMenuItem%
; Find window based on its unique title stored as the menu item name:
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
if mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% = %A_ThisMenuItem% ; Match found.
{
StringTrimRight, IDToRestore, mwt_WindowID%a_index%, 0
WinShow, ahk_id %IDToRestore%
WinActivate ahk_id %IDToRestore% ; Sometimes needed.
mwt_WindowID%a_index% = ; Make it blank to free up a slot.
mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% =
mwt_WindowCount -= 1
break
}
}
return
;; This will pop the last minimized window off the stack and unhide it.
mwt_UnMinimize:
;; Make sure there's something to unhide.
if mwt_WindowCount > 0
{
;; Get the id of the last window minimized and unhide it
StringTrimRight, IDToRestore, mwt_WindowID%mwt_WindowCount%, 0
WinShow, ahk_id %IDToRestore%
WinActivate ahk_id %IDToRestore%
;; Get the menu name of the last window minimized and remove it
StringTrimRight, MenuToRemove, mwt_WindowTitle%mwt_WindowCount%, 0
Menu, Tray, delete, %MenuToRemove%
;; clean up our 'arrays' and decrement the window count
mwt_WindowID%mwt_WindowCount% =
mwt_WindowTitle%mwt_WindowCount% =
mwt_WindowCount -= 1
}
return
mwt_RestoreAllThenExit:
Gosub, mwt_RestoreAll
ExitApp ; Do a true exit.
mwt_RestoreAll:
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
if mwt_WindowID%a_index% <>
{
StringTrimRight, IDToRestore, mwt_WindowID%a_index%, 0
WinShow, ahk_id %IDToRestore%
WinActivate ahk_id %IDToRestore% ; Sometimes needed.
; Do it this way vs. DeleteAll so that the sep. line and first
; item are retained:
StringTrimRight, MenuToRemove, mwt_WindowTitle%a_index%, 0
Menu, Tray, delete, %MenuToRemove%
mwt_WindowID%a_index% = ; Make it blank to free up a slot.
mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% =
mwt_WindowCount -= 1
}
if mwt_WindowCount = 0
break
}
return
The only thing is, I tend to use it for when I have a window I'm not really using and just want to kind of have it hanging around on the off chance that I need it again. Therefore I would prefer that when the app exited it would kill all the windows contained within instead of releasing them back onto the desktop. This way I can clean my junk windows with a simple click. To accomplish this, I tried replacing the mwt_RestoreAll call in the mwt_RestoreAllThenExit section with the code from mwt_RestoreAll, with the addition of Winclose, ahk_id %IDToRestore%. This prevents the windows from appearing. However, the processes aren't dead - they're still running in the background. Obviously this is useless - help??? Thanks!!
Here's my attempt. (Clearly I don't understand what I'm doing)
mwt_MaxWindows = 50
mwt_Hotkey = #g ; Win+H
mwt_UnHotkey = +#g ; Win+U
mwt_StandardMenu = N
#HotkeyModifierTimeout 100
SetWinDelay 10
SetKeyDelay 0
#SingleInstance Force ; Allow only one instance of this script to be running.
Hotkey, %mwt_Hotkey%, mwt_Minimize
Hotkey, %mwt_UnHotkey%, mwt_UnMinimize
OnExit, mwt_RestoreAllThenExit
if mwt_StandardMenu = Y
Menu, Tray, Add
else
{
Menu, Tray, NoStandard
Menu, Tray, Add, E&xit and Unhide All, mwt_RestoreAllThenExit
}
Menu, Tray, Add, &Unhide All Hidden Windows, mwt_RestoreAll
Menu, Tray, Add ; Another separator line to make the above more special.
if a_AhkVersion = ; Since it's blank, version is older than 1.0.22.
mwt_MaxLength = 100
else
mwt_MaxLength = 260 ; Reduce this to restrict the width of the menu.
return ; End of auto-execute section.
mwt_Minimize:
if mwt_WindowCount >= %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
MsgBox No more than %mwt_MaxWindows% may be hidden simultaneously.
return
}
WinWait, A,, 2
if ErrorLevel <> 0 ; It timed out, so do nothing.
return
WinGet, mwt_ActiveID, ID
WinGetTitle, mwt_ActiveTitle
WinGetClass, mwt_ActiveClass
if mwt_ActiveClass in Shell_TrayWnd,Progman
{
MsgBox The desktop and taskbar cannot be hidden.
return
}
;Send, !{esc}
WinHide
if mwt_ActiveTitle =
mwt_ActiveTitle = ahk_class %mwt_ActiveClass%
StringLeft, mwt_ActiveTitle, mwt_ActiveTitle, %mwt_MaxLength%
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
if mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% = %mwt_ActiveTitle%
{
StringTrimLeft, mwt_ActiveIDShort, mwt_ActiveID, 2
StringLen, mwt_ActiveIDShortLength, mwt_ActiveIDShort
StringLen, mwt_ActiveTitleLength, mwt_ActiveTitle
mwt_ActiveTitleLength += %mwt_ActiveIDShortLength%
mwt_ActiveTitleLength += 1 ; +1 the 1 space between title & ID.
if mwt_ActiveTitleLength > %mwt_MaxLength%
{
TrimCount = %mwt_ActiveTitleLength%
TrimCount -= %mwt_MaxLength%
StringTrimRight, mwt_ActiveTitle, mwt_ActiveTitle, %TrimCount%
}
mwt_ActiveTitle = %mwt_ActiveTitle% %mwt_ActiveIDShort%
break
}
}
mwt_AlreadyExists = n
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
if mwt_WindowID%a_index% = %mwt_ActiveID%
{
mwt_AlreadyExists = y
break
}
}
if mwt_AlreadyExists = n
{
Menu, Tray, add, %mwt_ActiveTitle%, RestoreFromTrayMenu
mwt_WindowCount += 1
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows% ; Search for a free slot.
{
if mwt_WindowID%a_index% = ; An empty slot was found.
{
mwt_WindowID%a_index% = %mwt_ActiveID%
mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% = %mwt_ActiveTitle%
break
}
}
}
return
RestoreFromTrayMenu:
Menu, Tray, delete, %A_ThisMenuItem%
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
if mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% = %A_ThisMenuItem% ; Match found.
{
StringTrimRight, IDToRestore, mwt_WindowID%a_index%, 0
WinShow, ahk_id %IDToRestore%
WinActivate ahk_id %IDToRestore% ; Sometimes needed.
mwt_WindowID%a_index% = ; Make it blank to free up a slot.
mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% =
mwt_WindowCount -= 1
break
}
}
return
mwt_UnMinimize:
if mwt_WindowCount > 0
{
StringTrimRight, IDToRestore, mwt_WindowID%mwt_WindowCount%, 0
WinShow, ahk_id %IDToRestore%
WinActivate ahk_id %IDToRestore%
StringTrimRight, MenuToRemove, mwt_WindowTitle%mwt_WindowCount%, 0
Menu, Tray, delete, %MenuToRemove%
mwt_WindowID%mwt_WindowCount% =
mwt_WindowTitle%mwt_WindowCount% =
mwt_WindowCount -= 1
}
return
mwt_RestoreAllThenExit:
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
if mwt_WindowID%a_index% <>
{
StringTrimRight, IDToRestore, mwt_WindowID%a_index%, 0
Winclose, ahk_id %IDToRestore% ; This is my addition
StringTrimRight, MenuToRemove, mwt_WindowTitle%a_index%, 0
Menu, Tray, delete, %MenuToRemove%
mwt_WindowID%a_index% = ; Make it blank to free up a slot.
mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% =
mwt_WindowCount -= 1
}
if mwt_WindowCount = 0
break
}
ExitApp ; Do a true exit.
mwt_RestoreAll:
Loop, %mwt_MaxWindows%
{
if mwt_WindowID%a_index% <>
{
StringTrimRight, IDToRestore, mwt_WindowID%a_index%, 0
WinShow, ahk_id %IDToRestore%
WinActivate ahk_id %IDToRestore% ; Sometimes needed.
StringTrimRight, MenuToRemove, mwt_WindowTitle%a_index%, 0
Menu, Tray, delete, %MenuToRemove%
mwt_WindowID%a_index% = ; Make it blank to free up a slot.
mwt_WindowTitle%a_index% =
mwt_WindowCount -= 1
}
if mwt_WindowCount = 0
break
}
return
