How to stop a click on the desktop hiding windows on a Mac

howtosimply.com/guides/how-to-stop-a-click-on-the-desktop-hiding-windows-on-a-mac/ · Checked 4 October 2026 · MacBook Pro · macOS Tahoe 26

3 of 3 steps with real screenshots · 1 official source below

Device

Mac

Shown on

macOS Tahoe 26 (MacBook Pro)

App

System Settings

Real screenshots

3 of 3 steps

Checked

4 October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Open System Settings

   Click the Apple menu in the top left corner of the screen and choose System Settings.

   Done

2. 

   Click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar

   It is below Appearance. You may need to scroll down in the sidebar.

   Done

3. 

   Scroll to Desktop & Stage Manager and set Click wallpaper to show desktop

   Click the menu in that row. Always, the setting in the picture, moves windows out of the way on every click on the wallpaper. Only in Stage Manager limits that to when Stage Manager is on.

   Done

What we saw on our device

• Click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar: On our MacBook Neo, System Settings opened on General, and Desktop & Dock sits directly below Appearance, visible without scrolling.
• Choose Only in Stage Manager: On our MacBook Neo the menu has just two choices: Always and Only in Stage Manager.

About this guide

On recent versions of macOS, one click on the wallpaper pushes every window aside to reveal the desktop items and widgets. If you click the desktop by accident, your windows seem to vanish. The setting behind it has two choices.

The screenshots show System Settings on macOS Tahoe 26.

Good to know

Show items, the row above, decides whether files on the desktop are shown at all.

In short: Apple menu > System Settings… > Desktop & Dock > Click wallpaper to show desktop: Only in Stage Manager.