PanelHider

Some default Windows features aim to make window management more comfortable, such as the Snap feature which automatically resizes and positions windows according to existing ones and edges they’re near to. For a lot more comfort, PanelHider can be used in order to also make target windows hide when not in focus.

One of the application’s main advantages is that it can be used on other computers besides your own, without having to go through a setup process. You can take it for a spin as soon as download is done, and even keep it stored on a thumb drive to easily carry it around. Runtime doesn’t affect any registry entries, thus keeping the health status of the target PC intact.

Once launched, the application minimizes to the tray area and is the place you find it most of the times. Interacting with the icon brings up a panel which is used to configure the target windows. However, this process might leave you scratching your head for a while, because the way this is done is by targeting a window class.

It would have been useful to see a dropper tool to pick a target window, but with a little bit of patience you can easily add any type of window. Hitting the add button requires you to write down the corresponding window class, which, on the bright side, is automatically displayed in a dedicated sections as you hover the cursor over desktop elements.

You don’t necessarily have to keep all windows hidden, with a single click enough to toggle the status. Target windows are automatically stuck to a side of the screen, and hide as soon as they lose focus. A border remains visible to know the position from which to bring them back on screen, which only requires you to hover the cursor.

Taking everything into consideration, we can state that PanelHider is a pretty neat tool you can keep around which is sure to enhance the way you work with multiple windows. These can be set to hide on any edge of the screen, and even though it can take a bit of time to get to know how to add one, it’s worth your while overall.