Aero Peek - Turn On or Off

How to Turn Aero Peek On or Off in Windows 7​

   Information

This will show you how to turn Windows 7 Aero Peek, also known as Desktop Preview, On or Off to temporarily make all open windows on the desktop transparent when you place the mouse pointer on the button at the far right end of the taskbar.

   Warning

• When turned on, Desktop Preview will only work if you have more than one window opened.
• You will need to have a Aero Theme selected and not one of the Basic and High Contrast Themes for Desktop Preview to work.

Aero Requirements to be Enabled in Windows 7

NOTE: If Aero is not enabled, then Aero Peek will not work even when turned on.

• Aero is not included in Windows 7 Home Basic or Windows 7 Starter editions.
• 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• 1 GB of system memory
• Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (in order to enable Aero theme)
• You must be have True Color (32 bit) set instead of High Color (16 bit).
• The Desktop Window Manager Session Manager and Themes Services need to be set as Started and Automatic.
• Refresh or update your WEI score. You will need an WEI score minimum of 2.0 in both Graphics & Gaming graphics in order for Aero to be activated.
• The desktop composition and Animate controls and elements inside windows options need to be enabled in Visual Effects.

EXAMPLE: Aero Peek
NOTE: This is before (left screenshot) and after (right screenshot) hovering the mouse pointer over the Show Desktop button on the taskbar, or pressing the Windows Key + Spacebar.

OPTION ONE

Turn Aero Peek On or Off in Taskbar and Start Menu Properties

1. Right click on the Start button and click on Properties. A) Go to step 3.
OR

2. Right click on a empty area on the taskbar and click on Properties.

3. Click on the Taskbar tab. (See screenshot below)
4. To Turn Off Aero Peek A) Uncheck the Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop box. (See screenshot above)

B) Go to step 6.
5. To Turn On Aero Peek
NOTE: By default, Desktop is turned on in Windows 7. A) Check the Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop box. (See screenshot below step 3)
6. Click on OK. (See screenshot below step 3)

OPTION TWO

Turn Aero Peek On or Off with Show Desktop Button on Taskbar

1. Right click on the button at the far right of the taskbar. (See screenshot below)
2. To Turn Off Aero Peek A) Right click on the far right taskbar button and select Peek at desktop to uncheck it. (See screenshot above)
3. To Turn On Aero Peek
NOTE: By default, Preview desktop is checked in Windows 7. A) Right click on the far right taskbar button and select Peek at desktop to check it. (See screenshot below step 1)

OPTION THREE

Turn Aero Peek On or Off in Visual Effects

NOTE: This option will also enable or disable taskbar thumbnail live previews. 1. Open the Visual Effects settings.

2. To Enable Areo Peek A) Check the Enable Aero Peek box. (See screenshot below step 4)

B) Go to step 4.
3. To Disable Areo Peek
NOTE: This will gray out the settings in OPTION ONE and OPTION TWO above. A) Uncheck the Enable Aero Peek box. (See screenshot below step 4)
4. Click on OK.

OPTION FOUR

Turn Aero Peek On or Off Using a REG File Download

NOTE: This option will not work if Aero Peek was disabled using OPTION THREE above. 1. To Enable Aero Peek A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below. Enabled_Aero_Peek.reg

Download


B) Go to step 3.
2. To Disable Aero Peek A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below. Disabled_Aero_Peek.reg


Download


3. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the desktop.

4. Right click on the downloaded .reg file and click on Merge.

5. Click on Run, Yes, Yes, and OK when prompted.

6. Log off and log on, or restart the computer.

7. When done, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Use Show Desktop in Windows 7
• How to Create a Show Desktop Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Clear the Desktop with Aero Shake in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Change the Windows 7 Desktop Background
• How to Create a Desktop Slideshow in Windows 7
• How to Add or Remove a Default Desktop Icon in Windows 7
• How to Hide or Show Desktop Icons in Windows 7
• How to Change the Windows 7 Aero Peek Mouse Hover Delay Time to Preview Desktop
• How to Turn Aero Snap and Aero Shake On or Off in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Aero Shake in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Enable Aero in Unsupported Editions of Windows 7
• How to Create a Taskbar Properties Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Taskbar Thumbnail Live Previews in Windows 7

 

[themainevent]

Is it possible to turn off the shimmering rays that appear when you hover over the show desktop icon without turning off aero peek?

 

[Brink]

Hello Themainevent,

Sorry, but not that I know of.

 

[cporet1994]

Aero Peek grayed out

My aero peek is grayed out, it is also checked. I have the proper desk top selected.
I recently had some malware issues and was helped by HP help. I gave the tech control and they performed their majic and voila, I had some issues removed. Now all I get is the name of the window that is open when I move my cursor over the icons. I've tried to reset it and I get an error about needing to turn off the "remote access". well, I've tried to find where it is turned on but can't seem to find anything that shows it is active. any suggestions?

 

[Brink]

Hello Cporet, and welcome to Seven Forums.

It sounds like you may not have Aero working. Check the items in the red Warning box at the top of the turorial to see if any of that may be the issue.

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

 

[tdr2009]

Mine works now

Mine is completely opposite of what one person says, that if you enable the save taskbar thumbnails.
If I disable mine, aero peek works. If I enable it, it doesn't work. Very weird to me.

 

[IJmir]

Disable Aero Peek: nothings works

I tried Option 3 and also Option 4, but Aero Peek refuses to be disabled. What is the solution?
thanks
IJmir

 

[Brink]

Hello IJmir, and welcome to Seven Forums.

I have updated the Disable REG file in OPTION 4. Please download and try it again to see if it may help. Be sure to restart the computer afterwards to apply.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[IJmir]

Thanks Shawn,

I downloaded it again (by clicking on the original button under option 4) but Aero Peek is still (annoyingly) there. Why would it be so difficult to remove a feature that nobody asked for in the first place (as far as I'm aware). At least when I buy a house and it comes with mosquitos I can use a spray to get rid of them. But when I buy Windows 7 and it comes with Aero Peek, there is no way to get rid of it?
IJmir

.... I followed the steps as given in the original advice and also shut down the laptop and started it again after following those steps.
IJmir

 

[Brink]

IJmir,

Were you not able to do Option 1 and/or Option 2 to turn off Aero Peek?

 

[IJmir]

Turning Aero peek off

Shawn,

Yes, Options 1 and 2 work, but they only disable Aero Peek for a peek at the Desktop. So I am still stuck with annoying windows popping up every time I move the cursor too low
Is there really no way to get rid of this feature?
IJmir

 

[Brink]

Shawn,

Yes, Options 1 and 2 work, but they only disable Aero Peek for a peek at the Desktop. So I am still stuck with annoying windows popping up every time I move the cursor too low
Is there really no way to get rid of this feature?
IJmir

Oh, I see. You were wanting to stop the "Show Desktop" pop-up instead. The tutorial is not for that, but only to turn the Aero Peek feature on or off for the transparent window look.

Sorry, but there is no way to stop this pop-up other than not hovering over the Aero Peek/Show Desktop button on the taskbar.

 

[Brink]

IJmir,

I just remember this that will remove this button from the taskbar that may work for you.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/83729-show-desktop-button-add-remove-taskbar.html

 

[IJmir]

Aero peek

Looking at your earlier reply, I think we may have misunderstood each other. You wrote "You were wanting to stop the "Show Desktop" pop-up instead. The tutorial is not for that, but only to turn the Aero Peek feature on or off for the transparent window look." The "Show Desktop" pop-up I managed to disable without any problem (even though I don't mind it so much because it's just one pop-up and it only pops up when the cursor is in the extreme lower-right corner of the screen - which hardly ever happens so it's not such a nuisance).

It is in fact "turn the Aero Peek feature on or off for the transparent window look." that I am looking for - so I can turn it off. But it is simply not happening. Nothing works. The tutorial doesn't do it either. So every time the cursor goes too low, a host of mini windows pop up which I find very distracting

IJmir

 

[Brink]

IJmir,

As a test, create a new administrator account and see if you are able to turn Aero Peek off while logged in it.

 

[tenne]

Aero Peak Solution

Hello,

There is one more option you can try to get Aero Peek working. Go to 'Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Personalization' and select one of the Aero Themes. If you do not have an Aero Theme selected here, Aero Peek won't work no matter what selections you have made elsewhere.

Check items in the red Warning box at the top of the tutorial.

Tenne

 

[Naughtybynature]

My issue solved

Hi, Thankyou so much for this solution. I have been trying to fix this myself since a long time. I got my issue solved in 5 mins just by following your instructions. My Aero features are working great now. Keep up your good work

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome NaughtybyNature, and welcome to Seven Forums.

 

[m01000100]

another option

system was set to High Colour. Changed to True Colour (right click desktop --> Screen Resolution --> Advanced Settings --> List All Modes) and voila!; back in business.

 

[jonnyhotchkiss]

I've just noticed on my new build of 7600, strangely, that the options (options 4-6) aren't actually there.

Maybe the auto-fix will magically restore it, maybe it was my over-zealous optimising that has achieved this "state" - will check in a sec ala reboots, first trying to manually ascertain (as I fear regfromapp.exe will fail as usual even when running with a winpatch... again we'll see).

New build exhibiting the anomaly is mounted on f: sw and sys hives are loaded.
Quick comparison tells me it's not UxSms, it's not the shake disable setting, NoWindowMinimizingShortcuts I added (AFAIK!)....

first thing, reboot into backup (before tweaks
I'm a dab hand with diskpart and bcdedit now at least!

 

[Brink]

You might also check this:

How to Turn Aero Snap and Aero Shake On or Off in Windows 7

(works in Windows 7 as well) Aero Shake - Enable or Disable in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums