Program to minimize certain programs only

Question

I am looking for a free program that allows me to press a keyboard shortcut, and if certain programs are open (ie. not minimized already), then only them should get minimized.

So, if I had Skype, Microsoft Word and Google Chrome open on my screen, then when I press a shortcut, only Microsoft Word should get minimized (according to pre-defined settings).

I hope I make sense!

Requirements:

• free
• keyboard shortcut
• has settings for which programs should be minimized

Answer 1

You should be able to use AutoHotkey (Free, open-source, Windows), something along the lines of:

MinimizeProcess(ExeFile)
{
Process, Exist, %ExeFile%
PID = %ErrorLevel%
if (PID = 0)
{
  Return
}

IfWinExist, ahk_pid %PID%
{
  WinMinimize, ahk_pid %PID%
}
}

!^l::
MinimizeProcess("notepad++.exe")
MinimizeProcess("notepad.exe")
; list all your programs that you want to minimize here
return

But the script needs some improvements (namely fixing issue with WinMinimize, ahk_pid %PID% and making sure that all windows of a process gets minimized).