Clear your Mac's desktop of apps and reopen them when needed with Later

Later Desktop Screenshot On Macbook
Later Desktop Screenshot On Macbook (Image credit: Alyssa X)

What you need to know

  • Later is a new app that automatically hides your apps to give you a clean desktop.
  • Use Later to automatically reopen all apps and windows when you're ready.
  • Need your windows to reopen after a set time? Later can handle that, too.

Need to clear your desktop in a flash but don't want to lose where all of your windows were? You need Later, a new macOS app that's available to download today.

The new app is both simple and a genius idea because it requires just one keyboard shortcut to instantly clear your Mac's desktop of all windows and apps. It could be perfect for sharing your screen via a video call or just when someone comes to visit your desk in the office. Whatever the reason for you to use it, Later makes it just as easy to get all of those windows and apps back, too.

Check out the promo video to see Later in action.

Options include the ability to quit apps instead of just hiding them as well as a timer that will automatically re-open everything once it expires. All you need is macOS 11.6 or later and you're golden.

If that sounds like something you could benefit from — and really, it should — now is the time to download it. Normally priced at $20, Later is available this week with a 40% discount — check out the Later website and you can buy it for just $12 right now.

This has the potential to become one of the best Mac apps for people who work in an office, have to share their screens with others, or just like to have a clean desktop every once in a while. Grab it now while that price is locked in!

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.