LilHide Support

Hide your desktop icons from the menu bar.

Getting started

LilHide has no window. After launching, look for a small square icon in your menu bar.

• Left-click to hide or show your desktop icons.
• Right-click to open the settings menu.
• Press ⌃⌥⌘H from any app to toggle without reaching for the mouse.

The menu bar icon tells you the current state: four small squares inside a frame means your icons are visible, an empty frame means they're hidden.

Common questions

Why is LilHide asking me to choose an image?

LilHide hides your icons by covering them with a copy of your wallpaper, so the desktop still looks like your desktop. macOS keeps most wallpaper files in places a sandboxed app isn't allowed to read, so LilHide asks you to point at the image once. It reads that one file and nothing else.

You can skip it. LilHide will use a blurred overlay instead, which works but doesn't look as clean. To change your mind later, right-click the menu bar icon and choose Choose Fallback Image.

The desktop looks blurred instead of showing my wallpaper.

That's the fallback. Right-click the menu bar icon, choose Choose Fallback Image, and select your current wallpaper file.

My wallpaper changed but the hidden desktop didn't.

If you use rotating or dynamic wallpapers, the cover image can fall out of step while icons are hidden. Right-click the menu bar icon and choose Refresh Wallpaper, or show and hide again.

I can't click on my desktop while icons are hidden.

By design — the cover sits over the desktop. If you'd rather keep the desktop clickable, enable Allow Clicks on Desktop in the menu. Note that this turns off double-click-to-reveal, since those clicks now go to Finder instead.

Are my files safe?

Yes. LilHide never moves, renames, deletes, or reads your desktop files. It covers them visually. Quit LilHide and everything is exactly where it was.

Does LilHide need any permissions?

No. No Screen Recording, no Accessibility, no Automation. If macOS ever prompts you for a permission and claims it's for LilHide, something else is asking — please email us.

Desktop widgets are hidden too.

Widgets sit on the same layer as your icons, so they're covered along with them. There's currently no way to hide one without the other.

The keyboard shortcut doesn't work.

Another app has probably claimed ⌃⌥⌘H. Check System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts, and any launcher apps you run. Turn the shortcut off and on again in the LilHide menu after freeing it up.

How do I stop LilHide from starting automatically?

Right-click the menu bar icon and turn off Launch at Login. You can also remove it under System Settings → General → Login Items.

How do I uninstall it?

Quit LilHide from its menu, then drag the app from your Applications folder to the Trash. Your icons return the moment the app quits.

System requirements

macOS 13 Ventura or later. Apple silicon and Intel.