Exposé is a special feature of the Mac operating system that was first introduced with Mac OS X 10.3. Exposé lets you view all open Finder windows or all open windows in a single application at one time so that you can bring one easily to the front. The best way to understand Exposé is to view a screenshot of it in action.

Image of Expose window in Mac OS X

As you can see in the screenshot, all of the open windows on my desktop can be viewed at one time. To select one window, I would only need to click on it and that window would become the active, frontmost window.

You have three options for setting shortcuts for Exposé on the Exposé preferences pane in the Mac OS X System Preferences. You can set keyboard or mouse shortcuts to open:

  • All windows - All open windows will be displayed at one time, as in the screenshot above.
  • Application windows - All open windows in the frontmost application program will be opened at one time.

Image of application windows in Expose in Mac OS X

  • Show Desktop - All windows will appear to close and you will see only your desktop.

Image of desktop in Expose in Mac OS X

To set keyboard and mouse shortcuts for Exposé, click the buttons next to "All windows," "Application windows" and "Show Desktop" and select the shortcuts you want from the drop-down menus.