Help! I've somehow hidden an application and can't get it back

abeall · #1 March 23rd, 2007, 12:06 PM

I've been using a Mac for a couple years, but have never used the Hide program/Show program command. Right now I'm working with Adobe Fireworks 8, and I went to press a keyboard shortcut and accidentally hit Cmd+H, which hides the program. I have a lot of unsaved data. How do I get the program back? If I alt+tab, it's still there and acts like I can select it. It doesn't seem frozen. I can right click the program in the dock and change the document, and it seems to work fine. But I simply can't get the program to appear! If I right click the program in the dock and press "Show" nothing happens, and it still says "Show". Is there a way to force it back using the Terminal?

I will say that at one point, I believe before I tried to hit "Show", I right clicked the program in the dock and chose "Quit" in hopes it would force it back with a "you have unsaved data" prompt.

Tommo · #2 March 23rd, 2007, 12:22 PM

If I hide applications all I have to do is click on the icon in the dock and it shows it again. I am using 10.4.9, I don't know if it is any different in earlier versions of the OS.

abeall · #3 March 23rd, 2007, 12:27 PM

I'm on 10.4.8. Clearly something has gone wrong and the application is not being shown when it should be. Clicking the dock icon doesn't bring it back, selecting "Show all" doesn't bring it back, trying to focus to it using alt+tab doesn't bring it back. The application as far as I can tell is humming nicely, the System Monitor shows it's active but not overloaded, like I said I can right click and change the active document... it's just invisible and won't come into focut. Bad, because I have a completely unsaved document with quite a bit of work. Idiot me for never saving it to a file.

Looking for any way to force it back through the Terminal, then if that doesn't work I'm just starting over.

abeall · #4 March 23rd, 2007, 12:48 PM

Forget it. I forced it to Quit. Hour work lost, but I don't have hours to try and make it show up, I'll just remake it. Yar.

lbj · #5 March 23rd, 2007, 04:07 PM

Sorry, too late to be of use for you, but maybe next time try to bring it foward and "save" even if you can't see it.