Is there a way of clearing the Layout Screen without closing each and every panel?
Type in the command bar "close all" you can select and then drag it to your shortcut bar for future use.
The shortcut key for this is Ctrl+Shift+W (or Cmd+Shift+W on Mac).
Thank you those are both very helpful!
Also remember you can 'drag' the close command up to your favorites bar (what I did).
EDIT: I'm blind!! Didn't read all of Philana's.
The shortcut key for this is (...) Cmd+Shift+W on Mac
I think you'll have better success with cmd-alt-w. [;)]