Useful macOS defaults: Dock

2010-03-15 17:00

com.apple.dock controls how the Dock looks and behaves. The Dock has more hidden settings than you might expect.

After changing any of these, restart the Dock:

killall Dock

Size and magnification

Set the Dock icon size in pixels (default is about 48):

defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 36

Turn on magnification (icons grow when you hover):

defaults write com.apple.dock magnification -bool true

Set the magnified size in pixels:

defaults write com.apple.dock largesize -int 64

Position

Move the Dock to the left, right, or bottom of the screen:

defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string "left"

Options are left, right, and bottom.

Auto-hide

Hide the Dock until you move your mouse to the edge of the screen:

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true

Change how fast the Dock slides into view (in seconds):

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.5

Set it to 0 for the Dock to appear instantly with no animation.

Change the delay before the Dock starts to appear (in seconds):

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0

The default delay is about 0.5 seconds. Setting it to 0 removes the pause.

To go back to the defaults:

defaults delete com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier
defaults delete com.apple.dock autohide-delay

Minimise effect

Choose the animation when you minimise a window. The options are genie and scale:

defaults write com.apple.dock mineffect -string "scale"

The scale effect is faster than genie.

Minimise windows into their app icon

Instead of putting minimised windows into a separate section of the Dock, tuck them into the app icon:

defaults write com.apple.dock minimize-to-application -bool true

Show only active apps

Hide all apps from the Dock except those currently running:

defaults write com.apple.dock static-only -bool true

This clears out every pinned app. Only running apps appear. To go back to normal:

defaults write com.apple.dock static-only -bool false

Show indicator dots for running apps

The small dots below running apps in the Dock:

defaults write com.apple.dock show-process-indicators -bool true

Set to false to hide them.

Show recent apps in the Dock

macOS adds recently used apps to the right side of the Dock. To stop this:

defaults write com.apple.dock show-recents -bool false

Bouncing icons

Stop app icons from bouncing in the Dock when they want your attention:

defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool true

Highlight hidden apps

Make the Dock icons of hidden apps (Command H) appear translucent:

defaults write com.apple.dock showhidden -bool true

Scroll gestures on Dock icons

Let you use a scroll gesture on a Dock icon to show all that app's windows (like Exposé):

defaults write com.apple.dock scroll-to-open -bool true

Speed up Mission Control animations

Make the Mission Control animation faster:

defaults write com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration -float 0.1

The default is about 0.7 seconds.

Add a spacer tile to the Dock

You can add blank spaces to the Dock to group icons:

# Add a normal-sized spacer
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="spacer-tile";}'

# Add a small spacer
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="small-spacer-tile";}'

Restart the Dock to see them. You can drag the spacer to move it or drag it off the Dock to remove it.

Reset the Dock to factory settings

defaults delete com.apple.dock
killall Dock

This removes all your Dock customisations and sets everything back to how it was when you first set up your Mac.

Read all current Dock settings

defaults read com.apple.dock

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