Dock Mode

A small macOS command-line utility for keeping the Dock focused on currently running apps.

It can:

• Show only currently running apps
• Hide suggested and recent apps
• Lock the Dock to prevent adding, removing, or rearranging items
• Save and restore your previous Dock settings

Requirements

• macOS
• Zsh (included with modern macOS releases)

Usage

Clone the repository and run the script directly:

git clone https://github.com/ben-million/dock-mode.git
cd dock-mode
./dock-mode.sh enable

Available commands:

enable         Show only running apps, hide recent apps, and lock the Dock
disable        Restore the settings saved by enable
running-only   Show only currently running apps
normal         Show pinned apps normally again
recents-off    Hide suggested and recent apps
recents-on     Show suggested and recent apps
lock           Prevent adding, removing, or rearranging Dock items
unlock         Allow Dock items to be changed
status         Display the current settings
help           Display help

Recommended commands

Enable the complete running-apps-only setup:

./dock-mode.sh enable

Restore the settings that were active before enable was first run:

./dock-mode.sh disable

Check the current state:

./dock-mode.sh status

The Dock restarts briefly whenever a setting is changed. Finder, Trash, and other required system items may remain visible.

Notes

Dock Mode uses macOS defaults preferences. Some of these preferences are undocumented and could change in a future macOS release. No administrator privileges are required.