macOS shows your recently used apps in Dock so that you can easily access them. Times when you are working with multiple apps simultaneously, it comes in super handy, saving not only your precious time but also boosting productivity. By default, macOS displays only the three most recent apps in the Dock. However, there is a pretty neat hack through which you can show more or fewer recent apps in your Mac’s Dock. And that’s exactly what I’m going to show you in this hands-on guide:
Show More or Fewer Recent Apps in Your Mac’s Dock
Before moving ahead, let’s figure out how this hack works!
So, How Does This Hack Work?
Well, it requires you to use Terminal commands to increase or decrease the number of recently opened apps that appear in the Dock. Bother not, pasting commands into Terminal is as straightforward as it can ever get. So, even if you are a newbie, you shouldn’t worry about anything as it is secure and works like a charm.
Control How Many Apps are Shown in Mac’s Dock
1. To get started, launch the Terminal app on your Mac. Simply, press the Command+Spacebar -> type in Terminal and then launch it.
2. After that, paste the following command in the Terminal window.
defaults write com.apple.dock show-recents -bool true; defaults write com.apple.dock show-recent-count -int 10; killall Dock
3. Then, press Enter.
It’s worth pointing out that the -int argument represents the number of recently opened apps that you want to show in the Dock after the divider. In the above argument, we have decided to show 10 apps in the Dock. However, you can choose to increase or decrease the number as per your needs.
And that’s about it! The change will come into play with immediate effect and start showing the desired number of most recent apps in your Mac’s Dock.
Later, if you ever want to revert the change and show only three apps in the Dock, use the-int 3 in the second command.
defaults write com.apple.dock show-recents -bool true; defaults write com.apple.dock show-recent-count -int 3; killall Dock
Show/Hide Recent Apps in Mac’s Dock
Note that the modern versions of macOS offer you the flexibility to show or hide the recent apps in Mac’s Dock. Hence, you can choose to display the recent apps or prevent them from popping up in the Dock as per your needs.
- Head over to the System Settings app on your Mac -> Desktop & Dock.
- Now, turn on/off the toggle for Show recent applications in Dock and you are good to go!
