Disable Dock icon bouncing on Mac

Updated 2026 · 4 min read

The macOS Dock bounces icons in two distinct situations: when an app is launching, and when a running app wants your attention. They're controlled by separate preference keys. This guide covers both, how to undo them, and why System Settings doesn't expose either one.

Two types of bouncing

It's worth separating these because you might want to turn off one but not the other:

Launch bounce: an icon bounces while the app is starting up. Stops once the app is open.
Attention bounce: an icon bounces repeatedly when the app is in the background and needs input — a permission dialog, a download finished, a calendar reminder.

macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia have no System Settings toggle for either. Both are Terminal-only.

Stop the launch animation bounce

Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities) and run:

# disable the bounce when apps are opening
defaults write com.apple.dock launchanim -bool false && killall Dock

Apps still open normally; the bouncing animation is just removed. On fast machines the animation was already brief — this makes launches feel instant.

To restore it:

# re-enable launch bounce
defaults write com.apple.dock launchanim -bool true && killall Dock

Stop the attention-request bounce

This is the more disruptive one — an icon bouncing in your peripheral vision every few seconds while you're focused on something else. To silence it:

# stop apps bouncing when they want attention
defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool true && killall Dock

Note the logic: no-bouncing set to true means bouncing is disabled. To bring it back:

# re-enable attention-request bounce
defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool false && killall Dock

Disable both at once

If you want a completely still Dock, run both commands together:

# disable both launch and attention bouncing
defaults write com.apple.dock launchanim -bool false
defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool true
killall Dock

Do it in one click

Mainspring turns this exact setting — and 90+ others macOS buries in Terminal — into a single labelled toggle. Flip Disable Dock icon bouncing on, and flip it back just as fast. No commands to memorize, nothing permanent.

Try Mainspring free →

Signed & notarized by Apple · 1-day free trial · $29 once

Will you miss anything important?

The concern with disabling attention bouncing is missing notifications. In practice, macOS surfaces most of the same alerts through Notification Center (top-right of the screen) and the notification banner system — which are unaffected by this setting. The Dock bounce is a secondary signal; silencing it doesn't stop the primary ones.

If a specific app relies on Dock bouncing as its only notification mechanism and you find yourself missing things, you can re-enable bouncing just for that app's category by adjusting its notification settings in System Settings → Notifications.

Frequently asked questions

Does the badge (red dot with number) still appear?

Yes. Badge counts on Dock icons are controlled separately and are not affected by either launchanim or no-bouncing. You'll still see the red badge even when bouncing is fully off.

Does this affect third-party apps?

Yes — it applies system-wide. Any app that would normally bounce when requesting attention will stop doing so. There is no per-app granularity through these defaults keys.

Do I need to restart my Mac?

No. The killall Dock part of each command restarts the Dock process immediately. The change takes effect within a second and persists across restarts without any additional action.