Minimize Mac windows into their app icon

Turn on Minimize windows into application icon and minimized windows collapse into their app instead of leaving a thumbnail on the Dock. The one thing people worry about is where the window went and how to get it back — so here's the switch, plus every reliable way to restore a window once it's tucked away.

Turn on the behavior

Flip the setting in System Settings → Desktop & Dock — switch on Minimize windows into application icon. Or use Terminal:

# Route minimize into the app icon
defaults write com.apple.dock minimize-to-application -bool true
killall Dock

To switch back to separate Dock thumbnails:

# Undo — back to Dock thumbnails
defaults write com.apple.dock minimize-to-application -bool false
killall Dock

This is the same on macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia. Now minimize a window with Cmd+M, the yellow button, or a double-click on the title bar — it disappears into the app icon rather than the Dock.

Where the window goes

Nothing is closed or lost. The window is still open and still holding your place; it's just held by the app, with no separate tile in the Dock to represent it. The app's Dock icon keeps its running indicator, exactly as before. The only difference is that reopening the window now goes through the app instead of a thumbnail.

Four ways to get it back

1. Right-click the Dock icon. Control-click (or two-finger click) the app's icon and its minimized windows are listed by title near the top of the menu, each with a small diamond. Click one to restore it. This is the most reliable route and works every time.
2. App Exposé. Swipe down with three or four fingers while pointing at the app, or press Control+Down Arrow with the app active. Its windows fan out and minimized ones sit along the bottom — click to bring one forward.
3. Click the icon when nothing else is open. If the app has only minimized windows, clicking its Dock icon un-minimizes them. If the app also has visible windows, clicking just brings those forward, so use the right-click menu in that case.
4. The Window menu. Many apps list their open windows — including minimized ones — under the Window menu in the menu bar; choose one to restore it.

Between the right-click menu and App Exposé, you always have a fast path back, which is what makes this setting comfortable to live with.

Get faster at App Exposé

The restore trick that surprises most people is App Exposé — a per-app spread of every window, minimized ones included. It's worth learning properly: how to use App Exposé on Mac covers the gestures, the keyboard shortcut, and how it fits with minimizing into the icon.