Show Only Open Apps in the Mac Dock

The left side of the Dock normally mixes two different things: the apps you pinned there on purpose and the apps that happen to be running. One hidden setting collapses it down to just the second group — the Dock shows only apps that are open right now, and nothing else. It's a single Terminal command, and it reverses exactly as cleanly.

Turn on running-apps-only mode

macOS keeps a Dock preference called static-only. Off by default, it means "always show the persistent icons." Flip it on and the Dock stops drawing pinned shortcuts entirely, leaving only live apps. Open Terminal (in Applications → Utilities) and run:

# Show only apps that are currently open
defaults write com.apple.dock static-only -bool true
killall Dock

The killall Dock restarts the Dock so the change takes hold — your Mac stays running, only the Dock blinks and redraws. Every pinned icon vanishes; what's left is the set of apps actually running at that moment. To put everything back exactly as it was, write the opposite value:

# Restore pinned apps
defaults write com.apple.dock static-only -bool false
killall Dock

Nothing about your pinned apps is deleted — static-only only controls whether they're drawn. Your original Dock returns the instant you switch back, in the same order. This works the same on macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia.

What changes, and what doesn't

The behaviour is narrower than "empty Dock," so it helps to know the edges:

• Finder always shows. Finder is always running, so its icon never leaves — that's expected, not a bug.
• Apps appear and disappear live. Launch Mail and its icon slides into the Dock; quit Mail and it slides out. The Dock becomes a real-time list of what's open.
• The right side is untouched. The Trash, any folder stacks, and minimized-window thumbnails on the far side of the divider stay exactly where they were.
• It's all-or-nothing. There's no "keep these three pinned but hide the rest" — static-only hides every persistent app icon or none.

Launching apps once the shortcuts are gone

The obvious worry is: if my apps aren't pinned, how do I open them? You launch them by name instead of by icon, which is faster than it sounds:

1. Press Cmd+Space to open Spotlight, type the first few letters of an app, and press Return. The app opens and appears in the Dock while it runs.
2. Or open Launchpad and click any app to launch it.
3. Or keep a Finder window on your Applications folder for a full grid of everything installed.

Once you rely on Spotlight for launching, the Dock stops being a launcher at all and becomes a status display — a clean, honest picture of your session. That's the whole appeal of the setting: the Dock earns its space by showing you something true instead of a fixed row of buttons.

Pair it with the right Dock size

A running-apps-only Dock is often nearly empty, which makes it a good moment to shrink and reposition it. See the best Dock settings for Mac for size, magnification, and auto-hide choices that suit a minimal Dock.