Make a hidden Dock pop up instantly — via Yann Bertrand, macos-defaults.com

Commandlow riskmacOS 14 Sonoma and later

If you auto-hide the Dock to save screen space, macOS waits a moment before showing it and then slides it in slowly. Two hidden Dock settings remove the wait and speed up the animation, so the Dock appears the instant your pointer hits the edge.

Relaunch the app it changes (Finder, Dock…) to see it

The easy way

First turn on auto-hide: System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Automatically hide and show the Dock, or press Option + Command + D.
Run the command. autohide-delay is the wait in seconds (default 0.2). autohide-time-modifier is the slide-in time in seconds (default 0.5); use 0 for no animation at all.

Command

Run in Terminal (Applications › Utilities).

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0; defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.15; killall Dock

Undo

defaults delete com.apple.dock autohide-delay; defaults delete com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier; killall Dock

Both settings only matter when auto-hide is on.

Sources

Autohide delay — by Yann Bertrand, macos-defaults.com
Autohide animation time — by Yann Bertrand, macos-defaults.com
Mac keyboard shortcuts — by Apple Support

Source reviewed: 2026-11-02
Link checked: 2026-11-02
Tested hands-on: Not by Oddbyte.Me

Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every macOS version, so keep the undo handy.

dockautohidedelayanimationspeed

Stop windows flying away when you click the wallpaper — via Apple Support

Hidden settinglow risk

Since macOS Sonoma, clicking the desktop wallpaper can sweep every window aside to reveal the desktop. If that keeps happening by accident, you can limit it to Stage Manager only.

Remove the 'recent apps' section from the Dock — via Apple Support

Hidden settinglow risk

macOS adds a few recently used apps to the right side of the Dock, so it keeps changing size and icons move around. Turning this off keeps the Dock to just the apps you pinned plus the ones that are open.

Show seconds (and more) in the menu bar clock — via Apple Support

Hidden settinglow risk

The menu bar clock can show seconds, flash the colon, switch to an analog face, or even speak the time on the hour. These live behind a small 'Clock Options' button that's easy to miss.

Make a hidden Dock pop up instantly — via Yann Bertrand, macos-defaults.com

The easy way

Command

Undo

Sources

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