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Prevent Apps from staying in dock

I'm looking for the solution for years, seriously, but still no success.

So the question is quite simple:

I don't want to have an app icon in the dock after it's closed. Ever. Is it possible?

I know about "Show recent applications in dock" setting it's recommended in each 2nd post about this problem.

But it's not exactly what I need. Some inactive icons still in the dock.

So again the question. How to remove app icons from dock forever after the app is terminated?


MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Apr 1, 2022 4:01 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 1, 2022 4:26 AM

If you don't want to see the last three used app in your dock, go to System Preferences/Dock and disable the feature "Show last used apps in dock", and this section of the dock will be cleared.

10 replies

Apr 2, 2022 2:39 AM in response to _heximal

Has the User ( you ) installed any Third Party Application that has or does Modify the Normal behaviours of the Dock ?


Has the User ( you ) used a Terminal Command to alter, modify or otherwise change the behaviours of the Dock ?


1 - Suggest restarting in Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.


2 - Does the issue present in this mode ?


3 - If not - there could be something in the main User Account playing up. To further isolate this - Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac. Then log out of the Main User account and log into the dummy account and test again if the issue persists.


4 - If the issue is present in the dummy account - then, this appears to be a System Wide issue on the computer.


5 - If the issue persists after attempting each of the points above and in that order - please advise for possible additional Trouble Shooting and possible solution(s)

Prevent Apps from staying in dock

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