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Applications remain in dock after closing

Mac > Desktop & Dock > Show recent applications in dock is toggled off in my settings. And yet, most applications (that are not pinned to my dock) remain in the dock after closing them. Only a few disappear as I expect them to. I can't even find a pattern (i.e. type of app, developer, or other) for apps that close and apps that don't. For instance, Skype and Teams remain in the dock, while Zoom disappears. Notes remains in the dock, and Reminders disappears. I can't even find app-specific settings that I can control.


When I say "close" I mean clicking the red x button at the top left. The behavior I expect is that unless the app is pinned to the dock, and with "Show recent applications..." toggled off, the app will disappear from the dock. But it only disappears if I right-click on the icon and click Quit.


What am I missing here?

MacBook Air 13″

Posted on Sep 13, 2023 2:25 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 13, 2023 3:17 PM

As explained, some apps quit when clicking the red close button, many do not. No, there's no way to control it other than always using command Q or quit from the apps main menu, avoiding the red close button entirely.

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5 replies

Sep 13, 2023 3:20 PM in response to EnricaPelv

EnricaPelv wrote:

Thanks, so the only way to make an application disappear from the dock is to click Quit? How come then some applications disappear from the dock when you click the red x, and others don't? Is there any way to control that?

Apps that have no reason to exist when the last document window is closed will quit (System Settings). Apps that can do something (like open a new document or check for new email) without any windows will not quit. There is no way to control it. Just use Quit if that is what you want to happen when you click the close button. If you just want to close the document you are working on, use the close button (or command).

Applications remain in dock after closing

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