Disable Dock Bouncing in Mac OS X
The bouncing Dock icons are a nice GUI feature that let you know an app is launching on the Mac, but for some people those little bouncing icons are just really annoying. Additionally, Dock icons will bounce to notify you that an alert is active in the app, or the app needs your attention.
If you’re not a fan of the bouncing dock icons on a Mac, you can disable all Dock bouncing activity, including on app launch and the Dock icon bounce notifications in Mac OS X by using the command line.
To get started, launch Terminal and enter the following command strings. The first defaults command will disable dock bouncing, and the second will re-enable the feature on the Mac.
How to Disable All Dock Icon Bouncing in Mac OS X
Disabling All Dock Bouncing in Mac OS X:
defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool TRUE
Hit return, then enter the following command to restart the Dock:
killall Dock
Hit return again for changes to take effect by relaunching the Dock.
Now all bouncing is disabled in the Dock of any icons, whether launching or alerting.
How to Enable All Dock Icon Bouncing in Mac OS X
Re-enable Dock bouncing for Mac OS X by entering these commands:
defaults write com.apple.dock no-bouncing -bool FALSE
Hit Return key, then follow it up with:
killall Dock
Again hit the return key, this refreshes the Dock.
Note that these commands don’t just disable the launch bounce animation, it disables all bouncing from the icons within the Dock, so iTunes, iChat, etc, will no longer bounce to notify you of an event going on in that application. If you only want to disable the opening Dock animation you can simply turn off animation within the Dock preferences by unchecking the ‘Animate Opening Applications’ option.
Is there a middle ground? I want the icons to bounce once and stop, rather than bouncing till I open the app, or no bouncing at all.
Steve
Just hold your computer above your head ;)
I’d like the bouncing icons to bounce higher. How’d I do that?
I didn’t agree with you first, but last paragraph makes sense for me…
Hi Gary,
It sounds to me like you want to disable “magnification” by going to Apple menu; System preferences; Dock; Magnification. That’s the feature that grows and shrinks your dock icons as your cursor passes over them. I’m sure if I got used to it, it would mean I would be more likely to hit the icon I mean to but, like you, I find it annoying and have disabled it. It’s still not as good as its predecessor (Control Strip) but since there’s no Application menu any more, one has to use it.
THANK YOU! I went through previous “ways” with no results and was about to pull what was left of my hair. Your post was easy, simple and EFFECTIVE!
Now I am wondering if people post things just to do so while having no idea what they’re doing.I like my Mac, but it has a way of controlling I do NOT like.
Thanks again!
Regarding previous comment. Sorry, I missed the reenable instructions.
Is your fix for the bouncing Dock permanent? If so, how can one reverse it?
Is it possible to stop the Dock items from expanding as the cursor passes over them? To me, this is very annoying.