Make your Mac Dock behave like the Windows taskbar.
Coming from Windows? On macOS, clicking an app's Dock icon does not minimize it when it's already active — and there's no built-in way to make it. WinDock fixes that.
Click a Dock icon → the active app tucks away. Click it again → it comes back. Just like the Windows taskbar.
WinDock is a tiny, free menu-bar app. No window, no clutter — it just lives in your menu bar and makes the Dock feel the way you expect.
macOS and Windows handle the taskbar/Dock differently, and the difference trips up almost everyone who switches:
| Windows taskbar | macOS Dock (default) | macOS Dock + WinDock | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Click icon of active app | Minimizes it | Nothing happens | Minimizes / hides it ✅ |
| Click again | Restores it | Restores it | Restores it ✅ |
| Focus one app at a time | — | — | Auto-hide the previous app (optional) |
If you've ever clicked a Dock icon expecting the window to disappear — and nothing happened — WinDock is for you.
- Click-to-toggle — click the Dock icon of the frontmost app to tuck it away; click again to bring it back.
- Hide or Minimize — choose how apps tuck away:
- Hide (default) — clean and instant; always restores reliably.
- Minimize — windows slide into the Dock, Windows-taskbar style. (Best with macOS "Minimize windows into application icon" enabled — WinDock offers to turn it on for you.)
- Single-app focus (optional) — automatically hide the previous app when you switch, so only one app is on screen at a time. Multi-monitor aware: apps on other displays are left alone.
- Multilingual — UI in English, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese — auto-selected by your system language, or pick one manually in Settings.
- Automatic updates — a built-in Sparkle updater keeps WinDock current; check anytime from the menu.
- Lightweight — a menu-bar-only app. No dock icon, no background bloat.
- Download the latest
WinDock.appfrom the Releases page. - Move it to your Applications folder and open it.
- Grant Accessibility permission when prompted:
- System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → enable WinDock.
- (WinDock needs this to detect Dock clicks and hide/minimize apps. It does not record your screen or read your data.)
- The Dock icon appears in your menu bar. You're set.
To launch at login: System Settings → General → Login Items → add WinDock.
The menu-bar icon keeps the essentials — Enable / Disable, Settings…, Check for Updates…, and Quit — and Settings… opens a window where you can change everything at once:
- Auto-hide previous app on switch — single-app focus mode.
- Hide on re-click of same app — the core Windows-taskbar behavior.
- Hide method: Minimize — switch between Hide (⌘H style) and Minimize (into the Dock).
- Language — System default, English, 한국어, 日本語, or 中文.
WinDock uses two macOS APIs:
- A global mouse monitor to detect clicks on Dock icons (identified via Accessibility
AXApplicationDockItem), so it can tell when you re-click the already-active app. - The Accessibility API (
kAXHiddenAttribute/kAXMinimizedAttribute) to hide or minimize apps.
No private APIs, no screen recording, no network access.
WinDock requires Accessibility permission only. It does not collect, transmit, or store any personal data. A debug log is written to /tmp/windock.log (auto-trimmed) and never leaves your machine.
Nothing happens when I click a Dock icon. WinDock needs Accessibility permission. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and make sure WinDock is enabled. After updating the app you may need to toggle it off and on again.
My minimized windows pile up on the right side of the Dock instead of into the app icon. That's a macOS setting. Turn on System Settings → Desktop & Dock → "Minimize windows into application icon." WinDock offers to enable this for you when you switch to Minimize mode.
What's the difference between Hide and Minimize? Hide (⌘H style) tucks the whole app away instantly and always restores reliably. Minimize slides each window into the Dock, like the Windows taskbar. Pick whichever feels right in Settings.
Does it work with multiple monitors? Yes. Auto-hide-on-switch is screen-aware — apps on other displays are left alone.
How do I launch it at login? System Settings → General → Login Items → add WinDock.
How do updates work? WinDock updates itself via Sparkle. You can also check manually from the menu bar → Check for Updates…
Is it safe? WinDock is open source, notarized by Apple under Developer ID, and uses only the Accessibility API. No screen recording, no network access beyond checking for updates, no data collection.
Found a bug or have a request? Please open an issue — that's the best place, and it's checked when time allows. This is a free, open-source side project, so support is best-effort.
Contributions are welcome — bug fixes, features, translations, docs.
# Local dev build (no certificate needed)
WINDOCK_SIGN="-" ./build.sh
open build/WinDock.appSee CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, project layout, and guidelines. Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue.
When touching user-facing strings, please add all four languages (English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese).
MIT © 2026 L2M Group Ltd.