How to minimize a window on a Mac, and change where it goes

How do I minimize a window on a Mac?

• Press ⌘ M.
• Click the yellow button at the top left of the window.
• Double click the title bar, if Window title bar double-click action in Desktop & Dock is set to Minimize.

How do I minimize all windows of an app?

Press ⌥ ⌘ M, or hold ⌥ and click the yellow button. Every window of the front app goes to the Dock at once. To clear the screen of every app instead, see show the desktop.

How do I stop minimized windows crowding the Dock?

Open System Settings, Desktop & Dock, and turn on Minimize windows into application icon. Windows then minimize into their app's own icon instead of a thumbnail of their own. To get one back, right click the app's icon and pick the window, or click the icon.

How do I change the minimize animation?

In the same pane, the minimize animation can be Genie Effect, which pours the window into the Dock, or Scale Effect, which shrinks it straight down and is quicker to watch. To remove animations more widely, see reduce motion.

Getting a window back: restore a minimized window. What the three buttons do: red, yellow and green.

Checked on 22 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) running macOS 27.0.1: Minimize windows into application icon, Genie Effect, Scale Effect and the title bar double click setting were read from Desktop & Dock.