MacOS’ Finder.app and the Dock aren’t really designed for power users, but both are so integral to the Desktop Environment that it’s difficult to do without. Fortunately there are a few tweaks which can be made to make both a bit better. Below is a list of the various code snippets I’ve used to adjust Finder, the Dock, and a couple of other closely related utilities that come bundled with macOS:
Show full filepath in Finder address bar:
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true; killall Finder
Hide path bar in Finder:
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool true; killall Finder
Show hidden files and directories in Finder:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE; killall Finder
Enable text selection in QuickLook windows:
defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE; killall Finder
Disable QuickLook window animation:
defaults write -g QLPanelAnimationDuration -float 0; killall Finder
Disable window animations:
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool false
Reduce transparency across system:
defaults write com.apple.universalaccess reduceTransparency 1
Show file extensions in Finder:
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true; killall Finder
Display folders first in finder:
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXSortFoldersFirst -bool true; killall Finder
Always use list view as default in Finder:
defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle -string "Nlsv"; killall Finder
Show the user Library folder in Finder:
chflags nohidden ~/Library && xattr -d com.apple.FinderInfo ~/Library
Make the Dock reappear instantly on hover and disable the slide-in animation:
defaults write com.apple.Dock autohide-time-modifier -int 0; killall Dock
defaults write com.apple.Dock autohide-delay -float 0; killall Dock
Make hidden apps transparent in the Dock:
defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool yes; killall Dock
Disable bouncing animation for Dock items:
defaults write com.apple.Dock no-bouncing -bool TRUE; kilall Dock
Expand system save panel by default:
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool true
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode2 -bool true
Disable screenshot floating preview thumbnail created by Screenshot.app:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture show-thumbnail -bool FALSE