Snippets to tweak macOS Finder.app

DATE: 2020-05-10
AUTHOR: John L. Godlee


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