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sbchasin
User level: Level 1 (22 points)

Can't make hidden apps icons transparent in Dock in Mac OS 27.2

Upon upgrading to Mac OS 27.2, my hidden apps no longer have a translucent icon in the dock. I set it using Onyx, still shows as set. I tried the command line defaults write command and it still doesn't work. Was this setting removed, or...?

Posted on Oct 27, 2026 2:45 PM

1 reply

neuroanatomist
User level: Level 9 (72,871 points)

Oct 28, 2026 8:56 AM in response to sbchasin

Yes, the showhidden flag for the macOS Dock has reportedly been removed or deprecated by Apple in macOS 27.2.


What Happened

  • Feature Removal: The legacy hidden preference (defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool YES) is no longer supported or recognized by the Dock process.
  • Why It Changed: Apple updated how background and running apps are displayed in the Dock, leading them to drop support for the translucent hidden-app indicator to prevent visual conflicts.
  • Third-Party Tools: Utilities like Onyx still show the toggle as enabled because they simply read or write that legacy preference key, even though the OS no longer acts on it


There was never a UI toggle for that function. 'Hidden' settings like that can be changed ro deprecated by Apple at any time. In this case, the flag may have been removed to avoid confusion with the 'faint' active badge now used to denote an app running in the background.


More info on 'official' Dock settings: Change Desktop & Dock settings on Mac - Apple Support


Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256384197