DockDoor

Dock previews and Alt+Tab window switching for macOS

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Category
Utility
WM Type
—
License
free
Open Source
Yes
Keybindings
Yes
Scripting
No
Last Update
2026-04-14

Features

  • Live dock window previews
  • Alt+Tab window switcher
  • Enhanced Cmd+Tab experience
  • Customizable keyboard shortcuts
  • Trackpad gesture support
  • Media controls integration
  • Calendar event previews
  • Quick quit and close actions

About

DockDoor adds live window thumbnail previews to the macOS Dock and a customizable Alt+Tab switcher. It also enhances Cmd+Tab, supports media controls, and offers calendar event previews — all with no data collection.

Who It's For

DockDoor is for Mac users who miss Windows-style Dock/taskbar hover previews and a proper Alt+Tab window switcher. macOS's default Cmd+Tab cycles through apps rather than individual windows, and hovering the Dock shows nothing. DockDoor fixes both: hover the Dock to see live window thumbnails for that app, and use a customizable Alt+Tab (or enhanced Cmd+Tab) to switch between individual windows rather than apps. It's free and open-source.

How It Works

DockDoor hooks into the macOS Accessibility API to intercept Dock hover events and render live thumbnail previews of each open window for the hovered app. The previews appear as a floating strip above the Dock icon, matching the style of Windows 11's taskbar previews. The Alt+Tab switcher shows all open windows across all apps as a visual grid — not just the frontmost window per app — with support for quick quit and close actions directly from the switcher. Cmd+Tab is optionally enhanced to show window previews inline. Trackpad gestures and media controls integration round out the feature set. No data is collected.

Compared to Similar Tools

Compared to Click2Minimize ($6.99), DockDoor covers the Dock preview feature for free and adds the full Alt+Tab window switcher. Compared to Swish ($16, gesture-focused), DockDoor's interaction model is hover-and-click rather than gesture-based. For users who specifically want individual window switching (not app switching), DockDoor's Alt+Tab is the most capable free solution on this list.

Requirements

  • macOS 14 Sonoma or later (check GitHub releases for exact requirements)
  • Accessibility permission required
  • Free and open-source (MIT license) — source at github.com/ejbills/DockDoor

Getting Started

Download from dockdoor.net or the GitHub releases page and launch. Grant Accessibility permission. Hover over any Dock icon to see window previews immediately. Configure the Alt+Tab shortcut and switcher appearance in DockDoor Preferences.

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