How to Hide Apps on Mac

Would you like to make some of the apps on your Mac invisible? If so, you’re in the right place. We’re about to show how you can hide apps on Mac using a variety of different methods—perfect if you want to protect sensitive data or prevent kids from accessing content that’s unsuitable for them.

Before we start:

Hiding apps usually won’t stop them from running at startup. To fully hide these apps, you can use MacKeeper’s Login Items tool.

Here’s how:

1. Download MacKeeper, then run the Login Items tool.
2. After it has scanned your Mac, select what items to remove and click Remove Selected Items.

Why hide applications on MacBook?

There are a few reasons you might want to hide applications on Mac. They include:

• Protecting your privacy: If you want to keep certain content away from other people, hiding apps can help.
• Security for your MacBook: If your laptop is ever lost or stolen, hidden apps are less likely to be accessed by unauthorized people.
• Removing distractions: Spending too much time on social media or games? Hide them during particular hours to boost your productivity.
• Tidying up your desktop and dock: A cluttered Mac isn’t just ugly, it can make it harder to get things done. Hiding apps is a good way to tidy up.
• Improving performance: In some cases, hiding apps may improve your Mac’s performance.

Methods to hide apps on Mac

You can hide apps on Mac by removing them from Dock, by using Terminal, in System Settings, and with third-party apps. You’ll find it all below.

1. Hide apps using shortcuts

With a simple shortcut, you can hide all the currently open windows in macOS. Any apps you have running will move off your screen, revealing your desktop. There are a couple of ways to do this:

1. Press Cmd + F3 to hide your apps.
2. Since macOS Sonoma, you can also access this feature simply by clicking anywhere on the desktop.
3. To return your apps, simply press Cmd + F3 again or click your desktop again.

A tip from our team: If the Cmd + F3 shortcut doesn’t work, try pressing Fn + Cmd + F3. If you aren’t using an official Apple keyboard, it may not have an Fn key. We suggest buying a keyboard designed for Macs or using the ‘Click to show desktop’ function instead.

2. Via Terminal

You can also hide apps on Mac using Terminal. Be careful when you’re using Terminal, though, because it lets you make significant changes to your Mac. If you’re comfortable with Terminal, here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities.
2. Type sudo chflags hidden /Applications/[App name].app, and press Return. Enter your macOS password and press Return.
3. To unhide your apps, enter sudo chflags nohidden /Applications/[App name].app into Terminal press Return, entering your password when asked. You can also temporarily unhide the app by pressing Cmd + Shift + . (dot).

A note from our experts:

Hiding apps with Terminal doesn’t remove them from your Mac. Pressing Cmd + Shift + . (the period/dot key) will show any hidden files or apps, grayed out. While this way of hiding apps might be okay to keep out casual users, we wouldn’t rely on it to hide your truly important data. Read our guide on how to view hidden files on Mac for more information.

3. Managing app visibility in Dock

If you’ve added an app shortcut to your Dock, removing the shortcut can help to make that app less obvious. Of course, people will still be able to access those apps in other ways, but we think it’s worth taking this step anyway. Follow these steps to remove apps from your Dock:

1. Locate the app you want to remove in the Dock. Right-click it and choose Remove from Dock.
2. Alternatively, click and drag the icon away from the Dock until you see the word Remove.
3. Let go of the mouse button to remove the shortcut.

Important: 

Want to tidy up your Launchpad? You can remove apps from Launchpad, but you can’t hide them.

4. Using System Preferences to hide apps at startup

Apps can be set to start up when your Mac boots up its OS. For example, antivirus and VPN apps can load with macOS, so they immediately start protecting you when you turn on your computer. If you want to hide apps, though, it’s not quite so helpful for them to automatically open at login. Here’s how to change startup apps on Mac:

1. Open System Settings and select General > Login Items & Extensions.
2. Select a login item to remove and click the minus button to remove that item.

Our pro tip: 

Your Systems Settings won’t show all the apps that load with your operating system. If there’s something else you want to stop loading at startup, we recommend MacKeeper’s Login Items tool.

Here’s how it works:

1. Open MacKeeper, select Login Items, then click on Start Scan.
2. Select what you want to remove, then click Remove Selected Items.
3. Click Remove to confirm.

5. Try third-party apps

You can also use third-party programs to hide apps on Mac. Note—some other solutions lock apps behind a password, but those apps are still visible. For our purposes here, we’re only looking at ways to make apps invisible. Your options include:

• MacKeeper: The Login Items tool in MacKeeper gives you greater control over the apps that start up with macOS, helping to hide them without uninstalling them.
• Hider Pro: This app creates a password-protected locker for files you want to hide. You can also hide apps in it, but you’ll need to drag them out of Hider Pro to run them.
• Funter: This program adds a new option to your Finder context menu. Right-click a file or app, and select Hide with Funter. However, while this is useful, it uses the standard macOS system of hiding files, so files can be revealed using the standard shortcut we showed you earlier.

Preventing access to apps

As you’ve seen, there are several ways to hide apps on a Mac. However, most of them don’t prevent apps from being opened once-hidden files are revealed. If you’re aiming to prevent access to certain aims for privacy reasons, to remove distractions, or to protect younger users from certain content, you need to block apps on Mac instead. You can do that with Apple’s parental controls or third-party software.

Whatever you do, it’s important to stop apps from starting up automatically with macOS. With MacKeeper’s Login Items tool, you can do it easily in just a few clicks. Give it a try and see for yourself.