OmniDock guides
Too many Mac utilities? Start with your everyday tasks.
You want to pick the right window from the Dock, put the current app away, and find text you copied earlier. Do those jobs need three tools? Not necessarily. Start with what macOS already does, then compare a keyboard-first hub such as Raycast, Dock-centered controls in OmniDock, and the specialist tools you already like.
Choose the action before choosing the app
For windows, do you want to see thumbnails above a Dock icon, or use a keyboard command? To put work aside, do you mean hiding the whole app or minimizing one window? For copied text, do you need a history you can search, or just the current clipboard? Similar feature names can lead to different everyday actions.
Four ways to build your setup
- Stay with macOS: try App Exposé to choose a window and Command-H to hide an app. Check your system version before adding a clipboard-history tool.
- Use a keyboard-first hub: Raycast combines window-management commands and clipboard history, with hotkeys for frequently used actions. It is an integrated option, not just a launcher.
- Start from the Dock and your windows: OmniDock combines hover previews, repeated-click hiding, window controls, and optional local clipboard history. It also supports app hotkeys; using the Dock does not mean giving up the keyboard.
- Keep dedicated tools: if a particular app's controls or history behavior suit you, keep it and leave overlapping features off elsewhere. Fewer installed apps is not a goal by itself.
Raycast documents its window commands and clipboard history. These are examples of its integration, not an exhaustive comparison or a claim that OmniDock replaces Raycast.
Where an integrated app can help
OmniDock brings Dock previews, click-to-hide, app shortcuts, window layouts, local clipboard history, Finder commands, and menu bar organization into one application. The point is to keep related everyday controls together, with settings you can revisit in the same place.
For someone moving from Windows, hovering for a window preview or clicking an app icon again to put it away may also feel familiar. These are selected interaction habits, not a promise to reproduce every Windows behavior. In particular, hiding a Mac app is different from minimizing one window.
Try one task first: choose a window from a Dock preview, click again to hide the app, or find something you copied earlier. The preview and clipboard pages include videos; the click-to-hide page explains the behavior and settings. These are separate actions, not an automated workflow. Window layouts do not mean restoring an entire workspace with all apps and documents.
When separate tools are the better choice
Keep a tool you already like if its specific behavior is essential to your work. An integrated app doesn't automatically match every specialist option, and not every competing utility is single-purpose. You can use only the OmniDock features you need; replacing your whole setup isn't a requirement.
Built-in features count too. Current macOS releases provide window tiling, and Spotlight in macOS Tahoe 26 includes clipboard history. Check what your own system already does before adding another tool. Apple window tiling · Spotlight in macOS 26.
Compare the setup, not just the feature names
| Task | Where to start | Setup and limits |
|---|---|---|
| Find a window | Built-in App Exposé, or OmniDock thumbnails above a Dock icon. | OmniDock previews need Screen Recording and Accessibility; window state affects capture. Setup and limits |
| Put an app away | Command-H, or a plain repeated Dock click with OmniDock enabled. | Hiding is app-wide, not single-window minimization. OmniDock's Dock click action uses Accessibility and Input Monitoring where required. Click behavior |
| Retrieve copied text | Spotlight history in macOS 26; Raycast's history command or hotkey; OmniDock's clipboard history. | Check your OS version and retention settings. Clipboard history is off by default in OmniDock. Apple, Raycast, OmniDock |
Raycast's window commands need Accessibility permission. Frequently used commands and clipboard history can have hotkeys or aliases. The table covers these tasks, not the full feature sets of either app. Keep an existing tool if you prefer it, and check for duplicate shortcuts and overlapping history settings.
Start with one change
Choose one task, enable that feature, and try it in your normal work. Add another only if it helps. In OmniDock, clipboard history is off by default and stored locally when enabled. Local storage doesn't mean every sensitive item can be recognized and excluded; read the privacy explanation before turning it on.
If you'd like a practical starting point, try three everyday actions. The aim is fewer interruptions in your own routine, not collecting the largest set of features.