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Is there a way (a software perhaps, a free software perhaps), that will allow me to keep several (the same) icons on mac dock instead of grouping all windows of one app into one icon?

For example I usually open many windows of Chrome and to operate between them I need to right-click on the chrome icon on my dock then select the window I want to pull up. I want to have as many chrome icons in dock as separate chrome windows are open.

I'm struggling with this issue from months, please help!

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  • In case you do not really need to ungroup them (I understand you want to change windows in a convenient way) on Windows you probably use Alt + Tab which works fine - for example switching between many windows. On mac you can have the same functionality with using bahoom.com/hyperswitch All you need is just to override Cmd + Tab and you will be able to jump from one Chrome window into another with a speed of light ;)
    – J.Wincewicz
    Commented Jan 4, 2021 at 13:17
  • 3
    any good solutions as of today? it is very ineffective using multiple windows in 1 app in mac.
    – neobie
    Commented Jul 25, 2021 at 5:43

5 Answers 5

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I am currently using a software called uBar. It's a sort of Windows-type bar on the bottom, where every each of windows is kept as a separate icon. Here is the link to the actual software: uBar and here is the link to the screenshot: screenshot. uBar has many options, but I really like dock and I would like to stick with it and get rid of uBar.

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What you can is minimize each window and the will show up in the right side of the doc then you click on the instance there or you can use exposé by default the shortcut is option + arrow down at the same time which will split out all the windows so you can choose which one you want. You can also use exposé on conjunction with minimizing the windows

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    Thank you, I thought that this answer may come up. I know what you mean but this is not a solution, as usually I don't minimize windows, it's a matter of habit. Too many years of using MS Windows :(
    – Piotr Ciszewski
    Commented Jun 17, 2015 at 15:44
  • what about using exposé ? I think that these are the only two options.
    – mcgrailm
    Commented Jun 17, 2015 at 15:48
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    I am trying to limit the number of actions to one click. I work quite a lot on Internet and graphics and I'm not very patient :) So one click option is a solution.
    – Piotr Ciszewski
    Commented Jun 17, 2015 at 18:49
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Two options - neither perfect, but using no additional software…

  1. Use Cmd ⌘ ~ & Cmd ⌘ Shift ⇧ ~ to cycle through open windows in an app.

  2. Manually lift each open window to its own Space - hold the title bar & use the Ctrl ⌃ number to set which Space [will need setting up each time you use this method, it won't stick] then use Ctrl ⌃ number to go directly to each Space
    Key Commands for Spaces need to be set up first - System Prefs > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Mission Control
    Each time you add a Space, the key command appears for it - 'Switch to Desktop n' - but must be manually switched on, at first use.
    & yes, I really do wish they'd stop referring to Spaces as Desktops

Personally, I use the Spaces option all the time. I have 2 monitors & 6 spaces, so 12 'desktops' lets me put pretty much everything in a space of its own, with single key switching.

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    Thank you Tetsujin, it's a kind of solution but still not solving the issue. I know it's very useful, but too many years of using MS Windows affected my habits. I want to take a look on the Dock and see how many e.g. Chrome windows are currently open and using one click of mouse navigate between them.
    – Piotr Ciszewski
    Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 12:00
  • I was aware it wasn't an ideal solution - but tbh, once you learn where each is, it's faster than clicking. The downside, in your case, is that one app wants to live in one Space, which will make the repeated manual setup somewhat irritating.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 12:05
  • Alternatively - would using tabs instead of separate windows help?
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 12:06
  • I use multiple workspaces already, but I do many things in the same time and I want to see how many windows do I currently have. I will need to find a software which does that I guess.
    – Piotr Ciszewski
    Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 12:19
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Yes! I just figured it out. This has been driving me nuts on my Mac at home too. I just found your post while researching it. My Mac at work treated different Chrome windows separately in the dock so I knew there had to be a way.

Go to System Preference under Dock, uncheck 'Minimize windows into application icons'.

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    this doesn't help. I don't usually minimize windows. I need this to be working without minimizing them.
    – Piotr Ciszewski
    Commented Jan 11, 2017 at 8:47
  • I will upvote because this is the most close you can get without install any third app.
    – Dherik
    Commented Oct 20, 2023 at 17:32
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I use DragThing and then create a Window Dock along the bottom which sort of mimics the Windows style taskbar.

There is a post here on how to set it up: http://www.iwebss.com/tech/361-pc-style-windows-taskbar-on-mac-os-x

The only negative is that you can no longer move osx dock to the bottom right corner, so now it stays in the middle along the bottom so depending how many windows you have open, the dock will cover some of them up.

But it mostly gives you one click to jump between windows.

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