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.
Can one Mac app handle Dock previews and window layouts?
Yes. In OmniDock, you can pick an existing window from a Dock preview, then arrange it with a window layout. Those are two separate actions in the same app, not an automatic workspace setup. If these are the two jobs you need, start with the preview demo and window layout demo, then try them together with your own windows.
You can leave the other features off. Keep a specialist tool if its controls suit you better; combining features does not make every dedicated tool redundant.
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 it while researching and writing
Say you have a few browser windows open and a document to finish. You don't need a whole new setup. Start with the part that keeps interrupting you.
1. Pick the window with your reference material
Prefer to see a window before switching to it? Enable OmniDock's Dock previews, hover over your browser's Dock icon, and choose an available thumbnail. Settings and window state determine whether you get a live image, a still image, or no preview.
Watch the Dock preview demo and check setup
2. Put the reference beside your draft
Select the browser window and use a window layout to place it on one side. Do the same for your document on the other side. These are individual window actions, not a command that opens your apps, finds your documents, or restores a workspace.
3. Retrieve a copy you saved earlier
Enable Clipboard History first, then copy a piece of test text or a link. Use Command-Shift-C, OmniDock's default history shortcut, to find the saved item. Copy it from the list and paste it into your draft with Command-V. You can change the shortcut. History cannot recover items it never recorded.
See clipboard history setup and the demo
Try only the step you need. If the built-in controls already work for you, keep using them. The reason to choose an integrated utility is that several useful controls can share one place for settings, not that every task needs a new tool.
Permissions depend on the features you enable. Clipboard history is off by default; saved entries stay on your Mac, but sensitive-item filtering is not a guarantee. Read the privacy details.
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.
Make your own side-by-side checklist
Try the actions you actually use, rather than counting feature names. Note your macOS and app versions, and use the same windows and settings for each approach. This is a checklist for your own trial, not a set of benchmark results we've collected.
| Task | A simple trial | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Find a particular window | Open two browser windows with different content. Find the same target with the built-in controls and the tool you're considering. | Did you select that window, or only activate its app? Browser tabs are not separate windows. |
| Put an app aside | Open two normal windows in one app. Try hiding the app and minimizing the current window separately. | Which windows disappear? Does the app keep running? Decide whether you want app-wide hiding or single-window minimization. |
| Place two windows side by side | Position a reference window and a document on opposite sides, then return them to the sizes you need. | Do the shortcut or drag controls suit you? Check minimum window sizes and your display setup. This is not workspace restoration. |
| Retrieve an earlier copy | Enable the history tool first, copy two pieces of non-sensitive test text, and retrieve the first. | Check when recording starts, how search works, and how to clear history. Avoid recording real sensitive content in several tools during a comparison. |
A few notes on completion, comfort, permissions, and limitations are enough. Our Dock preview, window layout, and clipboard recordings show the interactions, but they don't replace a trial on your own Mac.
For the thinking behind putting these controls together, read why I built OmniDock.
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.