Mac OS X Tips

Change the minimize effect in Mac OS X

When you click the yellow minimize button in Mac OS X, the snazzy Genie effect pulls the window into the Dock. Although you can change between the Genie and Scale effect from within the Dock preference pane, there is a third hidden effect that Apple has chosen to keep out of the preference pane. The hidden effect is named ‘Suck’, it’s more attractive than the Scale effect, and speedier than the Genie effect, here’s how to activate it:

To change the minimize effect to any of the three options, type or paste one of the following commands into the Terminal:

Suck effect (hidden from users)
defaults write com.apple.dock mineffect -string suck

Scale effect
defaults write com.apple.dock mineffect -string scale

Genie effect (Mac OS X Default)
defaults write com.apple.dock mineffect -string genie

Finally, to activate any of the above settings, you’ll need to reload the Dock by killing it:killall Dock

Your Dock will momentarily disappear and reappear, with the new minimize effect activated.