How to Enable Single Application Mode in Mac OS X Yosemite

These are instructions on how to enable Single Application Mode in Mac OS X Yosemite.

Single Application Mode automatically hides all other open applications when you select an application from your dock.

Step 1.  Open Terminal.app from your Applications>Utilities folder.

Step 2.  Insert the following command into the Terminal window and press Enter.

defaults write com.apple.dock single-app -bool true

Step 3.  Insert the following command to make the change take immediate effect and press Enter.

killall Dock

You will now notice that clicking on an application in the dock will hide all other open applications. Notably, single application mode does not apply to keyboard shortcuts. Thus, you can still use Command+Tab to view multiple applications at the same time.

To exit Single Application mode:

Step 1.  Insert the following command into the Terminal window and press Enter.

defaults write com.apple.dock single-app -bool false

Step 2.  Insert the following command to make the change take immediate effect and press Enter.

killall Dock