The Dock is the row of icons along the bottom of your Mac’s screen. Out of the box it’s full of apps you may never use. A few minutes of tidying makes your Mac quicker to use every day.
How to add an app to the Dock
While the app is open: 1. Right-click its icon in the Dock. 2. Choose Options > Keep in Dock.
From the Applications folder: 1. Open Finder > Applications. 2. Drag the app’s icon into the Dock and drop it where you want it.
How to remove an app from the Dock
Drag the icon up and out of the Dock until you see Remove, then let go. You can also right-click it and choose Options > Remove from Dock.
This only removes the shortcut. The app is still installed and still in your Applications folder.
How to rearrange the Dock
Drag any icon left or right to a new position. The other icons move out of the way.
How to change the Dock’s size and position
Open System Settings > Desktop & Dock. At the top you’ll find:
- Size. Drag the slider to make the icons smaller or larger.
- Magnification. Icons grow as your pointer passes over them. This is useful if you keep the Dock small.
- Position on screen. Choose Left, Bottom or Right. On a widescreen display, putting the Dock on the left or right gives you more vertical space.
Quick way: drag the thin dividing line in the Dock up or down to resize it.
How to hide the Dock automatically
Turn on Automatically hide and show the Dock in the same settings page. The Dock slides away until you move your pointer to the edge of the screen.
Shortcut: press Option + Command + D to switch auto-hide on or off at any time.
How to remove recent apps from the Dock
By default, the right-hand part of the Dock shows apps you’ve used recently. To stop this, turn off Show suggested and recent apps in Dock.
How to add a folder to the Dock
Folders live on the right-hand side of the Dock, next to the Bin.
- Find the folder in Finder.
- Drag it to the right of the dividing line in the Dock.
Click it to see its contents pop up. Right-click the folder in the Dock to change how it looks:
- Display as: Folder or Stack
- View content as: Fan, Grid or List
The Downloads folder is there by default. Adding Documents or a current project folder saves a lot of clicking.
Other handy Dock settings
- Minimise windows into application icon. Minimised windows tuck into their app’s icon. This keeps the Dock from filling up.
- Minimise windows using. Choose the Genie or Scale effect.
- Show indicators for open applications. A small dot appears under apps that are running.
A good starting setup
- Remove everything you don’t use weekly.
- Add your five to ten most-used apps.
- Turn off recent apps.
- Add your Documents folder next to Downloads.
Wrapping up
The Dock is prime screen space, so keep only what you use. Everything else is a quick Command + Space search away.
