The Dock on the Mac desktop is a convenient place to access apps and features (like Siri, Launchpad, and the Trash) that you’re likely to use every day. The Dock can show up to three recently used apps that aren’t already in the Dock and a folder for items you download from the Internet.
![Apple Mac Dock Apple Mac Dock](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125841615/352694673.png)
Change Dock preferences on Mac. On your Mac, use Dock System Preferences to change the size of the icons in the Dock, reposition or hide the Dock, and more. To change these preferences, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Dock. Open Dock preferences for me.
Open items in the Dock
In the Dock on your Mac, do any of the following:
- Open an app: Click the app icon. For example, to open the Finder, click the Finder icon in the Dock.
- Open a file in an app: Drag the file over an app’s icon. For example, to open a document you created in Pages, drag the document over the Pages icon in the Dock.
- Show an item in the Finder: Command-click the item’s icon.
- Switch to the previous app and hide the current app: Option-click the current app’s icon.
- Switch to another app and hide all other apps: Option-Command-click the icon of the app you want to switch to.
You can Control-click an item to display a shortcut menu of other actions to take, such as open or close an app, open a recent document, and more.
If an app stops responding, you can Force Quit the app from the Dock (you may lose unsaved changes). Control-Option-click the app’s icon, then choose Force Quit.
Add or remove Dock items
On your Mac, do any of the following:
- Add an item to the Dock: Drag apps to the left side of (or above) the line that separates the recently used apps. Drag files and folders to the right side of (or below) the other line that separates recently used apps. An alias for the item is placed in the Dock.
- Remove an item from the Dock: Drag the item out of the Dock until you see Remove. Only the alias is removed; the actual item remains on your Mac.If you accidentally remove an app icon from the Dock, it’s easy to put it back (the app is still on your Mac). Open the app to make its icon appear again in the Dock. Control-click the app’s icon, then choose Options > Keep in Dock.
You can also rearrange items in the Dock—just drag an item to a new location.
Customize the Dock
- On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Dock.
- Change the options you want.For example, you can change how items appear in the Dock, adjust its size and position, or even hide it.To learn about the options, click the Help button in the pane.
To quickly adjust the Dock’s size, place the pointer over the separator line until a double arrow appears, then drag the Dock to make it larger or smaller. Or Control-click the separator and choose an action from the shortcut menu.
You can use keyboard shortcuts to navigate to the Dock. Press Control-F3 (Control-Fn-F3 on a portable Mac) to move to the Dock. Then use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys to move from icon to icon. Press Return to open an item.
A red badge on an icon in the Dock indicates you need to take one or more actions in an app or System Preferences. For example, a red badge on the Mail icon in the Dock indicates you have new emails to read.
When you drag a folder to the Dock, you can view it as a folder stack. By default, the Dock comes with a Downloads stack. See Organize files in stacks.
See alsoIf the Dock on your Mac contains an icon with a question markApps included on your MacUse Launchpad to view and open apps on MacSee and organize your files in the Finder on Mac
Would you like to add frequently used applications or documents to your Dock? Would you like to remove rarely used items from the Dock? If so, below are instructions on how to do this. The Dock is the row of icons that’s typically located across the bottom of the screen, though it can be moved. Apple populates the Dock with items that they think, or want, you to use, but you can customize it to suit your own needs. You can add applications, documents or folders to the dock.
Dock Basics
- The Dock is divided into two, disproportionately sized sections. Look for the dividing line which appears a little bit to the left of the Trash. The left-hand section can contain Application icons. The right-hand section can contain icons for files, folders or web sites.
- When you’ve opened an application on your Mac you’ll see its Dock icon displays a small black dot below it. (Older versions of the Mac operating system displayed either white horizontal bar or a bluefish white circle, both of which are hard to see, if you ask me.)
- Apple populates the Dock with some of its applications. You can rearrange or remove these icons using the instructions below.
- When you open an Application whose icon is not already on the Dock, this application’s icon will temporarily appear on the Dock. When the application is quit its icon will vanish from the Dock.
- The Finder icon, which appears at the far-left end, and the Trash icon, which appears at the the far right-end, can not be moved around or removed. They are locked in place.
- Clicking and holding an icon on the Dock produces a menu of choices. For example, if you click and hold on the Trash icon its menu lets you choose to either open the trash or empty it (if you have files in the trash).
Rearrange Items On The Dock
- To rearrange icons on the Dock, click and drag an icon to either the left or right.
Remove Items From The Dock
- Click and hold on a dock icon to display its menu.
- Select Options
- Select Remove From Dock (If you want to remove a Folder icon, hold down the Control key and then click and hold its icon to see it’s menu.)
Add Applications To The Dock
- There are a few ways to add Applications to the Dock but this one is the one I use most often.
- Click on the Finder icon on the Dock to open a Finder window
- Click on the Go menu, at the top of the screen, select Applications.
- Locate the application that you want to add to the Dock.
- Click and drag this application’s icon to the left-hand section of the Dock. (Make sure you don’t drag this icon on top of another dock icon. Instead, make sure that you see the dock icons scoot to the side to make room for this new icon.)
Add Files or Folders To The Dock
- Click on the Finder icon on the Dock to open a Finder window
- Navigate to the file or folder that you want to add
- Click and drag this application’s icon to the right-hand section of the Dock (Make sure you don’t drag this icon on top of another dock icon. Instead, make sure that you see the dock icons scoot to the side to make room for this new icon.)
Change The Dock’s Location
- Click on the Apple menu and select System Preferences
- Click on the Dock icon
- Locate the Position on screen section and select, Left, Bottom or Right.
You might also be interested in Apple’s Dock overview article.