How to Customize the Dock on Mac

The Dock is the row of app icons that appears at the bottom (or side) of your Mac's screen. It gives you one-click access to your most-used apps and shows which apps are currently running (indicated by a small dot beneath the icon). Customizing your Dock so it contains only the apps you use regularly makes your Mac faster and more pleasant to work with.

To add an app to the Dock, open Finder, click "Applications" in the sidebar, find the app you want, and drag its icon down to the Dock. You can also add a currently running app by right-clicking its icon in the Dock and selecting "Options" then "Keep in Dock."

To remove an app from the Dock, click and drag its icon out of the Dock toward the center of your screen. Hold it there for a moment until you see the word "Remove" appear, then release. The icon will disappear with a small poof animation. This does not delete or uninstall the app — it only removes the shortcut from your Dock. The app is still available in your Applications folder.

You can rearrange apps in the Dock by clicking and dragging them left or right to new positions. The Dock has a divider line (a thin vertical line) that separates apps on the left from folders and files on the right. You can drag folders (like Downloads or Documents) to the right side of this divider for quick access.

To change the Dock's size, go to System Settings (click the Apple menu, then System Settings), click "Desktop & Dock." Use the "Size" slider to make the Dock icons larger or smaller. You can also turn on "Magnification," which makes Dock icons grow larger when you hover your mouse over them — helpful if you prefer a small Dock but want to see icons clearly.

You can also change where the Dock appears on your screen. In the Desktop & Dock settings, find "Position on screen" and choose Bottom, Left, or Right. Most people keep it at the bottom, but placing it on the left or right side gives you more vertical screen space, which is useful on smaller screens.

If you find the Dock distracting, turn on "Automatically hide and show the Dock." When enabled, the Dock hides off-screen until you move your mouse to the edge where it is positioned. This gives you full use of your screen while still having quick access to the Dock when you need it.