How to customize the Dock on a Mac: size, position and every setting
Every Dock setting in Desktop & Dock on a current Mac, what each one does, and the three changes worth making, read off macOS 27.
How do I customize the Dock on my Mac?
Open System Settings and click Desktop & Dock. Everything about the Dock is in the first section. These are the settings on macOS 27.0.1, with the names exactly as the Mac shows them:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Size | How big the icons are |
| Magnification | Icons grow as the pointer passes over them. Its own slider sets how far |
| Position on screen | Left, Bottom or Right |
| Minimized window animation | Genie Effect or Scale Effect |
| Window title bar double-click action | Fill the screen, zoom, minimize, or nothing |
| Minimize windows into application icon | Minimized windows hide inside their app's icon instead of sitting on the right of the Dock |
| Automatically hide and show the Dock | The Dock slides away until the pointer reaches the edge |
| Animate opening applications | The bouncing icon |
| Show indicators for open applications | The dot under apps that are running |
| Show suggested and recent apps in Dock | Apps you did not add, between the divider lines |
How do I make the Dock bigger or smaller?
Drag the Size slider. A faster way is to hold the pointer over the thin divider line in the Dock until it becomes a double arrow, then drag up or down. On our Mac the size was set to 39 and magnification to 73, so icons nearly doubled under the pointer.
How do I move the Dock to the left or right?
Choose Position on screen, Left or Right. Or hold ⇧ and drag the divider line to a side. On a laptop or wide screen, a side Dock gives the height back to your windows, where it is scarcer.
Can I change the Dock's colour?
Not directly. The Dock follows Appearance (light or dark) and your accent and wallpaper. Apps that recolour it replace the Dock with their own.
How do I stop the Dock covering my windows?
Turn on Automatically hide and show the Dock, or press ⌘ ⌥ D to switch it. See auto hiding the Dock, including how to make it appear without the delay.
A dock for windows, not apps
ClutterFreeMac adds a strip dock of its own that shows every window on its strip, so the Mac's Dock can stay small and stay hidden. It auto hides too.
Related: add apps to the Dock and add a spacer between Dock icons.
Checked on 16 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) running macOS 27.0.1, by reading the Dock's settings, the labels in System Settings and the keyboard shortcut list. Nothing was changed.
Questions
Where are the Dock settings on a Mac?
System Settings, Desktop & Dock. The Dock's settings are the first section.
How do I make my Mac Dock smaller?
Drag the Size slider in Desktop & Dock, or drag the divider line in the Dock down.
How do I move the Dock to the side on Mac?
In Desktop & Dock, set Position on screen to Left or Right, or hold Shift and drag the Dock's divider line.
Read next
- Guide
Every Dock keyboard shortcut on a Mac, and how to use the Dock without a mouse
Show or hide the Dock, move into it with the keyboard, open apps from it, and the shortcuts current macOS lists for the Dock, read off macOS 27.
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How to auto hide the Dock on a Mac, and make it faster
⌥ ⌘ D hides the Dock until you need it. How to turn it on, the Terminal commands that make it appear instantly, and how to undo them.
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How to add apps to the Dock on a Mac, and keep them there
Drag an app in, or keep one that is open. How to add apps, folders and websites to the Mac Dock, and why an app you added keeps disappearing.
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