However, it doesn’t look like a folder at this point! By default, the folder actually appears as a stack of documents (far right in screenshot below): Let go of the mouse or trackpad button, and the folder drops into place. As you near the Dock, the other icons will spread apart to make room for the new icon. Holding down the Option key, click on and drag the Documents folder to the right side of the Dock. In my case, the Documents folder has been shared on iCloud, so it can be found under the iCloud heading in the sidebar. Look for the Documents folder in the sidebar at the left side of the Finder window. First, open a Finder window by clicking on the “smiling Mac” icon at the far left of the Dock. That icon is added by the Parallels Desktop virtual machine application and provides a quick path to PC apps that can be launched on your Mac.Īs an example of adding a folder to the Dock, we’ll add the standard Documents folder. The fourth icon looks like the Microsoft Windows logo…and that’s exactly what it is. The first three are somewhat standard and easily added Dock folder icons the one with the “A” on it is the Applications folder, the one with the down arrow on it is the Downloads folder, and the one with the page icon on it is the Documents folder. How did those nifty folder icons get there, and what do they represent? A vertical line separates the app icons on the left side of the Dock from folders, the Trash and minimized windows on the right side of the Dock. One thing you probably noticed in the screenshot above is that there are four folder icons in the right side of the Dock. The solution? Showing them how to find the Applications folder so they could launch the app, then teaching them how to add it back to the Dock. I don’t know how many times I’ve personally had to calm down an anxious Mac newbie who was sure that they had “uninstalled” an app when they couldn’t find it in the Dock. In fact, it’s so easy to remove icons from the Dock that it’s sometimes done accidentally. It used to disappear in a small cloud of smoke, but sadly that animation disappeared from macOS Sierra. With a “poof” sound, the icon disappears. Removing a Dock icon is ridiculously simple: just drag it off of the Dock until you see the word “Remove” appear next to it, then let up on the mouse or trackpad button. You can hide the app’s windows by selecting Hide, or you can see all windows that are currently open for an app by selecting Show All Windows. This menu gives you several other options right off the bat you can quit an app easily and quickly by right-clicking the Dock icon and selecting Quit. Show in Finder takes the user directly to the app in the Applications folder or whatever other location it is stored in. There are other choices as well - selecting Open at Login adds the app to the current user’s list of login items, and the app will be launched whenever that user logs into the Mac. Right-click that icon, and you’ll see a pop-up menu appear: (Right-click a Dock icon to display this menu)Īdding the app is easy - just select Options, then select Keep in Dock and the app icon will appear in the Dock even after quitting the app. To add an app to the Dock permanently, launch the app, then look for its icon in the Dock. As soon as you begin installing your own apps, or want to make more room in the Dock for your additions, you may want to add app icons to the Dock or remove those that you use infrequently. Icons for the standard pre-installed Mac apps are, for the most part, in the Dock when you start up a new Mac. Today, we continue with a deeper dive into the inner workings of one of the most recognizable parts of the macOS user interface – the Dock. Last week, we began a two-part look at the macOS Dock with a detailed look at the System Preferences Dock settings and how they can be used to customize the Dock look and action.
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