Mac Tip: Add & Remove Applications From The Dock

This Mac tip is provided by Mark Greentree and was originally posted on Mark’s blog – Everyday Mac Support. For more of Mark’s tips visit his site, follow him on Twitter, or browse his archive of posts here.


How To: Add & Remove Applications From The Dock

Yesterday, we took a look at opening a web page from the Dock. Today, we will take a look at how to add applications or remove them from the dock.

Adding an Application to the Dock:

In the majority of cases you will always find your applications in your Applications folder on your hard drive unless you have instructed individual software to install in other locations.

With this in mind simply navigate to your applications folder, highlight an application you would like to have in the dock and then simply click and drag the application in question to the location on the dock where you would like it to reside.

You can also ways move dock items around in different order in your dock if you wish by simply clicking and dragging the icon of the application to another area in the dock.

Removing an Application from the Dock:

When you wish to remove an application from the dock you have three choices.

The first is to simply click and drag the icon of the application in question and drag it up off the dock until you see a puff of smoke under the icon and the dock resize. When this happens let go of the mouse and the application will be removed.

The second option is to select the application in question and drag it to the trash.

The final option of removing an application from the dock is to right click on the icon, proceed to the options menu and then click ‘remove from dock’.

Please note that removing a application from the dock will not delete your application.

The dock is simply a pointer to the original application on your hard drive.

Mark Greentree

Mark Greentree is the principle blogger and podcast creator of Everyday Mac Support. His aim is to inform users at all levels of experience how to get the most out of the Apple hardware and associated software. He is the lead host of Not Another Mac Podcast, an Apple based round table discussion with Mac users and experts from all over world.