You can rearrange Mac dock icons by dragging them left or right — but that's where Apple's help ends. There's no grouping, no folders, no way to create visual sections without a terminal trick, and no support for iPhone-style app folders unless you install a third-party dock. Here's everything that actually works, from the built-in options to what you can do with a dock replacement.
How to drag and reorder icons in the macOS Dock
The basics: click and hold any app icon in the dock, then drag it to a new position. Other icons shuffle out of the way. Release and it snaps into place. That works for pinned apps and for the Downloads/Trash section on the right.
A few things that trip people up:
- Running apps that aren't pinned — if an app is open but not pinned, you can still drag its icon to reorder it temporarily, but it disappears from the dock when you quit the app. To pin it permanently, right-click → Options → Keep in Dock.
- The dividing line — the dock has a faint vertical divider. Apps go left of it; minimised windows, downloads, and Trash live on the right. You can't drag a regular app past that line.
- Removing icons — drag an icon off the dock and wait a moment. You'll see a "Remove" label appear, then let go. The app isn't deleted, just unpinned.
Why dragging alone isn't enough for a crowded Dock
If you have more than 15–20 icons in a row, the dock shrinks each one to fit. At that point, finding anything requires scanning a row of indistinguishable tiny squares. Reordering helps but doesn't solve the underlying problem — there's no visual grouping or hierarchy.
The two approaches people use to fix this:
- Invisible spacers — a terminal trick to insert blank gaps between icon groups
- App folders — not available in the stock dock, but available in Dockish
How to add spacers to group your Dock icons (terminal method)
This is the most widely-recommended workaround for creating visual sections in the default dock. Open Terminal and run:
bash
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="spacer-tile";}'
killall Dock
That adds one invisible spacer. Run it multiple times to add more. The spacers show up as draggable blank gaps — move them between your icon groups just like regular icons. To remove one, drag it off the dock the same way you'd remove an app.
Useful groups to create: your everyday apps, creative tools, utilities, comms. Even two or three spacers makes a 25-icon dock dramatically easier to scan.
The limitation: spacers are invisible, so your groupings aren't labelled. And the dock still has no hierarchy — everything is one flat row.
How to create app folders in the Mac Dock (the way iOS does it)
This is the feature people coming from iPhone or iPad instinctively reach for — drag one app onto another to group them. macOS has never supported this in the built-in dock. That gesture does nothing in the default dock.
Dockish adds proper iPhone-style app folders. Drag one icon onto another and a folder is created — it shows a 2×2 grid preview of what's inside, gets auto-named based on the app categories, and taps open with a smooth animation. You can rename it anything you want. This is genuinely useful for keeping a tidy dock without having to delete things — put all your Adobe apps in one folder, all your communication apps in another.
Dockish is $6.99 one-time with a 7-day free trial, and it runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
How to remove apps from the Dock without uninstalling them
Right-click the icon → Options → Remove from Dock. Or drag the icon off and wait for "Remove" to appear. Neither uninstalls the app — it stays in Applications, just not pinned.
If you want a cleaner dock but don't want to lose quick access to things you use occasionally, the better move is to keep fewer icons pinned and rely on Spotlight (⌘Space) for everything else. Most power users pin fewer than 10 apps.
How to stop macOS adding recent apps to your Dock automatically
By default, macOS adds recently used apps to the right side of the dock — the section just before the divider. It's turned on in System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Show recent applications in Dock. Toggle it off and those auto-added icons disappear.
This is separate from the pinned apps you've deliberately added — turning it off doesn't remove anything you've pinned manually.
Rearranging the Dock in Dockish vs the default macOS Dock
If you switch to Dockish, rearranging works the same way — drag icons into order. But you also get:
- Folders: drag one app onto another to create an iPhone-style group
- Dividers and spacers: add them from the context menu rather than running terminal commands
- Icon sizes from 24–96px and adjustable spacing — so your dock can have fewer icons and still be easy to click
- Per-monitor docks: if you work across two or three screens, each monitor can have its own independent dock layout, rather than one dock that lives on whichever screen your cursor is on
If you only want to reorder a handful of icons and you're happy with the default look, stick with the built-in dock — there's no reason to add a third-party app for that alone. But if you've been fighting a cluttered dock and the spacer trick only half-solves it, Dockish's folder support is the thing the built-in dock genuinely can't do.
Common questions
Why can't I drag Mac Dock icons to a different position — they just bounce back?
This usually happens if you're not holding the click long enough before dragging, or if the app is still launching (bouncing). Wait until the bounce stops, then click-hold for about half a second before dragging. If an icon truly refuses to move, try right-clicking it first and checking whether it's set to Keep in Dock — sometimes icons that aren't pinned behave unpredictably.
How do I rearrange the Dock on a second monitor?
macOS doesn't show the dock on multiple monitors simultaneously — it moves to whatever screen your cursor is near, but you can't have an independent arrangement on each monitor. A dock replacement like Dockish can show a separate dock on every connected display, each with its own icon layout and order.
Does rearranging the Mac Dock affect all user accounts?
No — each macOS user account has its own dock configuration. Rearranging your dock, adding spacers, or pinning apps only affects your account. Other users who log in see their own dock unchanged.
Originally published at appish.app
