How to Change Dock Position on a Mac

In Apple's Mac OS X operating system, the Dock serves as the starting point for all tasks. Rather than searching through the Applications folder in the Finder, users can simply click any icon in their Dock to quickly open the corresponding program. In addition, the style and position of the Dock can be customized to suit an individual's needs. This article explains how to change the Dock's settings through System Preferences.

Things You'll Need

• Mac running OS X 10.4 or later

Instructions

1. Open System Preferences by clicking the icon in the Dock or going to the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen.

2. Select the "Dock" control panel under the "Personal" heading.

3. Customize the size and length of your Dock by moving the Size meter. Moving the meter to the left makes the Dock smaller, and moving the meter to the right makes it larger.

4. Check the box next to "Magnification" if you wish to have the icons in your Dock magnified when you scroll over them.

5. Choose either the Left, Bottom or Right radio buttons to change where your Dock is positioned on your screen. Bottom is the default placement for the Dock in Mac OS X.

6. Check the box next to "Automatically hide and show the Dock" if you want to clear the Dock completely from your screen. You can then place your mouse cursor at the bottom of the screen to have the Dock reappear.