How to Keep Your Mac Dashboard Open on a Desktop
Dashboard is an Apple application that allows you to view multiple widgets, or mini-applications, at once on your screen. Although normally you'd only be able to view these widgets while in the Dashboard window, you can edit the function of Dashboard by changing a command line in the Terminal utility program. By editing a command line you can keep specific widgets on your desktop until you decide to close them.
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Instructions
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1
Open Terminal. Click "Go" at the top of your screen, and click "Utilities" from the drop-down menu. Double-click "Terminal" to run the application.
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2
Type "defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES" while in Terminal, and hit the "Return" key on your keyboard.
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3
Type "killall Dock" to restart your Dock. Press the "Dashboard" button or "F4" button on your keyboard to access Dashboard. Click and hold the widget you want to remain on your desktop, and press the "Dashboard" button again to close out of Dashboard.
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Move your widget to an area of your screen, and repeat Step 3 to add more widgets to your desktop.
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To remove the widgets from your dock, open Terminal and type "defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode NO" and press the "Return" key. Type "killall Dock" to restart your Dock. Click and hold your widgets and press the "Dashboard" button to return to Dashboard. Release the mouse to place the widgets back in place.
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Tips & Warnings
Be sure to type all commands exactly as directed when working in Terminal. Terminal does not ask for confirmation of major commands, so it's possible to accidentally modify or delete files that are critical to the operation of your computer.
