SSMT #107: Unclutter the Dock
The Dock—that row of icons along the bottom of your Mac’s desktop—is great for gaining fast access to your most frequently used apps, folders, files, and other features.

However, the Dock can fill up pretty quickly, forcing you to hunt around for stuff you urgently need (which, of course, cuts into your productivity).
Dock crowding can be hard to avoid owing to the fact that a bunch of apps you didn’t ask for were pre-loaded into your Mac back at the factory. And most of those are apps you seldom or never use—I mean, come on… how often do you open a game of Chess, or still roam the internet with Safari, or (if your Mac’s OS is before Catalina) watch videos with QuickTime?
My advice is to get rid of the space-eating icons belonging to every underutilized app and replace them with those that are going to serve you the best (in other words, the apps you use at least 80 percent of the time).
First, remove junk from the Dock. Here’s how to do it:
- Right-click on the icon in your dock you want to remove
- Hover over “Options”
- Uncheck “Remove from Dock”

Then, add a favorite app. Here are the steps:
- Open that favorite app
- Right-click its icon in the Dock
- Hover over “Options”
- Check “Keep in Dock”

Wash, rinse, and repeat to remove and add other desired apps to create an effective and productive dock!
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