How to Customize the Dock in System Preferences
If customizing the Dock doesn’t solve your space problems, consider removing apps, stacks, and document icons from your Dock. Move the slider to affect the level of magnification. The process of removing applications and documents from the Dock has changed a bit over the years. Various versions of OS X and macOS have slightly different methods. Mac OS X and macOS have a few restrictions about which items you can remove. The Finder and the Trash are permanent members of the Dock. There’s also a separator (a vertical line or dotted line icon) that marks where apps end and documents, folders, and other items begin in the Dock.
What Happens When You Remove a Dock Icon
The Dock doesn’t actually hold an app or document. Instead, the Dock contains aliases, represented by an item’s icon. These icons are shortcuts to the actual apps and documents, which may be located somewhere else within your Mac’s file system. As an example, most apps reside in the Applications folder. And there’s a good chance that any documents in your Dock live somewhere within your home folder. Adding an item to the Dock doesn’t move the associated item from its current location in the file system to the Dock; it only creates an alias. Likewise, removing an item from the Dock doesn’t delete the original item from its location in your Mac’s file system; it just removes the alias from the Dock. Removing an app or a document doesn’t delete them from your Mac; it only removes the icon and alias from the Dock.
How to Remove Apps and Documents from the Dock
No matter which version of OS X or macOS you’re using, removing a Dock icon is an easy process, though you need to be aware of a subtle difference between versions.
macOS Mojave and Later
Most versions of Mac OS X and macOS let you drag and drop items from the Dock.
OS X Lion and Earlier
OS X Mountain Lion to High Sierra
Apple added a small refinement to dragging a Dock icon in OS X Mountain Lion. It’s essentially the same process, but Apple introduced a small delay to put an end to Mac users accidentally removing Dock icons. That slight delay, waiting for the puff of smoke, is effective in preventing accidental removal of a Dock icon. This can happen if you accidentally hold down the mouse button as you move the cursor over the Dock, or accidentally release the mouse button while dragging an icon to change its location in the Dock.
An Alternate Way to Remove a Dock Item
You don’t have to click and drag to get rid of a Dock icon; you can also use the Dock menu to remove an item from the Dock.
